Illinois Executive Mansion to display artifacts of the 1893 World’s Fair

The Illinois Executive Mansion in Springfield, home to Illinois governors and their families since 1855, is undergoing a $15 Million renovation. Funded entirely by private donors, the restoration includes a renewed visitor’s center and historic exhibits, including a room displaying rare artifacts from the 1893 World’s Fair held in Chicago.

Occupying the mansion during the Columbian Exposition was John Altgeld, the first Chicago resident and first foreign-born citizen to have been elected governor. He served from January 1893 to January 1897.

The Illinois Bicentennial Commission has announced that “period bedroom suites on the second floor will highlight the Civil War Period of the 1860’s and the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.”

Classic Chicago magazine also reports that the Executive Mansion display will include a suite of rare furniture from the Exposition. “We have located amazing treasures across the state,” First Lady Diane Rauner told the magazine, “including a 17-piece bedroom set shown at the Illinois Pavilion of the 1893 Exposition, done by an Illinois farmer from Carthage.” According to Ann Liberman’s Governors’ Mansions of the Midwest, the Illinois Executive Mansion has owned (presumably the same) carved oak bedroom and sitting-room suite–hand-carved by farmer William J. Bartels from Carthage, Illinois, and exhibited at the Columbian Exposition–since it was purchased at auction in 1980.

A call for volunteers to serve as greeters and docents announces upcoming training sessions on January 28 and February 10.

The newly renovated facility will open in August 2018 as part of the Illinois Bicentennial celebration.