An Archive of Past Events
Relating to the 1893 World’s Fair
Apr. 22, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Carol Stream, IL)
Author Cindy Angell Keeling will offer a fascinating introduction to the spectacular Chicago World’s Fair in her presentation “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Carol Stream, Illinois. In this entertaining presentation, Cindy will take you on a tour of the fairgrounds using vintage photographs, maps, and artwork. Which building had the most ostentatious dome? What in the world is “staff,” and why was it important to the Fair? Which concession featured a donkey ride up a mountain? Travel back in time with Cindy to find out. Bring your [...]
Apr. 12, 2025: “Daniel Burnham’s Chicago” (Glen Ellyn, IL)
He was one of Chicago’s greatest architects and served as Director of Works for the 1893 World’s Fair. Daniel Burnham will be portrayed by Terry Lynch in a presentation on April 12, 2025, sponsored by the Glen Ellyn Historical Society. Guests of “Daniel Burnham’s Chicago – A Dramatic Portrayal by Terry Lynch” will experience the grandeur of the Columbian Exposition and learn about its origins, exhibits, and the people and politics involved in creating the White City. As Burnham, Lynch will lead us through the history of the “Windy City” and its transformation from the “Wild Onion” to the [...]
Apr. 8, 2025: “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” (Hinsdale, IL)
Author Cindy Angell Keeling will offer a fascinating introduction to the spectacular Chicago World’s Fair in her presentation “Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Hinsdale, Illinois. In this entertaining presentation, Cindy will take you on a tour of the fairgrounds using vintage photographs, maps, and artwork. Which building had the most ostentatious dome? What in the world is “staff,” and why was it important to the Fair? Which concession featured a donkey ride up a mountain? Travel back in time with Cindy to find out. Bring your enthusiasm [...]
Mar. 27–29, 2025: World’s Fair Women in “The Mammy Project” (Blue Lake, CA)
Nancy Green and Ida B. Wells, two women who played important and diverse roles in the 1893 World’s Fair, are the subject of a performance by Michelle Matlock playing in Blue Lake, CA, on Mar. 27–29, 2025. The Mammy Project, written and performed by Michelle Matlock, unearths the gritty truth behind the century-old icon of Aunt Jemima. This bandanna-wearing superstar of minstrel shows, Hollywood epics, and the breakfast nook is reimagined from her dark roots in the antebellum South, liberated from her demeaning roles, and unleashed from her pancake box prison onto an unsuspecting audience. Michelle Matlock, a phenomenal [...]
Mar. 24, 2025: “Fashion, Ferris Wheels, and Film: Dressing Women for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” (Crest Hill, IL)
The White Oak Library District Crest Hill Branch is hosting a talk on “Fashion, Ferris Wheels, and Film: Dressing Women for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” on March 24, 2025, at 7 pm. Kelli Marshall of Chicago Movie Tours will discuss how women navigated societal expectations while dressing for a day of excitement at one of America’s first amusement parks. Through the use of original photographs, vintage newspaper articles, and a virtual reality Ferris Wheel experience, she will explore how women's fashion at the time had to balance both practicality and style. The talk will be held at the [...]
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 [...]