City of the Century chronicles Chicago's dramatic transformationfrom a swampy frontier town of fur traders and Native Americans to amassive metropolis that was the quintessential American city of thenineteenth century. The film tells how innovation, ingenuity,determination and ruthlessness created empires in what was a marshywasteland and describes the hardships endured by millions of working menand women whose labor helped a capitalist class reinvent the wayAmerica did business. Along the way, this program revels in Chicago'striumphs -- among them the architectural experimentation that gave thecity one of the world's most distinctive skylines -- and delves into theheart of Chicago's painful struggles. Bringing to life the WindyCity's rich mixture of cultures, its writers and journalists, itspolitical corruption and labor upheavals, this film bears witness to thecreation of one of the most dynamic and vibrant cities in the world.