The Columbian Exposition Research Library
Non-fiction books and research articles
about the 1893 World’s Fair
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Explore book reviews, announcements about new scholarly books and articles, and links to full online texts (coming soon).
BOOKS ABOUT THE 1893 WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION: a select bibliography
- Appelbaum, Stanley The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record. Dover, 1980. Amazon
- Appelbaum, Stanley Spectacle in the White City: The Chicago 1893 World’s Fair. Calla Editions, 2009. Amazon.
- Axe, John; Wetherhold, Faye S. (Eds.) World’s Columbian Exposition Revisited, Chicago 1893-1993. United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc. 1993. Amazon.
- Badger, Reid R. The Great American Fair: The World’s Columbian Exposition and American Culture. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1979. Amazon.
- Beck, David R. M. Unfair Labor?: American Indians and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. University of Nebraska Press, 2019. Amazon / Bookshop
- Bigler, Brian J. The Norway Building of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair: A building’s journey from Norway to America: an architectural legacy. Little Norway, 1992. Amazon.
- Blades, John M; Loring, John Tiffany at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Flagler Museum, 2006. Amazon.
- Bolotin, Norman and Christine Laing The World’s Columbian Exposition: The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Preservation Press, 1992. Amazon / Bookshop
- Bolotin, Norman with Christine Laing Chicago’s Grand Midway: A Walk around the World at the Columbian Exposition. University of Illinois Press, 2017. Amazon / Bookshop
- Bradley, Stuart Van Leer 1893 Chicago Midway Playing Cards & History of the World’s Fair Card Deck. Railway Station Press, 2020.
- Brown, Julie K. Contesting Images : Photography and the Worlds Columbian Exposition. University of Arizona Press, 1994. Amazon.
- Burg, David F. Chicago’s White City of 1893. University Press of Kentucky, 1976 (reprinted 2009). Amazon.
- Bullard, Thomas R. The Columbian Intramural Railway: A Pioneer Elevated Line. Thomas R. Bullard, 1987. Amazon.
- Bussler, Mark The World’s Fair of 1893: Ultra Massive Photographic Adventure. 2017. Amazon.
- Bussler, Mark The White City of Color: 1893 World’s Fair. 2017. Amazon.
- Charles River Editors The Black and White City: The History of Racism and Race Relations at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. CreateSpace, 2016. Amazon.
- Chaudhuri, Asim Swami Vivekananda in Chicago: New Findings, 2005. Amazon.
- Corn, Wanda M. Women Building History: Public Art at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. University of California Press, 2011. Amazon / Bookshop
- Cummings, Scott D.; Hercey, Randall T. Denslow at the Fair: Illustrations of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition by W. W. Denslow for the Chicago Herald. 2017.
- Danzer, Gerald A. The World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893: Reconstructing the Geography of Chicago’s World’s Fair by Way of a Fire Insurance Atlas. Chicago Map Society, 2014.
- Di Cola, Joseph M.; Stone, David Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair (Images of America series). Arcadia Publishing, 2012. Amazon.
- Dobrow, Joe Pioneers of Promotion: How Press Agents for Buffalo Bill, P. T. Barnum, and the World’s Columbian Exposition Created Modern Marketing. University of Oklahoma Press, 2018. Amazon / Bookshop
- Doolin, James P. 1893 Columbian Exposition Admission and Concession Tickets. J.P. Doolin, 1981. Amazon.
- Downey, Dennis B. A Season of Renewal: The Columbian Exposition and Victorian America. Praeger, 2001. Amazon.
- Durcia, Paul; Savage, Bill Chicago By Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America. Northwestern University Press, 2013. Amazon.
- Dybwad, G. L.; Bliss, Joy V. Chicago Day at the World’s Columbian Exposition: Illustrated with Candid Photographs. The Book Stops Here, 1997.
- Dybwad, G. L.; Bliss, Joy V. White City Recollections: The Illustrated 1893 Diary of a Trip to the World’s Columbian Exposition. The Book Stops Here, 2003. Amazon.
