Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 2

Continued from Part 1 Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1880. “I come to see the American side of the Fair” On September 10, 1893, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and his wife Jeanne-Émilie arrived in Chicago and settled into the Hotel Metropole. This hotel stood on Michigan Avenue at 23rd Street, just south of the tony Prairie Avenue District called home by many of Chicago’s elite citizens, including Marshall Field, George Pullman, Ferdinand ("Ferd") W. Peck, and John Jacob Glessner. [...]

A Tribute to Harlow N. Higinbotham, President of the World’s Columbian Exposition

On April 18, 1919, the former president of the World’s Columbian Exposition met a tragic death. Harlow N. Higinbotham was visiting New York to “meet the boys” of Illinois who had recently returned from serving in the U.S. military during the Great War. The eighty-year-old Chicagoan set out from his residence at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Central Park to the New York headquarters of the Illinois Soldiers' Welcome Committee at 107 East 34th Street. Along the way, he stepped [...]

By |2020-04-19T15:47:16-05:00April 18th, 2020|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Opening Day, Part 3: A Sea of Humanity

A Sea of Humanity This is Part 3 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. As the procession of the President of the United States began its march south on Michigan Avenue, thousands of people in downtown Chicago began forming their own spontaneous parade to the World’s Fair. Everyone on West Madison Street and North [...]

Opening Day, Part 2: Presidential Procession to the Fairgrounds

Presidential Procession to the Fairgrounds This is Part 2 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. Finely decorated with flags and bunting The Auditorium Building, where the Duke of Vergua stayed. [Image from the Rijksmueum, Amsterdam.] On the morning of Opening Day of the 1893 World’s Fair, the center of attraction in downtown Chicago [...]

Go to Top