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Three months before his murder, Chicago labor power broker Timothy D. "Big Tim" Murphy received an ovation at a South Side political banquet. On June 26, 1928, machine-gun fire killed him outside his home. His murder was never solved.

How did a man associated with gambling, labor racketeering, and violent rivalries remain a popular figure in his own neighborhood?

In this episode of History Was Human, author Brian R. Smith explores the complicated life of Big Tim Murphy, from Chicago's gambling operations and union halls to the Illinois legislature and federal prison at Leavenworth.

Discover Murphy's rivalry with Maurice "Mossy" Enright, the murder investigations surrounding Chicago's labor wars, his federal mail-robbery conspiracy conviction, and his return to a city transformed by Prohibition. His final years brought him into the violent cleaners-and-dyers racket, where competing interests fought for control.

It is a story of political influence, organized crime, neighborhood loyalty, and the contradictions of a man who could be admired and feared.

Murphy is also the subject of Brian R. Smith's historical novel Big Tim.

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• Original podcast music composed and performed by Ken Burns.
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