RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
New Biography of Daniel Chester French
Today we’re celebrating the birthday of Daniel Chester French, born on April 20, 1850, and sculptor of The Statue of the Republic and other works for the 1893 World’s Fair. Author's Voice “Virtual Book Signing” video series recently posted the latest episode of “A House Divided” (Season 3, Episode 2). Host Harold Holzer of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop interviews author Dan Weinberg on his new biography of the sculptor, titled Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester French. Grab a slice of birthday cake and settle in with the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OREwr4NAyE8.
“Behold the spirit of Chicago’s heart.” Diana of the Tower departs Gotham for the 1893 World’s Fair
Adorning the top of the dome of the Agricultural Building at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago was Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ marvelous statue of Diana. The golden huntress previously had stood high above New York City, atop Madison Square Garden. That was the problem: she stood when she should have rotated. Installed on the building's tower in the fall of 1891 as a graceful weather vane, Diana resisted smooth rotation in the wind. Both Saint-Gaudens and Madison Square Garden architect Stanford White recognized that the statue was not only too heavy to carry out her function but also out of [...]
Russell L. Lewis
The Chicago History Museum has announced that their Chief Historian Emeritus and Trustee Emeritus Russell Lewis passed away today. Lewis was an eminent World's Columbian Exposition historian, authoring significant collections such as Historic Photos of the Chicago World's Fair (Turner, 2010) and Remembering the Chicago World’s Fair (Turner, 2011). His recent article “A Wheel With a View” in Summer 2017 issue of Chicago History described the Ferris Wheel. We delighted in, and were enriched by, his presentations on the World's Fair and other aspects of Chicago history at the Museum and around the city. Russell Lewis at the [...]
Gotham’s Golden Goddess: A Tale of Diana of the Tower
“The beautiful statue of Diana which swings as a weather vane above the central dome is one of the great attractions of the Exposition.” --John J. Flinn in Guide to the World’s Fair Grounds, Buildings and Attractions (Standard Guide Co., 1893) The short story reprinted here comes from the November 1892 issue of Comfort, a monthly periodical from Augusta, Maine. Just weeks before, Gotham’s golden goddess--who is the subject of this tale--had been removed from her lofty perch above New York City. A few months later Augustus St. Gaudens' gilded hunter would rise above the Dream City being constructed [...]
Article on “Diana of the Tower” in New York Archives magazine
“America’s Grandest Tower” by Suzanne Hinman in the Spring 2019 (Volume 18, Number 4) issue of New York Archives magazine explores the 1891 dedication of the new tower of the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Topping the tower was a golden goddess who would come down in less than a year and be shipped off to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. The article features several beautiful photos of Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Diana (including one supplied by WorldsFairChicago1893.com) showing her rising above all else in the New York skyline, the mechanism by which the statue rotated as a weather [...]
May 17-Aug. 18, 2019: “Worlds of Wonder: Remembering Chicagoland’s Amusement Parks” exhibit (Elmhust, IL)
The Elmhurst History Museum will open a new exhibit titled “Worlds of Wonder: Remembering Chicagoland's Amusement Parks” on May 17, 2019. Chicago has had its share of jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring amusement parks, from the rotations of the first Ferris Wheel at the 1893 World's Columbian exhibition to the ups-and-downs of The Bobs at Riverview. This new exhibit celebrates Chicago's favorite destinations for fun and thrills, including early trolley parks and suburban attractions like Kiddieland and Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom. Learn about the signature rides and iconic venues through rare photos and video, memorabilia, advertisements and intriguing artifacts. Families will encounter hands-on [...]
Certain Mastering Impressions
With great sadness the world witnessed the destruction by fire of significant parts of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris yesterday. Recollections of our visit several years ago--standing beneath the marvelous rose windows and walking among the rooftop gargoyles and chimeras--reminds us why we treasure the architectural and artistic achievements of the past. Those moments stamp the memory forever. This quote comes from “The Art of the White City” by Will H. Low in Some Artists at the Fair (Scribner's, 1893). “There are certain mastering impressions in one’s life, certain scenes which stamp the memory … Such a memory [...]
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Eulogy for Louis H. Sullivan
The gravestone for Louis H. Sullivan, in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. Louis H. Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) “The work the master did may die with him—no great matter. What he represented has lived in spite of all drift—all friction, all waste, all slip—since time began for man. In this sense was Louis Sullivan true to tradition—in this sense will the divine spark, given to him from the deep centre of the universe and to which he held true, be handed on the fresher, more vital, more potent, enriched a little, perhaps much by [...]
“The American Spirit of Liberality and Freedom” Reaches Turkey
This note in the April 9, 1894, issue of the Duluth (MN) Evening Herald shared an opinion about how the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition promoted the spread of an “American spirit of liberality and freedom” internationally … and an example of falling short of that ideal within the Ottoman Empire. The Office of the Turkish Commissioners building, designed by Chicago architect J. A. Thain. stood behind the main Turkish Building on the southeast side of the North Pond. [Image from Johnson, Rossiter A History of the World's Columbian Exposition Volume 2 - Departments. D. Appleton and Co., 1897.] [...]
Windmills Causing Illness at the 1893 World’s Fair?
The story below comes from the June 6, 1893, issue of the Chicago Times, but feels oddly relevant in light of recent, strange claims making news headlines. In the southeast corner of the fairgrounds of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, two men overwhelmed by the great windmill exhibit encounter a sober Columbian guard who offers sage advice. When the World’s Congress on Temperance opened on June 5, many newspapers responded by offering commentary on drinking, though usually lacking in sensitivity toward the disease of alcoholism. The great windmill exhibit was nestled in between the Intramural Railway and the [...]