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 |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)

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 |2025-04-11T09:42:05-05:00March 25th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , , |0 Comments

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

Mar. 24, 2025: “Fashion, Ferris Wheels, and Film: Dressing Women for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” (Crest Hill, IL)

The White Oak Library District Crest Hill Branch is hosting a talk on “Fashion, Ferris Wheels, and Film: Dressing Women for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” on March 24, 2025, at 7 pm. Kelli Marshall of Chicago Movie Tours will discuss how women navigated societal expectations while dressing for a day of excitement at one of America’s first amusement parks. Through the use of original photographs, vintage newspaper articles, and a virtual reality Ferris Wheel experience, she will explore [...]

By |2025-04-11T09:42:44-05:00March 3rd, 2025|Categories: EVENTS (past)|2 Comments

Jan. 25, 2025: “At Home at the Fair: Chicago Artists at the World’s Columbian Exposition” (Chicago)

The Vanderpoel Art Association will host a presentation “At Home at the Fair: Chicago Artists at the World’s Columbian Exposition” on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 1 p.m. Independent art historian Wendy Greenhouse will discuss what Chicago’s fine artists brought to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Although little noticed at the time and in posterity, Chicagoans contributed to the decoration of the exposition’s buildings and grounds and submitted significant paintings and sculptures to the vast but exclusive art exhibition [...]

By |2025-03-18T12:08:06-05:00January 15th, 2025|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments

Jan 14, 2025: World’s Fair Auction #46 closes

World’s Fair Auction #46 is now open, and online bidding closes at 10:00 PM EST on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 6 through 36 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include: an invitation to the Dedication Day ceremonies; a china plate made in Germany depicting the Agricultural Building; a Marshall Field & Company silk showing the Court of Honor; a large selection of medals, coins, badges, and spoons; [...]

By |2025-01-15T18:46:00-06:00January 5th, 2025|Categories: ANTIQUES, EVENTS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

Dec. 6-28, 2024: Joffrey Ballet’s “Columbian Nutcracker” (Chicago)

A festive Ferris Wheel, a Dream City, a flurry of snow, dancing dragons, dancing nuts, and dancing rats! It's that time of the year for Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet to stage their spectacular annual production of The Nutcracker, with story set on the fairgrounds of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Performances run from December 6-28, 2023, at the Lyric Opera House (20 N. Wacker Dr. in Chicago) This ballet by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, which premiered in 2016, invites the audience to [...]

By |2025-01-15T18:46:20-06:00November 6th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments

Nov. 9, 2024: “H. H. Holmes & New Links to Chicago & the White City” (Hazel Crest, IL, and online)

The South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society (SSGHS) will host a presentation on “H. H. Holmes & New Links to Chicago & the White City” at their meeting on Saturday, November 9, 2024. Guest speaker Ray Johnson, known as “The History Cop,” will discuss his research into new links between killer H. H. Holmes and Thomas B. Bryan and Daniel H. Burnham, and a possible link to a swindle in England. The society meeting will take place from 10–11 [...]

By |2025-01-20T09:40:51-06:00November 3rd, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Nov. 17, 2024: “MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great World’s Fairs” (Overland Park, KS)

Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will present MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great “World’s Fairs” on November 17, 2024, in Overland Park, KS. This concerts is a spectacular musical celebration of the legendary world’s fairs, including the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. Music played a key role in these international festivals, launching both hit songs and the illustrious careers of many American musicians. This [...]

By |2025-01-15T18:47:06-06:00October 17th, 2024|Categories: AUDIO, EVENTS (past)|2 Comments

Oct. 23, 2024: Columbian Exposition food and lecture (Sewickly, PA)

The Sewickly Valley Historical Society (SVHS) in Sewickly, Pennsylvania, will host an evening of 1893 World’s Fair events on October 23, 2024. “A Bite of History: Chicago Columbian Exposition Edition” and a lecture on “From the Steel City to the White City” are part of their 2024–2025 Program Series. The evening will start at 5:30 pm with SVHS Executive Director, Amanda Schaffer as she introduces the foods being offered and their history with the 1893 Fair and beyond. Attendees [...]

By |2025-01-15T18:47:25-06:00October 15th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments
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