Feb. 4 – Dec. 23, 2023: “Viking’s Voyage” (Geneva History Museum, IL)

One of the largest surviving display artifacts of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition sits in a park in Geneva, Illinois. The Viking ship, a replica of the ancient Viking ship Gokstad, was built in Norway in 1892 and sailed to Chicago in 1893, surviving a long and dangerous non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1995, the ship has stood in Good Templar Park in Geneva, Illinois, and now is managed and preserved by the Friends of The Viking [...]

By Scott|2023-12-28T10:40:29-06:00February 11th, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |1 Comment
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Dec. 10-11, 2022: “Sophia Hayden Deserves Better” play reading (Normal, IL)

In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building the Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging, and undermining until she finally spoke up. In a time when women were defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men, her concerns were not only not heard, [...]

By Scott|2023-01-17T17:46:43-06:00December 3rd, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Dec. 3-27, 2022: Joffrey Ballet’s “Columbian Nutcracker” (Chicago)

Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet once again will stage their spectacular production of The Nutcracker, with story set on the fairgrounds of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Performances run from December 3-7, 2022, 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 … “journey inside Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair ... when young Marie and her mother, a sculptress who is creating the fair’s iconic Statue of [...]

By Scott|2023-12-17T08:08:42-06:00November 26th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Nov. 3, 2022–Oct. 28, 2023: “The City Beyond the White City” (Charnley-Persky House Museum, Chicago)

A new exhibition explores the history of race and the built environment in Chicago through archaeology connecting the “White City” of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition to the material, spatial, and social histories of two 1892 structures—the Charnley-Persky House and the Mecca Flats—located respectively on Chicago’s privileged Near North and disinvested Near South Sides. The City Beyond the White City: Race, Two Chicago Homes, and their Neighborhoods, sponsored by the Charnley-Persky House Museum Foundation and Society of Architectural Historians [...]

By Scott|2023-11-05T17:55:16-06:00November 19th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Nov 3, 2022: “MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great World’s Fairs” (Williamsport, PA)

Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will present MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great “World’s Fairs” on November 3, 2022. 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 the success of all these international festivals, launching both hit songs and the illustrious careers of many American musicians (including Scott Joplin and Sousa). [...]

By Scott|2022-11-11T09:04:34-06:00October 12th, 2022|Categories: AUDIO, EVENTS (past)|0 Comments
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Oct. 6-20, 2022: “Olmsted in Chicago: Iconic Greenspaces and the 1893 White City” (online seminar)

To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr, the Newberry Library is hosting a seminar on "Olmsted in Chicago: Iconic Greenspaces and the 1893 White City." The online seminar will run for three Thursday sessions from 6-8pm on October 6, 13, and 20. Hosting the sminar will be Julia Bachrach, consulting historian and preservationist and author of The City in a Garden: A History of Chicago’s Parks, and Rebecca S. Graff, Associate [...]

By Scott|2022-12-10T09:57:13-06:00August 24th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Aug. 20-Dec. 22, 2022: An exhibit of Korean Fashion from the 1893 World’s Fair (Washington, D.C.)

After centuries of relative isolation, Korea opened its borders to international trade and diplomacy in 1876, but for years the country remained little known outside of Asia. Korea’s participation in the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 changed that. Visitors to the Korean pavilion were dazzled by the colorful displays of traditional clothing (hanbok), such as embroidered silk jackets and robes made for the Joseon royal court. South Korea's emergence as a pop culture powerhouse and one of the most [...]

By Scott|2023-01-17T17:47:22-06:00August 23rd, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments
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Sept 10, 2022: 1893 Chicago’s Columbian Exposition doc film premiere (Chicago)

A new full-length documenary film 1893 Chicago's Columbian Exposition will have it theatrical premier on September 10th, 2022, at 5 pm. The event is in coordination with the Design Museum of Chicago and will be held at Chicago Filmmakers (1326 W. Hollywood Ave. in Chicago). A $10 donation is requested. Following the screening will be a demonstration on the patio of a World's Fair augmented reality project. For more information on the film, related book and music, and the [...]

By Scott|2022-10-10T08:06:40-05:00August 22nd, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), NEWS, VIDEO|0 Comments
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Sept. 11, 2022: “Walking the White City” tour (Chicago)

The Glessner House is offering a "Walking the White City" tour of the former fairgrounds of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition on Sunday, September 11, 2022, from 10 AM to noon. Architect and historian John Waters will guide participants on a walking tour of Jackson Park to see the sites of landmarks of the 1893 World's Fair, explore the fascinating vestiges, and learn how the Fair influenced the design of Jackson Park as we know it today. The tour [...]

By Scott|2022-10-10T08:06:54-05:00August 11th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Aug. 19-21, 2022: “Sangamon Songs” Musical Play Tells of Illinois Boy Who Visited the 1893 World’s Fair (Skokie, IL)

A diary written by a 16-year-old Illinois boy who visited the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago is the source material for Sangamon Songs: A Musical Play by Tom Irwin and John W. Arden. The show will be performed at the Skokie Theatre for Performing Arts on August 19-21, 2022. After discovering Harry Glen Ludlam’s journal in his family farmhouse, Tom Irwin began composing an acoustic song cycle about late-nineteenth-century life of a teenager in a small town in Central [...]

