Scott, Author at Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

May 29–Jun. 1, 2025: Chicago Steampunk Exposition
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May 29–Jun. 1, 2025: Chicago Steampunk Exposition

EVENTS, NEWS

May 29–Jun. 1, 2025: Chicago Steampunk Exposition

What do you get when you combine a World’s Fair with retro-futuristic imagination? The Chicago Steampunk Exposition! For 2025, the convention theme of “The Curse of Cthulhu” will add a dimension of Lovecraftian weird horror. Throughout the weekend of May 29–June 1, 2025, the Expo will host talks, workshops, activities, and shopping for steampunk enthusiasts who enjoy imagining an alternate World’s Columbian Exposition with Gilded Age gothic adventures. The weekend includes live-action role-playing games; an afternoon tea; an Underground [...]

By Scott|2025-05-04T17:10:50-05:00May 4th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS, NEWS|0 Comments

Apr. 22, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Carol Stream, IL)
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Apr. 22, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Carol Stream, IL)

EVENTS

Apr. 22, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Carol Stream, IL)

Author Cindy Angell Keeling will offer a fascinating introduction to the spectacular Chicago World’s Fair in her presentation “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Carol Stream, Illinois. In this entertaining presentation, Cindy will take you on a tour of the fairgrounds using vintage photographs, maps, and artwork. Which building had the most ostentatious dome? What in the world is “staff,” and why was it important to the Fair? [...]

By Scott|2025-03-25T15:29:43-05:00April 2nd, 2025|Categories: EVENTS|0 Comments

The biggest building in the world was at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
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The biggest building in the world was at the 1893 Columbian Exposition

REPRINTS

The biggest building in the world was at the 1893 Columbian Exposition

How big was the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the 1893 World’s Fair? The MLAB was the largest building in the world and the largest roofed building that had ever erected at that time. The south front of the Manufactures Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. At 787 feet wide, this is the shorter end of the mammoth structure. [Image from Picturesque World’s Fair (W.B. Conkey, 1894); digitally edited and © worldsfairchicago1893.com.] At 1687 feet long by [...]

By Scott|2025-03-27T11:06:11-05:00March 28th, 2025|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building|0 Comments

Apr. 26, 2025: Help clean up Jackson Park (Chicago)
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Apr. 26, 2025: Help clean up Jackson Park (Chicago)

EVENTS

Apr. 26, 2025: Help clean up Jackson Park (Chicago)

Jackson Park is hallowed ground for 1893 World’s Fair enthusiasts. To honor Earth Day, Friends of the Parks is sponsoring a clean-up day in Jackson Park and other Chicago parks on Saturday, April 26, 2025. This marks the 40th anniversary of Friends of the Parks’ citywide Earth Day cleanups. Whether you love spending time in Jackson Park or have never before visited, we invite you to join us on a team of volunteers to clean up Jackson Park East. [...]

By Scott|2025-04-11T09:45:12-05:00March 27th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS|Tags: Jackson Park, Midway Plaisance|0 Comments

Apr. 8, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Hinsdale, IL)
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Apr. 8, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Hinsdale, IL)

EVENTS (past)

Apr. 8, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Hinsdale, IL)

Author Cindy Angell Keeling will offer a fascinating introduction to the spectacular Chicago World’s Fair in her presentation “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Hinsdale, Illinois. In this entertaining presentation, Cindy will take you on a tour of the fairgrounds using vintage photographs, maps, and artwork. Which building had the most ostentatious dome? What in the world is “staff,” and why was it important to the Fair? Which [...]

By Scott|2025-04-11T09:41:44-05:00March 26th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments

Mar. 27–29, 2025: World’s Fair Women in “The Mammy Project” (Blue Lake, CA)
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Mar. 27–29, 2025: World’s Fair Women in “The Mammy Project” (Blue Lake, CA)

EVENTS (past), THEATER

Mar. 27–29, 2025: World’s Fair Women in “The Mammy Project” (Blue Lake, CA)

Nancy Green and Ida B. Wells, two women who played important and diverse roles in the 1893 World’s Fair, are the subject of a performance by Michelle Matlock playing in Blue Lake, CA, on Mar. 27–29, 2025. The Mammy Project, written and performed by Michelle Matlock, unearths the gritty truth behind the century-old icon of Aunt Jemima. This bandanna-wearing superstar of minstrel shows, Hollywood epics, and the breakfast nook is reimagined from her dark roots in the antebellum South, [...]

