During the peak of world war II (1945) Chicago started to build a housing development; which was named after the Governor of Illinois at the time, John Peter Altgeld. This housing development was set up with the main purpose of providing black World War II veterans with housing, and providing them with a job at the steel mills right outside of the development. Although there were positive intentions, there was a negative outcome.

This housing development first consisted of 1,198 units over 190 acres of land with one convenience store and no pharmacies or drug stores. This would cause the residents to have to travel far in any case of an emergency. Due to how the housing units were set up, it also made it very difficult for the police, firefighters, and paramedics to find the emergency.

Moving to this area, little did the residents know that these housing units were built on and around many different industrial sites such as landfills, steel mills, and water plants. These sites contributed to toxic run off into streams, lakes, and into the soil. This was soon realized after it started causing residents major health issues. These health issues include cancer, respiratory illness, skin diseases, and pregnancy abnormalities.