An Archive of Past Events
Relating to the 1893 World’s Fair
Aug. 19-21, 2022: “Sangamon Songs” Musical Play Tells of Illinois Boy Who Visited the 1893 World’s Fair (Skokie, IL)
A diary written by a 16-year-old Illinois boy who visited the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago is the source material for Sangamon Songs: A Musical Play by Tom Irwin and John W. Arden. The show will be performed at the Skokie Theatre for Performing Arts on August 19-21, 2022. After discovering Harry Glen Ludlam’s journal in his family farmhouse, Tom Irwin began composing an acoustic song cycle about late-nineteenth-century life of a teenager in a small town in Central Illinois. Irwin's 2012 album Sangamon Songs collects twelve of the pieces, including one titled “Hurrah for the World's Fair.” John [...]
June 25, 2022: Devil in the White City Bus Tour (Chicago)
Experience the murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America on a 4-hour bus tour offered by the Chicago History Museum on Saturday, June 25, 2022. Inspired by Erik Larson’s best-selling book (soon to be a miniseries), this tour will take you back to 1893 with historian Al Walavich, to follow the trails of Daniel Burnham and the devilish doings of H. H. Holmes. Visit the historic fairgrounds, the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park, and discover what has become an iconic Chicago story. Tickets are $55 ($44 for CHM members.) and available for purchase through the Chicago History [...]
June 17-18, 2022: Celebrate Olmsted 200 in Chicago
April 26, 2022, marks the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, social reformer and visionary founder of American landscape architecture. In June, the Olmsted 200 celebration reaches Chicago with a Olmsted Bicentennial Gala from 7– 9 PM on Friday, June 17, at the Glessner House (1800 S Prairie Ave. in Chicago). On Saturday, June 18, at 10 AM, an "Inspired by Olmsted" carillon concert at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel (5850 S. Woodlawn Avenue in Chicago) and the adjoining the Midway Plaisance will include the premier of a new work dedisated to the Olmsted legacy. The Olmsted 200 [...]
Limited-time 1893 World’s Fair menu at Next Restaurant (Chicago)
The award-winning Next restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop explores gourmet cuisine with menus and dining experiences that change completely a few times a year. Their Spring 2022 epicurean offering is a World’s Fair menu that explores the world of impossible innovations. “Light bulbs and Ferris wheels. Confidence and gumption—the pillars to the global ingenuity of 1893.” For a visual sampling, check out their video. Next (953 W. Fulton Market in Chicago) offers prix fixe meals ($165–$275 per person) by reservation only.
Apr. 28, 2022: “From Fair to Field: The Field Museum’s Roots in the Columbian Exposition” (Northfield, IL)
Thursday, April 28, 2022, the Winnetka-Northfield Library District will host Mark Alvey, speaking on "From Fair to Field: The Field Museum's Roots in the Columbian Exposition." Mr. Alvey of the Field Museum will present a talk on the origin of the Field Columbian Museum, which opened in June 1894, with approximately 50,000 objexts from the 1893 World's Fair. The event runs from 7-8 PM in the Northfield Library (1785 Orchard Lane in Northfield, IL) and is free and open to the public. Registration is required and capacity is limited. The building that originally nserved as the Palace of [...]
Apr. 14, 2022: “The Fire at the Fair” (Northfield, IL)
Thursday, April 14, 2022, the Winnetka-Northfield Library District will host "Chicago History Cop" Raymond Johnson, speaking on "The Fire at the Fair." Mr. Johnson will present his research on tragic fire at the Cold Storage Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and his surprising discovery at the memorial at Chicago’s Oakwoods Cemetery. The event runs from 7-8 PM in the Northfield Library (1785 Orchard Lane in Northfield, IL) and is free and open to the public. Registration is required and capacity is limited. The tragic Cold Storage Building fire of July 10, 1893, depicted on the cover [...]
Apr. 7, 2022: “The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism During Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair” (Winnetka, IL)
Thursday, April 7, 2022, the Winnetka-Northfield Library District will host author and archaeologist Rebecca Graff, speaking on "The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism During Chicago's 1893 World's Fair." Prof. Graff will present research from archaeological sites associated with the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The event runs from 7-8 PM in the Winnetka Library (768 Oak Street in Winnetka, IL) and is free and open to the public. Registration is required and capacity is limited. The Ohio Building. [Image from The Dream City. A Portfolio of Photographic Views of the World’s Columbian Exposition (N. D. Thompson, 1893).] [...]
Apr. 4, 2022: “Chicago Exposition 1893” at Lewiston Auburn Senior College (ME)
What do Milton Hershey, L. Frank Baum, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frederick Law Olmsted, Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla and a host of other have in common? They were all part of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the topic of a lecture "Chicago Exposition 1893" by Alan Elze offered at Lewiston Auburn Senior College in Lewiston, Maine, on April 4, 2022. The event will be held Lewiston-Auburn Senior College (51 Westminster Street in Lewiston) and is free.
Mar 29, 2022: “Daniel Burnham: Make No Little Plans” (Council Bluffs, IA)
Historical dramatist R.J. Lindsey will become Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the 1893 World's Fair, in a living history program at the Council Bluffs Public Library on March 29, 2022. In "Daniel Burnham: Make No Little Plans," the famed Chicago architect narrates a slide program, including many photographs, detailing the Chicago Fire of 1871, the building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition, and the Chicago Development Plan of 1909. He will also discuss several of his innovative buildings: Montauk, Monandnock, Reliance, and the Rookery. The program is offered from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm in Meeting Room B [...]
Mar. 27, 2022: “Sophia Hayden Deserves Better” play reading (Barrington, IL)
In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building the Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging, and undermining until she finally spoke up. In a time when women were defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men, her concerns were not only not heard, but she was sent to a sanitarium. Diagnosed with melancholia due to overexertion. Silenced. After the fair, her building was [...]