Embers of the Great Chicago Fire continue to smolder. Stories of tragedy and triumph from October 8–10, 1871, and the years of rebuilding that followed have been cause for somber remembrance and jubilant celebration throughout the years, including at “Chicago Day” held at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Fire, the Chicago History Museum has opened a new permanent exhibit, “City on Fire: Chicago 1871.” Several displays and artifacts connected to the 1893 World’s Fair are featured.
“City on Fire” focuses on the experiences of several survivors of the conflagration, including ten-year-old Fannie Belle Becker. Fannie only had enough time to grab her small china doll before being forced to flee from the approaching fire. Twenty-two years later, she brought her doll to the World’s Fair. (See “‘Jennie’ survived the Great Chicago Fire and visited the 1893 World’s Fair”).
A section exploring the immediate aftermath features a forty-foot-wide Chicago Fire Cyclorama painting depicting the chaos of people trying to escape the inferno in downtown Chicago. This is a reproduction of a one-tenth-scale draft painting in the Museum’s collection. The original Chicago Fire Cyclorama painting measured almost 50 feet high by 400 feet long and was on display in its own building on Michigan Avenue as a paid tourist attraction during the 1893 World’s Fair. For a 360-degree view of the painting, explore Chicago00: 1871 Chicago Fire.
One artist who worked on the original cyclorama painting was William de Leftwich Dodge, whose mural “The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences” decorated the inside dome of the Administration Building at the Fair. (See “Inside the Administration Building Dome: ‘The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences’ by William Dodge.”).
The final “Rebuilt City” section of the exhibit explores the many ways in which Chicagoans developed and promoted an identity a “phoenix city” that rose from the ashes of tragedy. Never has this mythology been displayed in any grander way than at the World’s Columbian Exposition “Chicago Day” celebration of October 9, 1893. The Museum exhibit includes a rare “Chicago Day” poster along with a broadside advertising the first iteration of the Chicago flag, with its original two stars representing the Chicago Fire and the Columbian Exposition.
More information on “City on Fire: Chicago 1871” at the Chicago History Museum is available at https://www.chicago1871.org/