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Nov. 6, 2018: “Eye of the Beholder: Visitor Experience at 19th-Century World Fairs” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, the Newberry will host “Eye of the Beholder: Visitor Experience at 19th-Century World Fairs”. Dr. Ruth Slatter, lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Hull (UK), will focus on the many thousands of visitors who streamed through these exhibition spaces. [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – The Santa Maria (p. 66)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 66 – THE SANTA MARIA THE SANTA MARIA.—The duplicate of the flagship of Columbus, the famous "Santa Maria,” had many thousands of visitors as she lay in Lake Michigan, just in front of the grounds, one of the most interesting of all the Exposition's attractions. The hosts who boarded her and examined her every part, accustomed as they were [...]
Nov. 2, 2018: World Premier of Alex Temple’s “Three Principles of Noir”
Composer Alex Temple [Image from the American Composers Orchestra.] The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) will perform the world premiere a piece having a time-traveling science fiction narrative centered around a Chicago historian who travels back in time to the 1893 World's Fair. The ensemble will perform Alex Temple's Three Principles of Noir with singer Meaghan Burke, on November 2, 2018, at Carnegie Hall in New York. Three Principles [...]
September 2018 Trivia Question
Our monthly newsletter includes a “Palmer Puzzler” exclusive to those who subscribe. (You can sign up here.) The first person to send us the correct answer wins a small prize. The September 2018 Trivia Question To accompany our “Brownies in September” post, here is a trivia question about (the other kind of) brownies at the Fair. One origin story for the delicious chocolate treats is that they were invented [...]
Pictures from “Pictures from an Exposition”
“Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World’s Fair” has opened at the Newberry Library. “Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World’s Fair” has opened at the Newberry Library in Chicago. The exhibition of nearly two hundred items from the World’s Columbian Exposition fills two galleries in the Library’s newly renovated main floor. Displays are organized into sections on: • Introduction • Construction • Maps and [...]
Happy National Coffee Day
Happy National Coffee Day from WorldsFairChicago1893.com! An advertisement for Chase & Sanborn's "Seal Brand" coffee, official coffee of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
Hopes of the Coming Humanity: Remembering Frances E. Willard
“The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.” – Frances E. Willard Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Frances E. Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898), a member of the Lady Board of Managers of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The profile of this notable [...]
Oct. 28, 2018: “The World’s Columbian Exposition in Music and Story” at Second Presbyterian Church (Chicago)
The historic Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago will celebrate the legacy of the 1893 World’s Fair with an event on October 28, 2018. The date marks the 125th anniversary of the assassination of five-time Chicago mayor Carter H. Harrison, Sr. just days before the scheduled end of the World’s Columbian Exposition. The tragic event sent the city into mourning and the closing ceremonies were replaced by a public memorial [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Entrance to Woman’s Building (p. 65)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 65 – ENTRANCE TO WOMAN'S BUILDING ENTRANCE TO WOMAN'S BUILDING.—The view given in the accompanying illustration is of the east portal to the transept of the Woman's Building, and it may be said of it, as might be said of other portion of the edifice, that it appeared best upon a close inspection. The building, accidentally, no doubt, but [...]
Why Couldn’t New York Build the White City for Real?
“History is happening in Manhattan and we just happen to be In the greatest city in the world!” --"The Schuyler Sisters” from Hamilton The White City of the World’s Columbian Exposition was the undeniable center of the world for six months in 1893, but it was also a theatrical illusion -- a Dream City. Behind the scenes, a famous rivalry played out between the real cities of Chicago and [...]
History and Change in Jackson Park
The 2018-2019 class of Obama Foundation Scholars recently convened in Chicago. On one beautiful summer day, the scholars -- coming from places as far flung as Cameroon, India and Vietnam -- were provided with a history tour of Chicago’s South Side that included a visit to the former fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park. The Obama Presidential Center hopes to move into the western side [...]
Inside the Administration Building Dome: “The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences” by William Dodge (Part II)
[Part I of this article describes Dodge’s commission to paint a mural for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and his work to create The Glorification of the Arts and Sciences.] PART II: THE PROCESSION BEFORE THE THRONE OF APOLLO “… illuminated by the opal-like circle of light at the summit, Dodge’s great picture crowns the whole, with its circling procession of arts and sciences, gods and muses, nymphs and graces, [...]
Remembering Robert Swain Peabody, architect of Machinery Hall
Robert Swain Peabody (February 22, 1845-September 23, 1917) died on this day at his summer home in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Cofounder of the renowned Boston architectural firm of Peabody & Stearns, he was one of the select east-coast architects invited by Daniel Burnham to contribute to the design of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Despite his pessimistic statement in 1891 about the prospect of constructing the World’s Fair on [...]
“From the Midway” a new 1893 World’s Fair podcast from the Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune recently launched a new podcast series called “From the Midway” that explores the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition on its 125th anniversary year. Host Colleen Connolly, digital news editor at the Trib, promises to offer listeners stories about “the legacy left behind by the fair, including the remnants that can still be viewed today, the cultural legacy of the fair, the evolution of the Ferris wheel and [...]
Oct. 5, 2018: “Art and Design Chicago” episode “If You Build It….” on WTTW (Chicago)
Public Television station WTTW-11 in Chicago will be broadcasting a new four-part documentary series called Art and Design Chicago beginning on October 5 with an episode about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. “If You Build It....”, hosted by Museum of Contemporary Art curator Naomi Beck, will explore the 1893 World’s Fair and sculptor Lorado Taft through stories told by artist Dessa Kirk and Mark Pohlad, Associate Professor of History [...]
Oct. 20, 2018: “The Visual Culture the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893” seminar series at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The Newberry’s adult education History and Social Science seminar series will include a seminar on “The Visual Culture the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893” led by Diane Dillon on six Saturdays from 2-4 pm beginning on October 20 and ending on December 1 (with no meeting on [...]
Oct. 17, 2018: “Music at the 1893 World’s Fair” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Wednesday, October 17, 2018, the Newberry will host “Music at the 1893 World's Fair”. A musical performance with accompanying commentary will feature music drawn from the Newberry’s extensive archive of World’s Columbian Exposition material, including pieces actually heard at the Fair in 1893 along with [...]
Oct. 13, 2018: “All the World Is Here” at the Newberry Library (Chicago)
The Newberry Library’s Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World's Fair includes a series of rich programs about the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. On Saturday, October 13, 2018, the Newberry will host “All the World Is Here”, a children’s program with music and stories for children, with the Lucky Trikes Storytelling Chamber Band. The event runs from 10-11:30 am in 1-Northwest at the Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, [...]
Swami Vivekananda’s Speech at the Opening of the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, September 11, 1893
Swami Vivekananda (center) and other East India Delegates to Congress of Religions at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from Pictorial Album and History of the World’s Fair and Midway (Harry T. Smith & Co., 1893).] Sisters and Brothers of America, It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name [...]
Sept 11, 2018: Remembering Swami Vivekananda’s Address at the 1893 World’s Fair
The state government of Bengal has declared a day of celebration for September 11, 2018, to honor the 125th anniversary of when Swami Vivekananda addressed the World’s Parliament of Religions at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Plans include seminars and symposia and a light and sound program at Swami Vivekananda's ancestral house. From September 7-9, thousands of delegates will gather for the second World Hindu Congress in [...]