An Archive of Past Events
Relating to the 1893 World’s Fair
Dec. 8: 125th Anniversary Celebration at the Art Institute of Chicago
December 8 is a full day for Columbian Exposition enthusiasts in Chicago! If you don’t already plan to attend the World’s Fair symposium at the Newberry Library or the talk on the White City at the Bezazian Library, you can check out the 125th anniversary celebration at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). To celebrate their anniversary, the AIC invites everyone to join in a recreation of this 1893 opening day photo from their archives. Just meet at the Michigan Avenue front steps of the museum, between the Edward Kemeys' iconic lions, “On the prowl” and “Stands in an [...]
Dec. 4, 2018: “Christmas at the Fair: The Joffrey’s New Nutcracker” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Tuesday, December 4, 2018, the Newberry will host “Christmas at the Fair: The Joffrey's New Nutcracker”. A special conversation with Alison Hinderliter, Ashley Wheater, and Hedy Weiss about the Joffrey Ballet’s 2018 production of The Nutcracker, set during the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The lecture runs from 6-7:30 pm in Ruggles Hall at the Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. [...]
Dec. 1-30, 2018: Joffrey Ballet’s World’s Fair “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 1 to 30 at the Auditorium Theater. This new ballet by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, which premiered in 2016, invites the audience to … “journey inside Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair with Wheeldon’s critically acclaimed holiday masterpiece. When young Marie and her mother, a sculptress who is creating the fair’s iconic Statue of the Republic, host a holiday party, a surprise visit from the charming Great Impresario sets off a Christmas Eve dream of whirlwind romance [...]
Nov. 15, 2018: “From White City to Green Haven: Jackson Park’s Late 19th-Century Transformations” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Thursday, November 15, 2018, the Newberry will host “From White City to Green Haven: Jackson Park's Late 19th-Century Transformations”. Historian Julia Bachrach will highlight the early development of Jackson Park, exploring the ways in which natural features, Olmsted’s philosophies about society, recreational needs and expectations, and collaborations with designers such as architect Daniel H. Burnham shaped Jackson Park during the late nineteenth century. The lecture runs from 6-7 pm in Ruggles Hall at the Newberry [...]
Nov. 10, 2018: “Middle Eastern Dance at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Saturday, November 10, 2018, the Newberry will host two events about Middle Eastern Dance. “Dancing Remains: Female Entertainers Before, During, and After the Columbian Exposition of 1893”. Meiver de la Cruz, Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Oberlin College, revisits the historical precedents and ideological legacy of the dances presented at the “Street in Cairo” exhibit in the Midway Plaisance, to challenge prevalent representations dancers as non-agential objects of the gaze. The lecture runs from [...]
Nov. 10, 2018: “Crafting the World’s Fair” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Saturday, November 10, 2018, the Newberry will host “Crafting the World's Fair” [https://www.newberry.org/11102018-second-saturday-november-crafting-worlds-fair]. Author and artist Laura Nyman Montenegro will read her book The Most Magical World’s Fair and lead children in a craft project inspired by the Fair. The children’s event runs from 10-11:30am in 1-Northwest at the Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is recommended.
Nov. 6, 2018: “Eye of the Beholder: Visitor Experience at 19th-Century World Fairs” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, the Newberry will host “Eye of the Beholder: Visitor Experience at 19th-Century World Fairs”. Dr. Ruth Slatter, lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Hull (UK), will focus on the many thousands of visitors who streamed through these exhibition spaces. The lecture runs from 6-7 pm in Ruggles Hall at the Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is [...]
Nov. 2, 2018: World Premier of Alex Temple’s “Three Principles of Noir”
Composer Alex Temple [Image from the American Composers Orchestra.] The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) will perform the world premiere a piece having a time-traveling science fiction narrative centered around a Chicago historian who travels back in time to the 1893 World's Fair. The ensemble will perform Alex Temple's Three Principles of Noir with singer Meaghan Burke, on November 2, 2018, at Carnegie Hall in New York. Three Principles of Noir is a “science-fiction micro-opera” for amplified voice and chamber orchestra with lighting and costume, set in Chicago’s past, present and future. Alex Temple, who graduated with her D.M.A. [...]
Nov. 2, 2018-Jan. 5, 2020: “Brewing Up Chicago” at the Field Museum (Chicago)
The immigrant story behind Chicago’s rich beer history is the focus of a new exhibition that opens on November 2 at the Field Museum in Chicago. History and beer fans visiting Brewing Up Chicago: How Beer Transformed a City will travel through time to learn about Chicago’s founding in 1833 and the decades leading up to the World’s Columbian Exposition 60 years later. (Left) A medal given to the Pabst Brewing Company at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. Adolphus Busch of St. Louis and Frederick Pabst of Milwaukee competed to have their beer declared the best at the [...]
Oct. 28, 2018: “The World’s Columbian Exposition in Music and Story” at Second Presbyterian Church (Chicago)
The historic Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago will celebrate the legacy of the 1893 World’s Fair with an event on October 28, 2018. The date marks the 125th anniversary of the assassination of five-time Chicago mayor Carter H. Harrison, Sr. just days before the scheduled end of the World’s Columbian Exposition. The tragic event sent the city into mourning and the closing ceremonies were replaced by a public memorial service. “The World's Columbian Exposition in Music and Story” will feature musical selections related to the Fair, performed on organ by music director Michael Shawgo, with commentary to provide stories about [...]