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 [...]

Aug 8-Oct. 31, 2023: “World’s Finest: Fly-Fishing Tackle” (Monee, IL)

A temporary exhibit featuring some historical fishing from the 1893 World’s Fair will open this fall at the Monee Reservoir Visitor Center in Monee, Illinois. Their exhibit “World’s Finest: Fly-Fishing Tackle” highlights influential anglers, all of whom exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This ongoing program runs from Tuesday, Aug. 8, to Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, at the Visitor Center (27341 S Ridgeland Ave in Monee) and is free. Paintings on display in the Angling Pavilion [...]

By |2023-12-17T08:09:43-06:00July 8th, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

May 3-Aug 27, 2023: “The World Is Changing Exhibit” (Molly Brown House Museum, CO)

Among the amazing array of famous (or soon-to-be-famous) people walking the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago was the Margaret “Molly” Brown. Posthumously known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” she was a survivor of the tragic sinking of the Titanic, while her shipmate Francis (“Frank”) Millet, Director of Decoration and Function at the Columbian Exposition, went down with the ship. A new temporary exhibit about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition has opened at the Molly Brown [...]

By |2023-08-30T18:46:15-05:00May 14th, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

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 |2023-12-28T10:40:29-06:00February 11th, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |1 Comment

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 |2023-11-05T17:55:16-06:00November 19th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments

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 |2023-01-17T17:47:22-06:00August 23rd, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments

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 |2022-10-10T09:01:49-05:00April 16th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments

Jan. 28-Nov. 1, 2022: “No Compact of Silence” exhibit (Indianapolis)

The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis has a new special exhibit highlighting national and local Black civil rights activists during President Benjamin Harrison’s term in office (1889–1893). “No ‘Compact of Silence’: Black Civil Rights Advocates in the Harrison Era” explores the complex dynamics of race in late 19th century America, including the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Prominent individuals who will be featured include Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells. April 1890, President Harrison officially signed an [...]

By |2022-11-11T09:05:02-06:00January 17th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , , |0 Comments

Sept. 24, 2021: “Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright” (Chicago)

An exhibit at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago explores two lost architectural masterworks: the Garrick Theatre Building in Chicago designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Building in Buffalo. Curated by John Vinci, Tim Samuelson, Eric Nordstrom, Chris Ware and Jonathan D. Katz, “Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright” uses fragments, drawings, photography, and narrative to elucidate the life and death of these two iconic buildings. The first section of the [...]

Jun. 19, 2021–Jan. 9, 2022: “Chicago: When the Comics Came to Life” (Chicago Cultural Center)

Chicago’s role in the development of the early comic strip is the focus of a temporary exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center. Curated by artist and author Chris Ware, and Chicago Cultural Historian Emeritus, Tim Samuelson, “Chicago: When the Comics Came to Life” features the works of prominent Chicago artists and publishers from circa 1880 to 1960, with most artifacts coming from the curators’ personal collections. The vibrant and colorful story of the history of comics runs through the [...]

By |2022-01-25T07:43:20-06:00October 24th, 2021|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: , |0 Comments
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