By Scott|2022-08-23T08:06:14-05:00July 24th, 2022|Categories: AUDIO, EVENTS (past), THEATER|0 Comments
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Limited-time 1893 World’s Fair menu at Next Restaurant (Chicago)

The award-winning Next restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop explores gourmet cuisine with menus and dining experiences that change completely a few times a year. Their Spring 2022 epicurean offering is a World’s Fair menu that explores the world of impossible innovations. “Light bulbs and Ferris wheels. Confidence and gumption—the pillars to the global ingenuity of 1893.” For a visual sampling, check out their video. Next (953 W. Fulton Market in Chicago) offers prix fixe meals ($165–$275 per person) by [...]

By Scott|2022-10-10T08:07:25-05:00May 31st, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments
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June 17-18, 2022: Celebrate Olmsted 200 in Chicago

April 26, 2022, marks the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, social reformer and visionary founder of American landscape architecture. In June, the Olmsted 200 celebration reaches Chicago with a Olmsted Bicentennial Gala from 7– 9 PM on Friday, June 17, at the Glessner House (1800 S Prairie Ave. in Chicago). On Saturday, June 18, at 10 AM, an "Inspired by Olmsted" carillon concert at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel (5850 S. Woodlawn Avenue in Chicago) and the [...]

By Scott|2022-08-11T15:26:31-05:00May 30th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments
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June 25, 2022: Devil in the White City Bus Tour (Chicago)

Experience the murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America on a 4-hour bus tour offered by the Chicago History Museum on Saturday, June 25, 2022. Inspired by Erik Larson’s best-selling book (soon to be a miniseries), this tour will take you back to 1893 with historian Al Walavich, to follow the trails of Daniel Burnham and the devilish doings of H. H. Holmes. Visit the historic fairgrounds, the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park, and discover what has [...]

By Scott|2025-01-30T18:40:41-06:00April 25th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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Feb. 25-Jun. 25, 2022: “Crossings: Mapping American Journeys” (Newberry Library, Chicago)

A map of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition fairgrounds is part of a new exhibit at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Maps, guidebooks, travelogues, postcards, and more from the Library’s collection recreate travelers’ experiences along the northern and southern borders of the US, across the continent’s interior, and up and down the Mississippi River. “Crossings: Mapping American Journeys” includes an enlarged print of the Indexed Guide Map and Key to the World’s Fair Buildings, Grounds, and Exhibits from the [...]

By Scott|2022-10-10T09:01:49-05:00April 16th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Apr. 28, 2022: “From Fair to Field: The Field Museum’s Roots in the Columbian Exposition” (Northfield, IL)

Thursday, April 28, 2022, the Winnetka-Northfield Library District will host Mark Alvey, speaking on "From Fair to Field: The Field Museum's Roots in the Columbian Exposition." Mr. Alvey of the Field Museum will present a talk on the origin of the Field Columbian Museum, which opened in June 1894, with approximately 50,000 objexts from the 1893 World's Fair. The event runs from 7-8 PM in the Northfield Library (1785 Orchard Lane in Northfield, IL) and is free and open [...]

By Scott|2024-01-07T08:47:12-06:00April 8th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Mar 29, 2022: “Daniel Burnham: Make No Little Plans” (Council Bluffs, IA)

Historical dramatist R.J. Lindsey will become Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the 1893 World's Fair, in a living history program at the Council Bluffs Public Library on March 29, 2022. In "Daniel Burnham: Make No Little Plans," the famed Chicago architect narrates a slide program, including many photographs, detailing the Chicago Fire of 1871, the building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition, and the Chicago Development Plan of 1909. He will also discuss several of his innovative buildings: [...]

By Scott|2023-08-05T08:36:54-05:00March 27th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments
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Mar. 27, 2022: “Sophia Hayden Deserves Better” play reading (Barrington, IL)

In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building the Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging, and undermining until she finally spoke up. In a time when women were defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men, her concerns were not only not heard, [...]

By Scott|2022-04-07T13:07:03-05:00March 24th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Apr. 14, 2022: “The Fire at the Fair” (Northfield, IL)

Thursday, April 14, 2022, the Winnetka-Northfield Library District will host "Chicago History Cop" Raymond Johnson, speaking on "The Fire at the Fair." Mr. Johnson will present his research on tragic fire at the Cold Storage Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and his  surprising discovery at the memorial at Chicago’s Oakwoods Cemetery. The event runs from 7-8 PM in the Northfield Library (1785 Orchard Lane in Northfield, IL) and is free and open to the public. Registration is [...]

By Scott|2024-01-07T08:47:03-06:00March 19th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments
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Apr. 7, 2022: “The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism During Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair” (Winnetka, IL)

Thursday, April 7, 2022, the Winnetka-Northfield Library District will host author and archaeologist Rebecca Graff, speaking on "The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism During Chicago's 1893 World's Fair." Prof. Graff will present research from archaeological sites associated with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The event runs from 7-8 PM in the Winnetka Library (768 Oak Street in Winnetka, IL) and is free and open to the public. Registration is required and capacity is limited. The Ohio Building. [Image [...]

By Scott|2024-01-07T08:46:57-06:00March 18th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments
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Apr. 4, 2022: “Chicago Exposition 1893” at Lewiston Auburn Senior College (ME)

What do Milton Hershey, L. Frank Baum, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick Law Olmsted, Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla and a host of other have in common? They were all part of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the topic of a lecture "Chicago Exposition 1893" by Alan Elze offered at Lewiston Auburn Senior College in Lewiston, Maine, on April 4, 2022. The event will be held Lewiston-Auburn Senior College (51 Westminster Street in Lewiston) and is free. [...]

By Scott|2022-04-07T13:07:20-05:00February 26th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past)|0 Comments
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