THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 7)
THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)
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Libraries at the Columbian Exposition
“Extremes meet at Chicago.” —librarian Caroline Harwood Garland. The 1893 World’s Fair was full of contrasts: exotic dancing on the Midway and educational exhibits; fountains illuminated by electricity and bibles illuminated by paintings, dynamos and the Dewey decimal system; balloon rides and books. Amidst the Cracker Jack and orange cider was also “food for reflection in the existence of so many libraries.” To celebrate National Library Week, let’s take a look at libraries at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. [...]
Woman’s Part at the World’s Fair, Part I
March is Women’s History Month and a fitting time to reflect on women’s valuable contributions to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Reprinted here is Part 1 of “Woman’s Part at the World’s Fair” from the May 1893 issue of The Review of Reviews. “The Work of the Board of Lady Managers” was written by one of its Vice Presidents, Virginia C. Meredith of Indiana. Parts 2 and 3 will follow later this month. Section headers and additional images have [...]
Finding the Fair at the Field
In terms of quantity and quality, one of the greatest collections of objects from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition resides in the Field Museum in Chicago. The permanent collection is a treasure trove of unique and fascinating items from the 1893 Exposition. We visited the museums several times recently to take in some of the temporary exhibits having World’s Fair materials on display and share a few photos here. Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation ran from July [...]
THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part IV: The Incomparable Loveliness of the Illuminations
Author Julian Hawthorne visited the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Like so many other visitors who recorded their impressions of visiting the World’s Fair, he offered some of his highest praise for the electrical lighting of the night scene in the Dream City, a “banquet of royal beauty.” Reprinted below is the fourth and final part of Julian Hawthorne’s “The Lady of the Lake” about his June visit to the fairgrounds and published in the August 1893 issue [...]
THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part I: Sculpture in the Grand Basin
Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 21, 1934) was the only son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and himself a journalist and author. Julian Hawthorne’s biographer notes that “as an author, he far exceeded the literary production of his famous father, composing no less than twenty-six novels and romances, over sixty short stories, almost a hundred essays, and several lengthy works of history, biography, and autobiography.” [Bassan, Maurice Hawthorne’s Son: The Life and Literary Career of Julian Hawthorne. Ohio [...]
Remembering William Eleroy Curtis, chairman of the Latin American Department
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of William Eleroy Curtis, born on November 5, 1850, in Akron, Ohio. Curtis served the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition as the chairman of the Latin American Department and representative of the State Department for the U.S. Government Exhibit. Curtis was a journalist and traveling correspondent for the Chicago Inter-Ocean and the Record-Herald newspapers and authored more than thirty books, many about his travels and research in South America. For the Exposition, Curtis [...]
What was Chicago’s official color for the Columbian Exposition?
Frank Lloyd Wright was known for his Cherokee red, and Maxfield Parrish had his own blue. Diana Vreeland was known for wearing red, and Shelby Latcherie’s colors were "blush" and "bashful" (a.k.a “pink” and “pink”). Icons often have a signature color. In October of 1892, Chicago excitedly prepared for her coming out ball. The world soon would arrive to see the Fair, and downtown businessmen decided to decorate their city for the occasion. Chicago needed a signature color. An object [...]
John Singer Sargent at the World’s Columbian Exposition
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was one of the most talked-about American artists whose works were displayed at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. “Mr. Sargent easily leads the portrait painters,” wrote Ernest Knaufft in his review of art at the Exposition. “We should dislike to pick out any separate example, but taking him in the aggregate, he becomes the ideal painter for painters.” Another contemporary review of the Columbian Exposition art display observed that: Nine out of ten of our [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR – Interior View in the Government Building (p. 44)
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 44 – INTERIOR VIEW IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING INTERIOR VIEW IN THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—While the building erected by the government of the United States was hardly counted among the architectural masterpieces of the Fair, it was at least to be expected that the vast resources available would make its exhibits of special interest, and in this respect public opinion was not wrong. From the possessions of the Smithsonian Institution, [...]