“No Holmes Barred!” A World’s Fair Radio Show Podcast Concludes

History, hilarity, and histrionics characterize a new satirical radio-show podcast about the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. No Holmes Barred! is written, directed, and produced by Daniel Ciarrocchi (you may have seen him on Jeopardy!) and tells the dual stories of Daniel Burnham’s construction of the fairgrounds in Jackson Park and the bloody trail of murderer H. H. Holmes in nearby Englewood. If this premise sounds like a certain best-selling work of narrative nonfiction that introduced millions of readers [...]

Preserving the Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge in Jackson Park

Very few structures from the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago have survived. One of them has stood in a state of disrepair behind a chain-link fence for fifteen years. The University of Chicago student newspaper, the Chicago Maroon, had provided an update on efforts to repair this historic bridge in Jackson Park. Evgenia Anastasakos’ “Community Members Organize to Preserve Historic Jackson Park Bridge” (August 5, 2024) highlights the efforts of the newly formed Clarence Darrow [...]

By |2024-08-19T20:00:54-05:00August 22nd, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments

Is “The Devil in the White City” TV miniseries still alive?

Deadline’s Zac Ntim recently interviewed Stacey Sher, often listed as show runner for Hulu’s The Devil in the White City TV miniseries that was shelved in March of 2023. Ntim asked Sher “is that still happening and are you still involved?” to which she replied “I’m still involved. I never give up.” When asked if fans can expect to see it sometime soon, she replied “I mean, I hope so. It’s not imminent, but it is not ever far [...]

By |2024-08-21T08:54:18-05:00August 21st, 2024|Categories: NEWS, VIDEO|Tags: |0 Comments

Footprint of the Obama Presidential Center in relation to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park

Construction continues on the Obama Presidential Center on the west side of Jackson Park in Chicago. An update from the Obama Foundation shows a map of the campus, which includes a Museum building, John Lewis Plaza, Forum building, a new branch of the Chicago Public Library, the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit & Vegetable Garden, the Home Court, and a playground. To see how the space occupied by these new structures relates to buildings from the 1893 World’s Fair, check out [...]

By |2024-08-18T15:08:02-05:00August 19th, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments

Long-lost film footage of the 1893 World’s Fair?

Has some long-lost film footage of the 1893 World’s Fair been discovered? Not quite. But this video about a stunning piece of Chicago real estate opens with some fun AI-generated animations of the Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. The video showcases a $3.6M penthouse mansion in the historic Montgomery Ward building (6 N. Michigan Ave.), constructed in 1898–99. [Note: The building across the street—constructed for use by the World’s Congress Auxiliary and which then became the new home of the Art [...]

By |2024-08-17T13:58:17-05:00August 17th, 2024|Categories: NEWS, VIDEO|Tags: |0 Comments

“Big Shoulders” comic series plans to visit the 1893 World’s Fair

“A crossroads is where destinies can get made or broken,” states Big Shoulders #1, the first of a proposed six-issue full-color comic series. This Chicago-based fantasy, where the mundane and the cosmic collide, features twenty-two-year-old Coda Walker waking up and finding himself transported to the 1893 World’s Fair. Two pages (not yet colored) from Big Shoulders #1, showing Coda Walker in front of the Administration Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Art: Scott Gray] Written by John Dudley, [...]

By |2024-06-19T13:49:30-05:00June 19th, 2024|Categories: FICTION, NEWS|0 Comments

Famous World’s Fair Name on “Jeopardy!”

“Famous Names” served as the Final Jeopardy category on the June 12, 2024, episode of Jeopardy! The answer was: “Vying with Eiffel, this engineer wanted to create big; an admiring account said the Obelisk of Luxor is too short to be a spoke.” Two of the contestants came up with correct question of is “Who is Ferris?” Pittsburgh engineer George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., designed his great iron wheel for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The Ferris Wheel [...]

By |2024-06-17T21:23:10-05:00June 17th, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

(Re)Introducing the Dana Palace of Fine Arts

Dear Mr. Burnham, Please take a look at the attached press release drafted by Chief Halsey Ives of the Fine Arts Department. Are we to proceed with this? I urge caution. With concern, Moses P. Handy Publicity and Promotion May 14, 1893 (Re)Introducing the Dana Palace of Fine Arts The World’s Fair is open, the guidebooks are printed, and the maps are distributed. And yet, winds of change are blowing through the Windy City. The Palace of Fine Arts [...]

By |2024-05-18T09:48:10-05:00May 18th, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments

Curiosities from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

The University of Illinois has shared some interesting artifacts from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition that are held in the University Archives and campus libraries. The article by Nicole Cazley and Kim Schmidt features the University of Illinois Guest Register, a pass book for a member of John Philip Sousa’s band, a guidebook, a Certificate of Visitation [read more about these rare souvenirs here], a topographic map display, and stereograph cards. Read the article here: https://storied.illinois.edu/curiosities-1893-chicago-worlds-fair/ [...]

By |2024-04-28T07:01:36-05:00April 28th, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments
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