By Scott|2025-04-11T09:42:05-05:00March 25th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: Aunt Jemima, Ida B. Wells, Nancy Green|0 Comments

The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair
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The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair

Chicago is abuzz about “Myth and Marble,” a fabulous new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago running from March 15 to June 29, 2025. On display are fifty-eight magnificent sculptures of gods and goddesses, emperors and funerary monuments. All come from the Torlonia Collection of Rome, one of the world’s finest private collections of Greco-Roman antiquities. The artwork has been out of the public view for most of the past century. Statue of Athena from the Torlonia [...]

By Scott|2025-03-18T13:49:35-05:00March 21st, 2025|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Minerva, Palace of Fine Arts, sculpture, staff, W. D. Richardson|0 Comments

Apr. 12, 2025: “Daniel Burnham’s Chicago” (Glen Ellyn, IL)
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Apr. 12, 2025: “Daniel Burnham’s Chicago” (Glen Ellyn, IL)

EVENTS

Apr. 12, 2025: “Daniel Burnham’s Chicago” (Glen Ellyn, IL)

He was one of Chicago’s greatest architects and served as Director of Works for the 1893 World’s Fair. Daniel Burnham will be portrayed by Terry Lynch in a presentation on April 12, 2025, sponsored by the Glen Ellyn Historical Society. Guests of “Daniel Burnham’s Chicago – A Dramatic Portrayal by Terry Lynch” will experience the grandeur of the Columbian Exposition and learn about its origins, exhibits, and the people and politics involved in creating the White City. As Burnham, [...]

By Scott|2025-03-18T14:47:04-05:00March 20th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS|Tags: Daniel Burnham|0 Comments

Mar. 22, 2025: “Bertha Honoré Palmer – A Life in Three Acts” (Glen Ellyn, IL)
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Mar. 22, 2025: “Bertha Honoré Palmer – A Life in Three Acts” (Glen Ellyn, IL)

EVENTS (past)

Mar. 22, 2025: “Bertha Honoré Palmer – A Life in Three Acts” (Glen Ellyn, IL)

She was “The Queen of Chicago” and “The Queen of the Fair” in 1893. Bertha Honoré Palmer is the subject of a presentation by historian Laurie Russell on March 22, 2025, sponsored by the Glen Ellyn Historical Society. “Bertha Honore’ Palmer – A Life in Three Acts” will examine her legacy and impact on Chicago and around the world. Vintage photographs will illustrate Bertha Palmer’s life from early childhood, her marriage to hotel magnate Potter Palmer, the Great Chicago [...]

By Scott|2025-04-11T09:42:28-05:00March 19th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: Bertha Palmer|0 Comments

“Isn’t it hideous?” Cleveland Caricature is a Columbian Claptrap
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“Isn’t it hideous?” Cleveland Caricature is a Columbian Claptrap

REPRINTS

“Isn’t it hideous?” Cleveland Caricature is a Columbian Claptrap

A flower arrangement made of immortelles (everlastings) at the 1893 World’s Fair intended to depict President Grover Cleveland. The floral display in the Horticultural Building turned heads and turned stomachs. This article in the Chicago Tribune about the “Caricature in Immortelles” included a headline declaring “The Alleged Cleveland Picture in the Horticultural Building an Atrocity.” Under the great dome of the horticultural building, just opposite the main entrance, through which most strangers approached the beautiful display of plants and [...]

By Scott|2025-03-11T11:59:25-05:00March 18th, 2025|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Grover Cleveland, Horticultural Building, John Thorpe|0 Comments

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