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The November 2018 Trivia Question

Which of the Great Buildings in the White City featured a ring of ornamental turkey sculptures on its roof?

A. the Transportation Building

B. the Agricultural Building

C. the U.S. Government Building

D. the Palace of Poultry

The answer is B. A ring of turkeys decorated the dome of the Agricultural Building, designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. Many Americans thought that the turkey, not the bald eagle, should have been our national emblem.

The dome of the Agricultural Building. [Image from The Art of the World Illustrated in the Paintings, Statuary, and Architecture of the World’s Columbian Exposition by Ripley Hitchcock (D. Appleton, 1895).]