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
“Frederick Law Olmsted” podcast from Cream City Windy City
Wendy Bright’s podcast Cream City~Windy City explores interesting connections between Milwaukee and Chicago. Episode #10, “Frederick Law Olmsted,” (released April 21, 2021) focuses on the “Father of Landscape Architecture.” In 1869, Chicago hired the firm of Olmsted, Vaux & Co. to design a park system on the South Side. Twenty-two years later, Frederick Law Olmsted and his associate Henry Codman redesigned Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance to serve [...]
The Windy Cities Historians Podcast visits the Columbian Exposition
The Windy Cities Historians Podcast has been working its way chronologically through Chicago history and has now reached the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Episodes 19-21, “The Third Star,” are a three-part look at the event now represented in Chicago’s municipal flag. Co-hosts Chris Lynch and Patrick McBriarty interview Paul Durica, the Director of Exhibitions at the Newberry Library and co-editor of the annotated Chicago by Day and Night, and [...]
The women of Effingham, Illinois, go the 1893 World’s Fair
Many small towns sent their best for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. "Effingham County [Illinois] had much to be proud of in its contributions to the exhibits in the Woman’s Building at the Columbian Exposition in 1893," writes Delaine Donaldson. "It’s women were achieving success in a variety of ways and were vital to shaping the course of the county’s history and future." See "A Yearlong Celebration" in [...]
A gem from the 1893 World’s Fair is back on display in New York
A massive block of vibrant blue azurite and green malachite that was first exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago is back on display in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. Among the approximately 5,000 pieces on display in their new Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, which reopened on February 17, 2021, is a popular artifact from the Fair that [...]
1893 World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks
The Chicago Public Library Blog post "World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks" offers a brief review of four replica sculptures from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition that can be seen today in various Chicago Parks. These include Daniel Chester French's Statue of the Republic (1918 replica) in Jackson Park, George Wade's Fountain Girl (2012 replica) in Lincoln Park, and Edward Kemey's Prairie King and Sound of the Whoop bison [...]
“American Gods” at the 1893 World’s Fair
“In the summer of 1893 on the shores of Lake Michigan, the United States took its place on the global stage, not through war but through technological innovation ….” The television series American Gods paid a short visit to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago during Season 3, Episode 5 (“Sister Rising”). The episode opens with an action shot of an elongated coin machine—an unusual but effective historical reference [...]
Chicago Statues from the 1893 World’s Fair Under Scrutiny
The City of Chicago has announced the beginning of a process to review forty-one statues, monuments, murals, and plaques in the city that have been “identified for public discussion.” The list includes four statues that have a direct connection to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago: The Republic by Daniel Chester French https://chicagomonuments.org/monuments/the-republic This 1918 smaller replica of the original 1893 Statue of the Republic by Daniel Chester [...]
“Devil in the White City” Update from Eric Larson
In an interview with The Naples Daily, Eric Larson offers this status report on the adaptation of his The Devil in the White City. “It’s slated to be a Hulu series. DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are still involved, I believe, but as executive producers. I don’t think DiCaprio has any intention of playing the killer Holmes, as was originally contemplated. The saga of adapting Devil for film or TV [...]
Tom Ripley in the White City?
Sneaky devils. Just days after reporting that Robert Pattison was in talks for the role of (alleged) serial killer H. H. Holmes, Giant Freakin Robot has revealed that Matt Damon is a top choice for the lead role in the Hulu adaptation of Erik Larson’s 2003 bestseller about the 1893 World’s Fair, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Damon, star [...]
Vampire in the White City?
After nearly two years of silence since the February 2019 announcement that Erik Larson’s 2003 bestseller about the 1893 World’s Fair, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, was being developed as a Hulu miniseries, a report on one potential casting has surfaced. Giant Freakin Robot reports that Robert Pattinson currently is in talks for the role of (alleged) serial [...]