An Archive of Past Events
Relating to the 1893 World’s Fair
Mar. 22, 2025: “Bertha Honoré Palmer – A Life in Three Acts” (Glen Ellyn, IL)
She was “The Queen of Chicago” and “The Queen of the Fair” in 1893. Bertha Honoré Palmer is the subject of a presentation by historian Laurie Russell on March 22, 2025, sponsored by the Glen Ellyn Historical Society. “Bertha Honore’ Palmer – A Life in Three Acts” will examine her legacy and impact on Chicago and around the world. Vintage photographs will illustrate Bertha Palmer’s life from early childhood, her marriage to hotel magnate Potter Palmer, the Great Chicago Fire, and the World’s Columbian Exposition. Not to be left out are her exquisite jewels and gowns, bringing Impressionism to [...]
Jan. 25, 2025: “At Home at the Fair: Chicago Artists at the World’s Columbian Exposition” (Chicago)
The Vanderpoel Art Association will host a presentation “At Home at the Fair: Chicago Artists at the World’s Columbian Exposition” on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 1 p.m. Independent art historian Wendy Greenhouse will discuss what Chicago’s fine artists brought to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Although little noticed at the time and in posterity, Chicagoans contributed to the decoration of the exposition’s buildings and grounds and submitted significant paintings and sculptures to the vast but exclusive art exhibition in the fair’s Fine Arts Building. What do their contributions reveal about Chicago’s artistic identity and ambitions as the city [...]
Jan 14, 2025: World’s Fair Auction #46 closes
World’s Fair Auction #46 is now open, and online bidding closes at 10:00 PM EST on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. The auction catalog can be viewed at: http://www.worldsfairauction.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi. Lots 6 through 36 are items related to the 1893 World’s Fair, and include: an invitation to the Dedication Day ceremonies; a china plate made in Germany depicting the Agricultural Building; a Marshall Field & Company silk showing the Court of Honor; a large selection of medals, coins, badges, and spoons; and much more. World’s Fair Auction offers world’s fair and international exposition items, souvenirs, and historical pieces from all fairs [...]
Dec. 6-28, 2024: Joffrey Ballet’s “Columbian Nutcracker” (Chicago)
A festive Ferris Wheel, a Dream City, a flurry of snow, dancing dragons, dancing nuts, and dancing rats! It's that time of the year for Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet to stage their spectacular annual production of The Nutcracker, with story set on the fairgrounds of 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Performances run from December 6-28, 2023, at the Lyric Opera House (20 N. Wacker Dr. in Chicago) This ballet by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, which premiered in 2016, invites the audience to … “journey inside Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair ... when young Marie and her mother, a sculptress who is creating the [...]
Nov. 17, 2024: “MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great World’s Fairs” (Overland Park, KS)
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra will present MEET ME AT THE FAIR!: Music from the Great “World’s Fairs” on November 17, 2024, in Overland Park, KS. This concerts is a spectacular musical celebration of the legendary world’s fairs, including the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. Music played a key role in these international festivals, launching both hit songs and the illustrious careers of many American musicians. This Paragon Ragtime Orchestra program features dozens of stirring world’s fair hits, performed from rare original scores, along with the continuous [...]
Nov. 9, 2024: “H. H. Holmes & New Links to Chicago & the White City” (Hazel Crest, IL, and online)
The South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society (SSGHS) will host a presentation on “H. H. Holmes & New Links to Chicago & the White City” at their meeting on Saturday, November 9, 2024. Guest speaker Ray Johnson, known as “The History Cop,” will discuss his research into new links between killer H. H. Holmes and Thomas B. Bryan and Daniel H. Burnham, and a possible link to a swindle in England. The society meeting will take place from 10–11 am at the Kauchak Public Safety Center, 3000 W. 170th Place, in Hazel Crest, Illinois. For those who wish to [...]
Oct. 23, 2024: Columbian Exposition food and lecture (Sewickly, PA)
The Sewickly Valley Historical Society (SVHS) in Sewickly, Pennsylvania, will host an evening of 1893 World’s Fair events on October 23, 2024. “A Bite of History: Chicago Columbian Exposition Edition” and a lecture on “From the Steel City to the White City” are part of their 2024–2025 Program Series. The evening will start at 5:30 pm with SVHS Executive Director, Amanda Schaffer as she introduces the foods being offered and their history with the 1893 Fair and beyond. Attendees will then be able to assemble their own plates, enjoying the historic foods while exploring the Collections at SVHS and [...]
Oct. 21, 2024: “An Author’s Journey” (Geneva, IL)
On Monday, October 21, 2024, the Geneva Public Library is hosting Folo Watkins, author of By Whale Road to the World's Fair. He will share his experience researching and writing about the journey of the Viking ship to the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. This presentation is offered in conjunction with the exhibit of the dragon head (newly named "Freya") from the Viking ship. Watkins’s presentation is from 1–2 pm, in person at the Geneva Public Library District 2nd Floor Conference Room or on Zoom. Participants should register in advance to join the discussion in-person or on Zoom. [...]
Oct. 9, 2024: “Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893” adult learners course (Manchester, MI)
The Adult Learners Institute of Michigan will take participants to the 1893 World’s Fair on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. John Hauger will offer a class on “The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893” from 2–4 pm at the Manchester District Library (912 City Rd. in Manchester, Michigan). The Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus landing in the New World, was a landmark event in United States history. Never before had this nation undertaken so ambitious a task as a world's fair on this scale. The numbers give us some perspective: The Exposition covered more [...]
Sep. 15, 2024: “Walking the White City” tour (Chicago)
The Glessner House is offering a "Walking the White City" tour of the former fairgrounds of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition on Sunday, September 15, 2024, from 10 AM to noon. Architect and historian John Waters will guide participants on a walking tour of Jackson Park to see the sites of landmarks of the 1893 World's Fair, explore the fascinating vestiges, and learn how the Fair influenced the design of Jackson Park as we know it today. The tour will meet at the base of sculptor Daniel Chester French’s golden Statue of the Republic on Hayes Drive, which marks [...]