The South Side is Louis Rosen's story of two communities that collided almost by accident at a moment in America's history when race relations were starting to explode, and the profound impact this collision had on the lives of families and individuals on both sides of the event. It is a tale of how dreams were realized and shattered in the confrontation between moral courage, spiritual ethics, and personal fears.

Mr. Rosen tells the story in memoir and oral narrative, using fifteen composite characters - two generations of former and current residents of the community, both Jewish and African American. Using skills developed in his writing for the theatre, he has fashioned a powerful and compelling piece of social history. But he has made nothing up: the memories, thoughts, and feelings of the characters reflect exactly what was spoken during Mr. Rosen's extensive interviews with people from the neighborhood.

Thus while the names of the characters are fictional, The South Side is essentially a work of nonfiction.