- Eglit, Nathan N. Columbiana; The Medallic History of Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Nathan N. Eglit, 1963.
- Extraordinary Marketing of Ohio Maple Sugar and Syrup The Story of The 1893 World’s Fair and Other Contemporary Exhibitions. Geauga County Historical Society, 2018.
- Finney, Michael 1893 Chicago’s Columbian Exposition: Arts and Culture on the Doorstep of the 20th Century. Independently published, 2019. Amazon.
- Gale, Neil The Midway Plaisance at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Lulu, 2017. Amazon / Bookshop
- Gifford, Daniel The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress: New Bedford, Chicago and the Twilight of an Industry. McFarland Press, 2020. Amazon
- Gilbert, James Burkhart Perfect Cities: Chicago’s Utopias of 1893. University of Chicago Press, 1991. Amazon.
- Graff, Rebecca Disposing of Modernity: The Archaeology of Garbage and Consumerism during Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair. University Press of Florida, 2020. Amazon
- Grandin, Madame Leon A Parisienne in Chicago: Impressions of the World’s Columbian Exposition. University of Illinois Press, 2010. Amazon.
- Grundy, Mercedes and Patrick Montgomery An Image of Jamaica: Examining Photographs by Valentine & Sons at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Archive Farms, 2011. WorldCat
- Gustaitis, Joseph Chicago’s Greatest Year 1893: The White City and the Birth of a Modern Metropolis. Southern Illinois University Press, 2013. Amazon.
- Hagy, Jim and Sage Fair Tricks: The Magicians at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893. Reginald Scot Books, 2019.
- Hales, Peter B. Constructing the Fair, Platinum Photographs By C. D. Arnold of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Art Institute of Chicago, 1993. Amazon.
- Harding, John Mahāyāna Phoenix: Japan’s Buddhists at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions. Peter Lang Inc., 2008. Amazon.
- Harris, Neil, et al. Grand Illusions: Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893. Chicago Historical Society, 1993. Amazon.
- Hayashi, Tadamasa Twelve Bronze Falcons Exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893. Tokyo, 1893. WorldCat
- Hinsley, Curtis M.; Wilcox, David R. (Eds.) Coming of Age in Chicago: The 1893 World’s Fair and the Coalescence of American Anthropology. University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Amazon.
- Hollweg, Brenda Ausgestellte Welt: Formationsprozesse Kultureller Identitat in Den Texten Zur Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition (1893). Universitatsverlag Winter, 2021. Amazon.
- Jones, Lois Stodieck The Ferris Wheel. Grace Dangberg Foundation, 1984. Amazon.
- Kirkpatrick, Diane The Fair View: Representations of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. The Terra Museum, 1993.
- Klasey, Jack The Prince of Wheelwrights: George Ferris and his Great Wheel. Looking Back Publications, 2021. Amazon.
- Koppel, Ellen Metrie From the Mountain to the Midway. Ellen Metrie Koppel, 2023. Amazon.
- Lancaster, Clay The Incredible World’s Parliament of Religions at the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893: A Comparative and Critical Study. Open Gate Press, 1987. Amazon.
- Larson, Erik The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. Crown, 2003. Amazon
- Lewis, Arnold An Early Encounter with Tomorrow: Europeans, Chicago’s Loop, and the World’s Columbian Exposition. University of Illinois Press, 1997. Amazon
- Lewis, Russell Historic Photos of the Chicago World’s Fair. Turner, 2010. Amazon.
- Lewis, Russell Remembering the Chicago World’s Fair. Turner, 2011. Amazon.
- Maddux, Kristy Practicing Citizenship: Women’s Rhetoric at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Penn State University Press, 2019. Amazon.
- McGlothlin, Chris A. World’s Fair Spoons: Volume I: The World’s Columbian Exposition. Chris a McGlothlin, 1985.
- Mickoski, Howdie Exposing The Expositions 1851-1915: Ancient Rome in America? Howard Mickoski, 2019. Amazon / Bookshop
- Muccigrosso, Robert Celebrating the New World: Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Ivan R. Dee, 1993. Amazon
- National Museum of American Art Revisiting the White City: American Art at the 1893 World’s Fair. National Museum of American Art, 1993. Amazon.
