An Archive of Past Events
Relating to the 1893 World’s Fair
Feb.-Oct., 2024: “World’s Fairs, Expositions, & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era” (Ames, IA)
The Farm House Museum at Iowa State University in Ames is hosting an exhibition on “World's Fairs, Expositions, & Centennial Celebrations of the Victorian Era” from February through October, 2024. This exhibition illustrates through objects and narrative the earliest World’s Fair in 1851 London, through several in Paris, and the Centennial and World’s Columbian Exhibitions in the United States. The University Museums’ permanent collection includes several objects that were souvenirs of some of the fifteen major World’s Fairs or Expositions held between 1851 and 1910. Souvenirs ranged from booklets, paper fans, buttons, and ribbons, to commemorative glassware and ceramics produced [...]
Jan-Dec, 2024: Dress worn at the 1893 World’s Fair on Display (Ripon, WI)
The small city of Ripon, Wisconsin, sent 1,375 of its citizens to experience the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This was one-third of the city’s population at that time, reports the Ripon Press. A dress worn by one Ripon visitor to the World's Fair is a part of the collection at the Ripon Historical Society and is on display through the end of 2024 as part of its “The Stories We Wear” exhibit. The Society, located at 508 Watson Street in Ripon, is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm. Ripon was the birthplace of [...]
Dec. 2-27, 2023: 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 2-7, 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. 12, 2023: “Collectibles from Chicago’s Two World’s Fairs” (Chicago)
The Glessner House in Chicago is hosting an event showcasing collections from both the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the 1933-34 Century of Progress. On Sunday, November 12, 2023, "Collectibles from Chicago's Two World's Fairs" will bring together several World's Fair collectors who will exhibit a portion of their collections, ranging from guidebooks, postcards, tickets, and commemorative coins to wall hangings, glass and ceramic tchotchkes, plates, and silver spoons. We will be bringing some items from our collection and look forward to meeting other collectors or Columbian Exposition ethusiasts who attend. Schedule: 2:00 - 3:15 pm: Exhibit 3:15 - [...]
Nov. 11, 2023: “Perspective of Wonder” talk by Cindy Angell Keeling (Chicago)
“Perspective of Wonder: A Tour of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” By Cindy Angell Keeling Saturday, November 11, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. Chicago Public Library, Uptown Branch (929 W. Buena Ave.) 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 Saturday, November 11, 2023. 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 [...]
Oct 19-20, 2023: “The Art of Dying: The Death in the Columbian Exposition” (Lombard, IL)
The Lombard Historical Society will explore some devilry in the White City at an event titled "The Art of Dying: The Death in the Columbian Exposition." Guests will learn about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the murders of H. H. Holmes in the context of Lombard, Illinois. Tours begin at 6, 7, and 8 pm on Thursday, October 19 and Friday, October 20, 2023 at the Lombard Historical Society and Victorian Cottage (23 W Maple Street in Lombard, IL). Tickets are $15 per person (service fees not included).
Oct. 19, 2023: “Harriet Monroe & the Open Door” (Chicago and online)
The Newberry Library in Chicago will host a lecture on 1893 World’s Fair poet Harriet Monroe on October 19, 2023. Liesl Olson, Director of the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and former Director of Chicago Studies at the Newberry Library, will present “Harriet Monroe & the Open Door.” Harriet Monroe's extraordinary life and work gave the world one of the most exciting and enduring magazines devoted to “the best English verse which is being written today, regardless of where, by whom, or under what theory of art it is written.” In partnership with the current exhibition at the Poetry Foundation, [...]
Oct 6-7, 2023: “The White City: An Audible Exhibition on H. H. Holmes, Murderer” (Chicago)
The Glessner House in Chicago will host the first staged reading of The White City: An Audible Exhibition on H. H. Holmes, Murderer on October 6 and 7, 2023. Theater in the Dark presents playwright Rick Kinnebrew’s captivating examination of one of the late 19th century’s most notorious characters. Directed by Corey Bradberry and presented in the style of classic radio dramas of the 1930s and 1940s, the production combines the written word, human voices, original music, and rich soundscapes ranging from the Ferris Wheel to the gallows where Holmes was executed. The White City is based on the [...]
Sep. 21, 2023: “Women’s Work at the 1893 World’s Fair” (Evanston, IL)
The Evanston History Center will host a presentation on "Women’s Work at the 1893 World’s Fair" by Diane Dillon on Thursday, September 21, 2023, at 7 pm. Her presentation will explore the range of contributions women made to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, including the work of Bertha Palmer and the Board of Lady Managers, the protest of Ida B. Wells, the design of the Woman’s Building by architect Sophia Hayden, and the Congress of Representative Women. Dr. Dillion, scholar-in-residence at the Newberry Library, curated an exhibition there in 2018 about the World’s Columbian Exposition. The event, [...]
Sep. 14, 2023 – Jan. 13, 2024: Harriet Monroe & the Open Door (Chicago)
The temporary exhibition Harriet Monroe & the Open Door at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago showcases the fascinating line connecting today’s world-renowned poetry magazine back to a poem written for the 1893 World’s Fair. Archival documents and photographs on display with accompanying descriptive texts tell the story of Harriet Monroe, her “Columbian Ode” poem, and the landmark copyright lawsuit that helped launch Poetry magazine. Part of the exhibition display for Harriet Monroe & the Open Door at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago. In 1891, the Committee on Ceremonies of the Columbian Exposition invited Harriet Monroe to write [...]