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

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Eulogy for Louis H. Sullivan

The gravestone for Louis H. Sullivan, in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. Louis H. Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) “The work the master did may die with him—no great matter. What he represented has lived in spite of all drift—all friction, all waste, all slip—since time began for man. In this sense was Louis Sullivan true to tradition—in this sense will the divine spark, given to him from the deep centre of the universe and [...]

By |2020-04-18T21:12:19-05:00April 14th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments

From the Emerald City to the White City

Having been a devoted L. Frank Baum enthusiast for decades, I developed a keen interest in learning more about his life and times upon moving to Chicago in the summer of 2003. The author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz provided the invitation to explore the history of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Many sources have offered commentary—ranging from the factual to the fanciful—on Baum’s connections to the Columbian Exposition, and I anticipate contributing additional thoughts on that [...]

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