This has been a year of rich and valuable additions to the Columbian Exposition bookshelf. Summarized below are important new nonfiction works that explore connections between the Chicago fair and Western Pennsylvania, Lebanon, England, and Massachusetts. Two others look at the religious and spiritual legacy of the Columbian Exposition. New fictional works explore the fairgrounds though the eyes of visitors in both realistic stories and magical adventures. We also include a few late additions that we missed last season.
Note: We provide this announcement of new titles without any compensation from authors or publishers. We encourage shopping through independent local book dealers and online platforms that support them, such as IndieBound and Bookshop.
NONFICTION
From the Steel City to the White City: Western Pennsylvania and the World’s Columbian Exposition by Zachary L. Brodt. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023. 264 pages. Hardcover, $30.00. ISBN 9780822947912.
Zachary Brodt focuses on Western Pennsylvania’s representation at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the importance of demonstrating Pittsburgh’s important role in America’s culture and innovation. An archivist and records manager at the University of Pittsburgh Library System, Zachary Brodt explores the fascinating connections between the two cities by way of George Ferris’s giant wheel, the H. J. Heinz Company display and pickle pin promotion, exhibits of Pennsylvania coal and steel industries, Andrew Carnegie, and much more.
From the Mountain to the Midway by Ellen Metrie Koppel. Independently published, 2023. 275 pages. Paperback, $17.92. ISBN 9798373274630.
Creatively combining extensive research with captivating storytelling, From the Mountain to the Midway offers a fascinating account of the horses brought from the Ottoman Empire to be exhibited in the Bedouin Camp on the Midway. Koppel’s investigation of how the bloodlines of Arabian horses in America were established is told through the personal story of Hella’s journey from Mount Lebanon to the World’s Fair. The story will engage readers interested in the World’s Fair, Arab-American immigrant experiences, and pedigree horses.
It Wasn’t Rocket Science: A Family’s Quest for the Truth by Mike Norman. FirstintheWorld, 2023. 295 pages. Paperback, ₤9.99. ISBN 9781739081904.
This monograph tells how the legacy of English steam locomotive engineer Timothy Hackworth (1786–1850) was championed at the 1893 World’s Fair by his grandsons Samuel Holmes and Timothy Hackworth Young (Superintendent of the railway division of the Transportation Department of the Exposition) and Major Joseph Pangborn of the B&O Railroad.
Rendered Obsolete: Energy Culture and the Afterlife of U.S. Whaling by Jamie L. Jones. University of North Carolina Press, 2021. 262 pages. Hardcover, $99.00. ISBN 9781469674810. Paperback, $29.95. ISBN 9781469674827.
Chapter 3 of this treatise on the U.S. whaling industry explored the whaling ship Progress from New Bedford, Massachusetts, which sailed to Chicago as an exhibit for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Jones highlights the transition from whaling to fossil fuels as the dominant energy source.
The Gospel of the Columbian Exposition by Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones. Foreword by Dr. Muhammed A. Al-Ahari. Independently published, 2023. 364 pages. Paperback, $16.95. ISBN 9798376738924.
The volume collects twenty sermons by Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, a Welsh-American Unitarian minister and founder of All Souls Church on Chicago’s South Side. An uncle of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jones helped with the planning of the World’s Parliament of Religions. The handsome cover features John Ross Key’s painting of the Grand Basin.
One Elephant: A Spiritual Journey to the Cosmos from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair by Julian Rosser. Lion Rock, 2023. 182 pages. Paperback, $9.99. ISBN 9798987501917. Kindle, $7.00.
This spiritual journey “through time and space, through ideas and philosophies” explores the teachings of several people associated with the 1893 World’s Fair, from scientist Nikola Tesla to Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda.
FICTION
Dream City Dreaming by Cindy Angell Keeling. Petite Parasol Press, 2023. 334 pages. Hardcover, $27.99. ISBN 9798987489000. Paperback, $17.99. ISBN 9798987489017. Kindle $9.99.
[reviewed here: https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2023/08/08/dream-city-dreaming-by-cindy-angell-keeling/]
Something Happened on the Way to the World’s Fair: A Strange Happenings Short Story by Kelsey Josephson. Independently published, 2023. 26 pages. Paperback, $4.99. ISBN 9798463001320.
This first installment of Josephson’s “Strange Happenings” series is set in an alternate timeline, where science and the unknown mix. While traveling by train to the 1893 World’s Fair, Rosie Weston discovers a peculiar trunk in the baggage car and that passenger has disappeared. Can Rosie discover the truth behind the cargo before more passengers go missing?
Witch in the White City by Nick Wisseman. Independently published, 2021. 296 pages. Paperback, $4.27. ISBN 9798643608516.
Neva Freeman performs in the Algerian Theatre on the Midway and doesn’t want to be found out as a witch. This paranormal mystery adventure takes her and readers around the fairgrounds as she tries to find a killer.
CHILDRENS / YOUNG ADULT
Come See the Fair by Gavriel Savit. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2023. 336 pages. Hardcover, $17.99. ISBN 9780593378663. Paperback, $8.99. ISBN 9780593378694.
Eva Root, a twelve-year-old orphan who pretends to channel spirits in her travelling séances, is surprised to hears a voice telling her to come to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. There, she meets a mysterious magician and embarks on a fast-paced adventure filled with dangers and delightful details about the fairgrounds.
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros. Inkyard Press, 2022. 480 pages. Hardcover, $19.99. ISBN 9781335402509. Paperback, $11.99. ISBN 9781335452740.
In this historical thriller about two Jewish boys in Chicago during the 1893 World’s Fair, Alter Rosen is possessed by the dybbuk of his best friend, Yakov, who has been murdered, and together the boys race to track down the killer. This murder mystery has received several awards and nominations and wide recognition for its portrayal of queer and Jewish life and themes of immigrant identity and assimilation.
Escape from the Emerald City by Ron Soule. Independently published, 2023. 105 pages. Hardcover, $14.95. ISBN 9798395968029. Paperback, $7.95. ISBN 9798395968111.
Katie, her brother Tristan, and sister Destinee travel from back in time to the 1893 World’s Fair Chicago in a most remarkable way. On the fairgrounds, they meet L. Frank Baum, six years before he will write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. While trying to find their way back (forward?) home and escaping from a crooked circus owner, the children discover inspirations on the fairgrounds for Mr. Baum’s fantastic tale of the American fairyland.
Josephine and Her Dishwashing Machine by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Sarah Green. Calkins Creek, 2023. 40 pages. Hardcover, $18.99. ISBN 9781635926217.
This children’s picture book for readers 7–10 years old tells the inspiring story of Josephine Garis Cochrane, who invented the dishwasher. The “entrepreneur, innovator, girlboss” from Shelbyville, Illinois, exhibited her creation in the Inventions Room of the Woman’s Building.