Mar. 17, 2023: Hyde Park Historical Society Open House (Chicago)

The Hyde Park Historical Society will host their monthly Open House on Saturday March, 17, 2023, with a theme of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. Visitors are invited to stop by the headquarters at 5529 S. Lake Park Avenue to learn more about the 1893 World’s Fair that took place in nearby Jackson Park. On display will be books, posters, and coloring book pages. You can also test your knowledge of World’s Fair Trivia (and possibly win a prize!) [...]

By |2024-03-28T18:02:41-05:00March 13th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|2 Comments

Mar. 7, 2024: “Chicago: City of Influence — Amusement Parks” (Chicago and online)

Chicago for Chicagoans is hosting a presentation on the history of Amusement Parks for the next offering in their “Chicago: City of Influence” lecture series. On Thursday, March 7, speaker Sam Prestigiacomo will discuss the 1893 World’s Fair as the birthplace of many inventions and the inspiration for many entertainment entrepreneurs. The lecture can be attended in person at a hidden speakeasy in Lakeview (Shhhh! It’s Room 13 at the Old Chicago Inn ... but you need a password [...]

By |2024-03-13T08:53:36-05:00March 6th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments

Mar. 23, 2024: “The Remarkable Women Who Helped Build Chicago” (Glen Ellyn, IL)

Women such as Bertha Palmer played a pivotal role in building the 1893 World’s Fair … and building Chicago. The Glen Ellyn Historical Society will host presentation by Laurie Russell on “Behind the Stars: The Remarkable Women Who Helped Build Chicago” on Saturday, March 23, 2024. The stars on the Chicago flag represent four major events that changed Chicago forever (Ft. Dearborn Massacre, Chicago Fire, World’s Columbian Exposition, and Century of Progress World’s Fair.) This presentation examines how women [...]

By |2025-02-24T18:01:19-06:00February 23rd, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments

Feb. 27, 2024: “Fantastical Dreamscapes: Architectural Wonders and Innovations at World Expos, 1851 to 1911” (Online)

The Farm House Museum at Iowa State University in Ames is hosting an online talk on the architectural designs and building innovations that shaped the first sixty years of international expositions, including the 1893 World's Fair. University of Arizona Professor of Architectural History Lisa D. Schrenk will present "Fantastical Dreamscapes: Architectural Wonders and Innovations at World Expos, 1851 to 1911" on February 27, 2024, from 5- 6 PM (US Central) via Zoom. Using the link above to register for [...]

By |2025-01-20T09:40:43-06:00February 22nd, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments

Feb.-Oct., 2024: “World’s Fairs, Expositions, & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era” (Ames, IA)

The Farm House Museum at Iowa State University in Ames is hosting an exhibition on “World's Fairs, Expositions, & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era” from February through October, 2024. This exhibition illustrates through objects and narrative the earliest World’s Fair in 1851 London, through several in Paris, and the Centennial and World’s Columbian Exhibitions in the United States. The University Museums’ permanent collection includes several objects that were souvenirs of some of the fifteen major World’s Fairs or Expositions [...]

By |2025-01-20T09:41:05-06:00February 22nd, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|0 Comments

Feb 7, 2023: The Viking Ship and the Chicago World’s Fair (online)

Learn about the "Viking Ship and the Chicago World's Fair" at a webinar by Timothy Boyce hosted by NorCham Chicago in collaboration with the Friends of the Viking Ship. This free event will be held vis Zoom on Wednesday, February 7, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. Please register at: https://www.norchamchicago.org/events/the-viking-ship-and-the-chicago-worlds-fair-1

By |2024-02-10T08:49:43-06:00February 4th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

Jan-Dec, 2024: Dress worn at the 1893 World’s Fair on Display (Ripon, WI)

The small city of Ripon, Wisconsin, sent 1,375 of its citizens to experience the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This was one-third of the city’s population at that time, reports the Ripon Press. A dress worn by one Ripon visitor to the World's Fair is a part of the collection at the Ripon Historical Society and is on display through the end of 2024 as part of its “The Stories We Wear” exhibit. The Society, located at 508 [...]

By |2025-01-15T18:49:29-06:00January 28th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|0 Comments

Feb. 10, 2024: “S. S. Christopher Columbus with Todd Gordon” (Plymouth, WI)

A program on the S.S. Christopher Columbus whaleback steamer, used to transport visitors to and from the 1893 World’s Fair, will be sponsored by the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center on Saturday, February 10, 2024. Part of the Center’s “Second Saturdays — Journeys Into Local History” series, “S. S. Christopher Columbus with Todd Gordon” will explore the history of the steamer that was built to ferry passengers from downtown Chicago to the fairgrounds. The only passenger whaleback ever built, [...]

By |2024-03-13T08:54:10-05:00January 12th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

Dec. 2-27, 2023: 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 2-7, 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 |2023-12-28T10:39:24-06:00November 4th, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments

Sep. 14, 2023 – Jan. 13, 2024: Harriet Monroe & the Open Door (Chicago)

The temporary exhibition Harriet Monroe & the Open Door at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago showcases the fascinating line connecting today’s world-renowned poetry magazine back to a poem written for the 1893 World’s Fair. Archival documents and photographs on display with accompanying descriptive texts tell the story of Harriet Monroe, her “Columbian Ode” poem, and the landmark copyright lawsuit that helped launch Poetry magazine. Part of the exhibition display for Harriet Monroe & the Open Door at the [...]

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