Chicago: City of the Century (2003)

News of the passing of David Ogden Stiers on March 3 has garnered tributes to the actor’s unforgettable role on M*A*S*H and his voice performances for several animated film from Disney Studios. Mr. Stiers also played a small but valuable role in the history of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, serving as the narrator of one of the first documentaries about the great fair.

Chicago: City of the Century, based on the 1996 book of the same title by Donald L. Miller, constituted three episodes in season 15 of the American Experience television series produced by WGBH Boston. Narrated by David Ogden Stiers, the episodes aired on PBS stations in January 2003 and later were released on DVD.

Part 3, titled “The Battle for Chicago,” focuses on Chicago after the great fire of 1871 (Part 1) and the Haymarket bombing of 1886 (Part 2) and includes approximately 23 minutes devoted to the 1893 World’s Fair. In addition to Miller, historians Perry Duis (University of Illinois at Chicago), Neil Harris (The University of Chicago), William Adelman (Illinois Labor History Society), Christopher Reed (Roosevelt University), Nancy Koehn (Harvard Business School), and author Thomas J. O’Gorman (Strange But True: Chicago: Tales of the Windy City) provide commentary accompanied by historic photographs of the fair and other vintage images of Chicago.

From the grand Opening Ball held at the Auditorium Theater in October of 1892 through the ultimate destruction of the fairgrounds by fire in 1894, the episode concentrates on the grand architecture and prominent fair organizers, in the context of a rapidly growing metropolis. While prominent builders of the fair such as Frederick Law Olmsted, Louis Sullivan and George Ferris are presented, but almost nothing is said of the Director of Works Daniel Burnham. George Pullman, Mayor Carter Harrison, and Bertha Palmer, “Chicago’s Hostess to the World,” have their stories told. [So does Spain’s Infanta Eulalia, though the oft-repeated story of her social snub of Chicago may not be fair or true—more on that to come.] Also mentioned are people kept at the edges of the fair, such as black activist Ida B. Wells, and those inside the grounds and about to emerge from the shadows and into the cultural spotlight, such as Harry Houdini.

Perhaps the most interesting are those of the ordinary visitors to “the greatest tourist attraction in American history.” As the great fair recedes into the past, few people remain with us who heard first-hand accounts from those who attended the Columbian Exposition. City of the Century includes precious footage of the late Chicago Alderman Leon Despres, who reminisces about his grandparents tell him stories about their trips to the fair. Dena Epstein, daughter of young Polish immigrant Hilda Satt Polacheck, describes—all too briefly—her mother’s awe and wonder at first seeing the White City. I wish more historians had thought to capture second-hand oral histories of the Columbian Exposition.

Chicago: City of the Century showcases the 1893 World’s Fair in the context of turn-of-the-century Chicago. Outside of the White City were battles between union workers and capitalists, strained urban infrastructure, a society struggling to accommodate immigrants, and anxieties about new technology. My, have times changed!