“Devil in the White City” is top-10 Illinois Book

Erik Larson’s 2003 best-selling book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America ignited a passion for the 1893 World’s Fair in countless readers. The title recently earned a spot in the list of top-10 books with links to Illinois. Larson’s historical non-fiction thriller tells parallel stories about the monumental efforts of Daniel Burnham to build the White City in Jackson Park and the monstrous exploits of serial killer H. H. Holmes [...]

By |2023-08-05T08:33:34-05:00June 11th, 2018|Categories: NEWS, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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Meat Free Since ’93: National Vegetarian Museum tours Chicago

Did you know that Chicago became an epicenter for vegetarianism in the late 1800s? This question open the display of the National Vegetarian Museum exhibit currently touring the Chicago region. Did you also know that it happened at the 1893 World’s Fair? In early June of 1893, vegetarians from around the world gathered in Chicago, "hog butcher for the world," as part of the World's Congress program of the Columbian Exposition. “Fresh countenances and sturdy frames characterized most of [...]

By |2018-05-31T09:44:08-05:00May 31st, 2018|Categories: EXHIBITS (current), NEWS|Tags: , , |1 Comment
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Vienna Beef History Museum opens in Chicago

We have not yet reached the dog days of summer, but Chicago is already celebrating its most famous dog, with the opening of the Vienna Beef History Museum. The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition launched the careers of many now-famous food items, including shredded wheat, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, chili, brownies, and one of Chicago’s iconic bites: the hot dog. The Vienna beef hot dog made its debut at the World’s Fair at a stand operated by Austrian-Hungarian immigrants Emil [...]

By |2023-04-09T08:56:33-05:00May 31st, 2018|Categories: EXHIBITS (current), NEWS, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , |2 Comments
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Video about the Marquette Building murals

The lobby of the Marquette Building in Chicago. The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, includes many items associated with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in their extensive collection. They recently posted a video about the stunning Tiffany glass-tile mural in Chicago’s historic Marquette Building, noting its own connection to the Chicago World’s Fair: "At the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, architects William Holabird and Martin Roche found in the glass of Tiffany Studios [...]

By |2018-05-25T15:58:08-05:00May 17th, 2018|Categories: NEWS, VISUAL ARTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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“Shock of the New: The Legacy of the 1893 World’s Fair” on BackStory

On May 11, the American history podcast BackStory released episode #0238, an hour-long exploration of the Columbian Exposition titled “Shock of the New: The Legacy of the 1893 World’s Fair.” Hosts Ed Ayers, Nathan Connolly, and Joanne Freeman invite listeners to visit the fairgrounds starting with a segment called “Dreaming Bigger.” Historian Bernie Carlson then explores the role of electricity at the fair in “Electric Feel.” Purdue University Associate Professor & Director Women's Studies Tracey Jean Boisseau highlights the [...]

By |2022-10-08T09:32:36-05:00May 13th, 2018|Categories: AUDIO, NEWS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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How Chicago beat New York to get the 1893 World’s Fair

Colleen Connolly’s piece “How Chicago beat New York to get the 1893 World’s Fair” in the May 11 Chicago Tribune provides a short history of Chicago’s effort to win the bid to host the World’s Columbian Exposition. Testimony by Republican Rep. Robert Hitt of Illinois before the House of Representatives in February 1890 argued for holding the event in Chicago, then a city only 53 years old: “The people of Chicago are unanimous, hearty, enthusiastic; no word of bickering, no [...]

By |2022-04-29T18:38:58-05:00May 12th, 2018|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , |2 Comments
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“Hamilton: The Exhibition” Coming to Chicago

125 years after the World’s Columbian Exhibition closed in Chicago, Hamilton: The Exhibition, will open in this city. Broadway World reports that the interactive exhibit, which uses the smash musical Hamilton to tell the story of the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America, will open in Chicago on November 17, 2018. What comes next is a tour of other U.S. cities. The Chicago Tribune reports that the producer of the Broadway show, Jeffrey Seller, [...]

By |2022-03-05T10:19:35-06:00May 7th, 2018|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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What’s Left of the World’s Columbian Exposition?

“On its 125th birthday, what’s left from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition?” asked the Chicago Sun-Times this week. They note four remnants: the Palace of Fine Arts (rebuilt and now the Museum of Science and Industry); the Wooded Island; an original ticket booth now standing in Oak Park; and the 1918 “Golden Lady” statue, which is a reduced replica of the original 65-foot “Big Mary” Statue of the Republic. Their map of Jackson Park, allowing you to slide between 1893 and [...]

By |2020-06-21T13:34:18-05:00April 28th, 2018|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , , , , |5 Comments
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A Google Doodle for the Columbian Exposition’s 125th Anniversary?

During the centennial of the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1993, Google did not exist. How times have changed. The main Google search page usually features a “Google Doodle.” These temporary re-designs of the iconic Google logo commemorate people, events, holidays, and other notable anniversaries of the day. Clicking the image takes browsers to more information on the subject of the doodle. Since the practice began in 1998, Google has honored several people associated with the 1893 World’s Fair. Doodles [...]

By |2018-04-20T21:24:01-05:00April 20th, 2018|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Artifacts of the 1893 World’s Fair Unearthed in Jackson Park

The Chicago Tribune reports that archaeologists have unearthed artifacts of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. In late 2017, researchers working for the Illinois State Archaeological Survey excavated seven sites in the area of the proposed Obama Presidential Center (OPC). Dig locations were on the west side of Jackson Park as well as in the eastern edge of the Midway Plaisance, where a parking garage for the OPC was at the time planned but has since been scrapped. [...]

By |2022-04-29T18:38:28-05:00March 24th, 2018|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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