On April 29, 1893, gardeners at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held a christening ceremony for a pair of plants. Inside the greenhouse behind the Horticultural Building, they sprinkled water from a can onto the opening blossoms of two petunias, baptizing the large white bloom as “Mrs. Potter Palmer” (named after the President of the Board of Lady Managers) and the black one having one tiny white fleck as “The Burnham” (named after the Director of Works for the [...]
Uncle John rose with the morning sun on April 23, 1893 and made a bee-line for the Horticultural Building on the fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park, Chicago. The opening of the Fair—when President Cleveland would push the button to unfurl the flags along the White City rooftops and release the water to the glorious fountains—was still nine days away. Today, however, the Chief of the Horticultural Department was expecting a throng of visitors to his [...]
Chicago Movie Tours will offer the second of two free "mini matinee" online lectures on Thursday, May 20 at 9:30 AM. "Film Firsts and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: Part II" promises to celebrate the fathers of modern movies and that time they filmed Chicago's famous Ferris wheel. To attend the event, just view their Facebook page at the scheduled time and click on the live video.
Chicago Movie Tours will offer two free "mini matinee" online lectures on Facebook. The first, on Thursday, May 13 at 9:30 AM is "Film Firsts and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: Part I." The presentation will uncover what human eyesight, galloping horses, and a missed Chicago deadline have in common. The second presentation, on Thursday, May 20 at 9:30 AM, is "Film Firsts and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: Part II" which promises to celebrate the fathers of modern [...]
“One of my favorite things in the world is the spatula,” confesses Diane T. Sands, host of the podcast This Fact is Overdue. In the episode “The Spatula and the White City” (March 1, 2021), she shares interesting connections between this simple and useful kitchen utensil and the 1893 World’s Fair. Along the way, listeners will learn about Anna M. Mangin, a young Black woman who invented the pastry fork in 1891. Her invention was exhibited in the New [...]
The Great Chicago Quiz Show on WTTW in Chicago has host Geoffrey Baer asking contestants (including some famous Chicagoans) trivia questions about their city. No program about Chicago history would be complete without at least a few tidbits from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, and Geoffrey asked contestants several , including: • The world’s first Ferris Wheel was a hit at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. In fact, it was so popular that immediately after the [...]
Following a lengthy federal regulatory review, the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) is now preparing for its official groundbreaking in the fall of 2020, and the City of Chicago is beginning pre-construction work in Jackson Park. Updates on the OPC construction can be found at https://www.obama.org/updates/. The OPC campus has several components, all localized in the southwest corner of what was the fairgrounds for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. That space today has a track and football field, playground, bathroom [...]
A new exhibit in Chicago explores an advertising campaign launched at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and only recently ended. ReIMAGINE Aunt Jemima is on display in the lobby of the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library (9525 S Halsted Street in Chicago) from April 28 to July 9, 2021. ReIMAGINE Aunt Jemima on display at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in Chicago. The exhibit centers on the Chicagoans and "living trademarks" Nancy Green and Edith Wilson, [...]
L. Frank Baum, so the legend goes, used his experience visiting the White City of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago as inspiration for the Emerald City in his best-selling children's book of 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. A new documentary film exploring the life and times of Baum has been released as part of the American Experience series on PBS. "American Oz, the True Wizard Behind the Curtain" (aired April 19, 2021) includes a segment featuring Baum's [...]
Wendy Bright’s podcast Cream City~Windy City explores interesting connections between Milwaukee and Chicago. Episode #10, “Frederick Law Olmsted,” (released April 21, 2021) focuses on the “Father of Landscape Architecture.” In 1869, Chicago hired the firm of Olmsted, Vaux & Co. to design a park system on the South Side. Twenty-two years later, Frederick Law Olmsted and his associate Henry Codman redesigned Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance to serve as the fairgrounds for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Around [...]