- Norman, Mike It Wasn’t Rocket Science: A Family Quest for the Truth. Firstintheworld, 2023. Amazon
- Ormos, Istvan Cairo in Chicago: Cairo Street at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. French Institute of Oriental Archeology, 2021. Amazon.
- Reed, Christopher Robert All the World is Here!: The Black Presence at White City. Indiana University Press, 2000. Amazon.
- Reid Neilson Exhibiting Mormonism: The Latter-day Saints and the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (Religion in America series). Oxford University Press, 2011. Amazon.
- Rosenberg, Chaim M. America at the Fair: Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Arcadia Publishing, 2008. Amazon.
- Rossen, Howard M. Columbian World’s Fair Collectibles, Chicago (1892-1893). Wallace-Homestead Book Co, 1976. Amazon.
- Rydell, Robert W. All the World’s A Fair: Visions of Empire at American International Expositions, 1876-1916. University of Chicago Press, 1984. Amazon
- Rydell, Robert W.; John E. Findling, and Kimberly D. Pelle Fair America: World’s Fairs in the United States. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000. Amazon / Bookshop
- Shaw, Marian World’s Fair Notes: A Woman Journalist Views Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition. Pogo Press, 1992. Amazon.
- Smith, Duane A.; Vendl, Karen A.; Vendl; Mark A. Colorado Goes to the Fair: World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. University of New Mexico Press, 2011. Amazon / Bookshop
- Snodgrass, Judith Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West : Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Columbian Exposition. University of North Carolina Press, 2003. Amazon / Bookshop
- Stendel, Robert C. Koehler-Girsch Expo Views & Plating UX10. R.C. Stendel, 1994.
- Tsenes-Hills, Temple I Am the Utterance of My Name: Black Victorian Feminist Discourse and Intellectual Enterprise at the Columbian Exposition, 1893. iUniverse, Inc., 2006. Amazon.
- Wadsworth, Sarah; Wiegand, Wayne A. Right Here I See My Own Books: The Woman’s Building Library at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2012. Amazon.
- Walter, David Today Then: America’s Best Minds Look 100 Years into the Future on the Occasion of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Farcountry Press, 1992. Amazon.
- Watkins, F. L. By Whale Road to the World’s Fair: A Viking Drakkar’s Adventures At the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Folump Enterprises, 2008. Amazon.
- Webster, Sally Eve’s Daughter/Modern Woman: A Mural by Mary Cassatt. University of Illinois Press, 2004. Amazon.
- Weingardt, Richard G. Circles in the Sky: The Life and Times of George Ferris. ASCE Press, 2009. Amazon.
- Weimann, Jeanne Madeline The Fair Women: The Story of the Woman’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Chicago Review Press, 1981. Amazon.
- World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 Revised. Toyko National Museum, 1997.
- Wukasch, Kenneth C. Handbook of the Post Cards of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Velocity Direct, 2013.
- Wukasch, Kenneth C. Handbook of the Postal Cards of the World’s Columbian Exposition. United Postal Stationery Society, 2005. Amazon.
- Zwick, Jim Inuit Entertainers in the United States: From the Chicago World’s Fair through the Birth of Hollywood. Infinity Publishing, 2006. Amazon.
For a comprehensive bibliography of contemporary publications, see:
- Bertuca, David J.; Hartman, Donald K.; Neumeister, Susan The World’s Columbian Exposition: A Centennial Bibliographic Guide (Bibliographies and Indexes in American History). Greenwood, 1996. Amazon / Bookshop
- Dybwad, G. L.; Bliss, Joy V. Annotated Bibliography, World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893. The Book Stops Here, 1992. Amazon.
- Dybwad, G. L.; Bliss, Joy V. Annotated Bibliography, World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893: Supplement. The Book Stops Here, 1999. Amazon.
BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Angels in the Spandrels: The Winged Decorations of Louis Sullivan’s Transportation Building
Critics glorified and reviled Louis Sullivan’s renegade design for the Transportation Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. The polychromatic color scheme and the grand Golden Door received the most commentary at the time of the Columbian Exposition, and both elements continue to fascinate students of architecture today. Louis Sullivan’s striking design for the Transportation Building featured a polychromatic façade and majestic “Golden Door” entrance on the east side. [Image from Picturesque World’s Fair. W.B. Conkey, 1894; digitally edited © worldsfairchicago.com.] Observers at the Fair were not quite sure what to make of the winged figures on the façade, [...]
Season’s Readings: 2023 Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition
This has been a year of rich and valuable additions to the Columbian Exposition bookshelf. Summarized below are important new nonfiction works that explore connections between the Chicago fair and Western Pennsylvania, Lebanon, England, and Massachusetts. Two others look at the religious and spiritual legacy of the Columbian Exposition. New fictional works explore the fairgrounds though the eyes of visitors in both realistic stories and magical adventures. We also include a few late additions that we missed last season. Note: We provide this announcement of new titles without any compensation from authors or publishers. We encourage shopping through independent [...]
Season’s Readings: 2022 Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition
2022 brought several additions to the World’s Columbian Exposition bookshelf.
Season’s Readings: 2021 Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition
2019 brought several additions to the World’s Columbian Exposition bookshelf.
Season’s Readings: New Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition
2019 brought several additions to the World’s Columbian Exposition bookshelf.
1893 Chicago Midway Playing Cards & History of the World’s Fair Card Deck
1893 Chicago Midway Playing Cards & History of the World’s Fair Card Deck by Stuart Van Leer Bradley. Railway Station Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781951299057. Softcover, 40 pages. $15.00. This companion book to the recently produced set of Midway Playing Cards contains a summary of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the Midway Plaisance, technical notes about the set of Barnhart Brothers & Spindler (BB&S) type foundry printers ornaments, scans of a set of letterpress history cards, and an assortment of interesting and informative historical photographs and maps, several in color. This small, but handsome volume, complements and illuminates [...]
“The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress” Raises Story of a Forgotten Ship from the 1893 World’s Fair
The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress: New Bedford, Chicago and the Twilight of an Industry by Daniel Gifford. McFarland Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781476682150. Softcover, 204 pages. $45.00. Along the eastern edge of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition were four different exhibits of sea craft, each with a unique story to share. The reproductions of the Spanish Caravels—the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria—served as a fitting commemoration of the theme of World’s Fair, Columbus’ 1492 voyage. The Viking reproduction offered a contrasting narrative of which European explorer may have landed on the North American continent first. The U.S. [...]
“Haunts of the White City” Offers a Few World’s Fair Ghost Stories
Haunts of the White City: Ghost Stories From the World's Fair, the Great Fire, and Victorian Chicago by Ursula Bielski. History Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781467139656. Softcover, 272 pages. $21.99. Even those of us who don’t believe in ghosts can enjoy a good ghost story. And Chicago is full of them. Ursula Bielski collects many of the more famous spectral tales, and few lesser-known phantoms, in Haunts of the White City. Spawning these claims of the supernatural are the expected historical horrors of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and H. H. Holmes’ killings around the time of the 1893 [...]
“Chicago’s Lollapalooza Days: 1893-1934” Explores the Windy City’s Raucous Roots
Chicago's Lollapalooza Days: 1893-1934 by Jim Edwards. Arcadia Publishing, 2019. ISBN: 9781467103701. Softcover, 128 pages. $21.99. Partying ruled in the years between Chicago’s two World's Fairs, writes historian Jim Edwards in his introduction to Chicago's Lollapalooza Days: 1893-1934. The collection of 169 annotated images form a loose theme around the titular “lollapalooza” (a ball in the notorious First Ward, not a modern music festival). Edwards curates a visual review of many of the characters, fetes, and vice that enlivened Chicago for the forty years between the Columbian Exposition and the Century of Progress. Along the way can be found [...]
Season’s Readings: World’s Columbian Exposition Books from 2019
2019 brought several additions to the World’s Columbian Exposition bookshelf.