Columbian Exposition News
The enduring legacy of the 1893 World’s Fair in modern scholarship, education, the arts, creative products, preservation, and other events.
RECENT POSTS ABOUT COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION NEWS
(Re)Introducing the Dana Palace of Fine Arts
Dear Mr. Burnham, Please take a look at the attached press release drafted by Chief Halsey Ives of the Fine Arts Department. Are we to proceed with this? I urge caution. With concern, Moses P. Handy Publicity and Promotion May 14, 1893 (Re)Introducing the Dana Palace of Fine Arts The World’s Fair is open, the guidebooks are printed, and the maps are distributed. And yet, winds of change are [...]
Aurora Borealis in Alba Urbs
Amid the majesty of night, What splendid vision strikes my eyes, In glory bursting on the sight, Forth from the northern skies? — from “The Aurora Borealis” by Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch
Curiosities from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
The University of Illinois has shared some interesting artifacts from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition that are held in the University Archives and campus libraries. The article by Nicole Cazley and Kim Schmidt features the University of Illinois Guest Register, a pass book for a member of John Philip Sousa’s band, a guidebook, a Certificate of Visitation [read more about these rare souvenirs here], a topographic map display, and [...]
Columbian Cocktails at The Meadowlark in Chicago
A secret bar sits along a quiet side street in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, nestled inside an unassuming brick building. Look for the door underneath the small bird cut-out sign and step inside the dimly lit vintage lounge. The menu offers many splendid options for craft cocktail aficionados … and a special treat for Columbian Exposition enthusiasts. Last summer, The Meadowlark launched an 1893 World’s Fair themed menu titled [...]
Taking her Valentine to the World’s Fair
From the February 1893 Illustrated World's Fair: TED.—“Kit, can I be your Valentine? I’m savin’ pennies now.” KIT.—“Yes, Ted, if you save enough to take me to the World’s Fair.” ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Help Preserve the Maine State Building from the 1893 World’s Fair
The Maine State Building, designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost, is one of the few remaining buildings from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After the close of the fair, the Ricker family of Poland Spring, Maine, purchased the building from the state. They had it dismantled, moved to Maine, and rebuilt on Poland Spring property, where it reopened in 1895 as a library and art gallery for [...]
A Brief History of the Midway Plaisance
The Chicago Maroon student newspaper has published a brief history of the Midway Plaisance that runs through the University of Chicago campus. Feifei Mei’s “From Mudway Nuisance to Midway Plaisance” explores the mile-long park (not owned by the University) from Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux’s original design and name, its use as the entertainment district for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, evolution in the hands of the Chicago [...]
Kaz Rowe Ranks the Weirdest Things at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
YouTuber Kaz Rowe has posted an engaging video “Ranking the Weirdest Things at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” in which she explores twenty-five quirky, surprising, or just-plain-strange attractions of the Columbian Exposition and ranks them on a scale from “slumgullion” to “some pumpkins.” From the Ferris Wheel to the Mammoth Cheese to the Windmill exhibit, visitors to the Chicago fair were treated to a salmagundi of curiosities. During an [...]
Christmas to a child
“The child dancing with life and delight all through the days before Christmas is a fair emblem of what society should be in the presence of coming events … The meeting of Nations in 1893, the meeting on the shores of Lake Michigan, the meeting in a young republic, the meeting in such a period of intelligence unite to compose an event which should be to all Americans more [...]
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 [...]