Sep. 14, 2023 – Jan. 13, 2024: Harriet Monroe & the Open Door (Chicago)

The temporary exhibition Harriet Monroe & the Open Door at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago showcases the fascinating line connecting today’s world-renowned poetry magazine back to a poem written for the 1893 World’s Fair. Archival documents and photographs on display with accompanying descriptive texts tell the story of Harriet Monroe, her “Columbian Ode” poem, and the landmark copyright lawsuit that helped launch Poetry magazine. Part of the exhibition display for Harriet Monroe & the Open Door at the [...]

Opening Day, Part 6: Reading of “The Prophecy”

Reading of “The Prophecy” This is Part 6 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. At the conclusion of Reverend Milburn’s invocation, General-Director George R. Davis again commanded the attention of the crowd and announced the third number on the program. "I introduce to you Miss Jessie Couthoui, who will read the poem." With faultless [...]

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 1)

“The World’s Columbian Exposition has never been so well revealed and appreciated as through her imagination and her eyes,” wrote renowned poet William Carlos Williams, describing fellow poet and publisher Harriet Monroe (1860–1936). “And her part in it was distinguished.” Two of Monroe’s distinguished accomplishments served as bookends to the 1893 World’s Fair. The Dedication Day Ceremony held on the fairgrounds on October 21, 1892, featured a reading of an excerpt of her monumental poem “The Columbian Ode.” Harriet [...]

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