Creating Fiction From History: 9/7/2022

For an Irishman at the turn of the century Chicago, young Tom Thumb (Thomas O'Malley) had his work cut out for him!

The dapper young fellow possibly featured in the photograph might later have become one of the most infamous inhabitants of the Windy City. However, for the purposes of this story, we'll focus instead on his earlier life in this melting pot.

Thomas was a fairly recent immigrant from the Emerald Isles, having sailed into New York Harbor on January 1st, 1892, under the watchful eye of Lady Liberty. An orphan thanks to the Great Famine some years earlier, little Tom overcame th...