An Archive of Past Events
Relating to the 1893 World’s Fair
Sept. 24, 2020: “Designed to Dazzle and Delight” Olmsted and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (online)
On Thursday, September 24, 2020, The National Association for Olmsted Parks will host Chicago parks historian Julia Bachrach, who will offer a lecture "Designed to Dazzle and Delight" about landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The special program will be help at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time using Zoom. Advance registration is required.
Sept 18, 2020 and after-1893 World’s Fair Walking Tours (Chicago Architecture Center)
Beginning September 18, 2020, the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) is offering "1893 World's Fair" family walking tours. Although the World’s Columbian Exposition fairgrounds were located south of downtown Chicago and in mostly temporary buildings, there are sites downtown—still standing today—that date from the Fair and highlight its impact. For $99 per family, enjoy a safe walking tour experience lasting 45−60 minutes with one of the CAC’s expertly trained Education Guides. The CAC also offers a regular "White City Revisited" tour in and around Jackson Park.
Sept. 15, 2020: World’s Fair Auction #37 closes
Columbian Exposition collectors may be interested in World’s Fair Auction #37, now open for preview. Online bidding closes on Tuesday, September 15, 2020. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 22 through 57 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include several products commemorating various building of the White City: numerous Columbian Exposition coins and medals; a colorful box for the Picture Puzzles of the "Mines Building"; a letter on Illinois Board of World's Fair Commissioners stationery dated Feb. 6th, 1894; a complete set of 12 Koehler postal cards; and much more. World’s Fair Auction [...]
Aug 27, 2020: “Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair” online presentation (Chicago Detours)
Chicago Detours will be offering a virtual tour of the World's Columbian Exposition fairgrounds on Thurs, August 27, starting at 6 pm (central time). The 50-minute virtual tour led via Zoom shares the inventions, engineering feats, and gastronomical exhibits that wowed visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair. Tickets for the online event can be purchased for $15 at https://chicagodetours.rezdy.com/406501/wonders-of-the-1893-world-s-fair
Aug. 11, 2020: “Britannia Visits the White City”: the Peter family and the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 (Washington D.C.)
What was it like to attend the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago? A first-hand account from Martha Washington’s great-grandchild is the basis of “Britannia Visits the White City,” a lecture sponsored by the DAR Museum in Washington on August 11, 2020. Washington descendant Britannia W. Kennon, a seventy-eight-year-old owner of the Georgetown estate of Tudor Place, spent a week with her family at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Her surviving letters and postcards in the archives of Tudor Place Historic House & Garden will be the basis of this talk by curator Grant Quertermous. “Britannia Visits the [...]
June 13, 2020: LGBT Chicago History in 1893 (Virtual Tour)
To celebrate Pride month, Chicago Detours is offering an "LGBT CHICAGO HISTORY IN 1893 VIRTUAL TOUR" on Saturday, June 13, 2020, at 2:30 pm. This special tour was intended to be a walking tour in the Chicago Loop, but instead will be available as an online program and open to everyone. The tour will explore stories of gay and lesbian history from the 19th-century, set against the backdrop of the 1893 World’s Fair Tour. While digging into how and why the World’s Columbian Exposition still captures imaginations more than 125 years later, the virtual tour will illuminate the LGBT [...]
CANCELLED May 30, 2020: Ride Like the Devil in a “Devil in the White City” Bike Tour (Chicago)
This event has been cancelled. The Chicago History Museum is offering a “Ride Like the Devil: a Devil in the White City Bike Tour” on Saturday, May 30, 2019, from 9:45 am to 12:45 pm. Cycle back to 1893, pedal past sites related to the World’s Fair, and discover its lasting influence on Chicago. Along the way, tour guide Greg Borzo, author of Where to Bike Chicago, will uncover Daniel Burnham’s grand plans and the devilish doings of H. H. Holmes. The route will take riders past the site of one of the greatest attractions of the Columbian Exposition, [...]
May 28, 2020: “Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair Part 2” Virtual Historic Happy Hour (Chicago Detours)
Grab a refreshment of choice and join Chicago Detours for a Historic Happy Hour on Thurs, May 28, when the theme is “Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair Part 2.” Executive Director, Amanda, will offer a virtual tour of the World's Columbian Exposition and highlight the industrial, engineering, and gastronomical inventions that wowed visitors to Chicago's White City. The even runs from 6-6:30 pm CST. The event is free but requires registration.
May 20, 2020: A Tale of Two Fairs (Chicago Architecture Center)
Forty years after the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago again hosted the world for the Century of Progress. Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) docent Ellen Shubart will compare the two—and explain why one is talked about so much more often than the other today—in a video lecture "A Tale of Two Fairs" at 7 pm on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. The program will be hosted on Zoom; registered guests will receive an email directly from Zoom on the day of the program with details about how to access and view it. The cost is $8 for the public and free [...]
May 15, 2020: Virtual Tour of the 1893 World’s Fair (online)
Chicago "history detective" Ray Johnson will offer a virtual tour of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition fairgrounds at 4 pm (Central) on May 15, 2020. The webinar, offered by Vamonde, is free but registration is required.