Harriet Monroe Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair

Toward the close of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, The Critic invited twenty-five notable scholars, writers, and leaders of the day to offer their brief impressions of the World’s Fair. At such a monumental event with so many novelties … what impressed them the most? It is interesting how frequently these contributors sing the same notes as they rhapsodize about the fairgrounds at night and the illumination of the Court of Honor, praise (except for Henry Fuller!) [...]

Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair
Gallery
Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair

REPRINTS

Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair

Reprinted below are ten “Literary Tributes to the World’s Fair” from the October 1893 issue of The Dial, a literary magazine published in Chicago. The notable contributors are: Mary Hartwell Catherwood (1847—1902), Midwest author of popular historical romances, short stories, and poetry; Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900), essayist and novelist best remembered as the co-author with Mark Twain of The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873); George W. Cable (1844–1925), novelist who portrayed Creole life in his native New [...]

By Scott|2023-12-09T08:37:26-06:00December 9th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Dudley Warner, George W. Cable, Harriet Monroe, Henry B. Fuller, Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, Mary Hartwell Catherwood, Paul Bourget, Richard Watson Gilder, Walter Besant, William P. Trent|0 Comments

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

EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)

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 [...]

By Scott|2024-02-10T08:51:15-06:00October 15th, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past), EXHIBITS (past)|Tags: Columbian Ode, George W. Chadwick, Harriet Monroe, Simon Pokagon, Swami Vivekananda|0 Comments

Oct. 19, 2023: “Harriet Monroe & the Open Door” (Chicago and online)
Gallery
Oct. 19, 2023: “Harriet Monroe & the Open Door” (Chicago and online)

EVENTS (past)

Oct. 19, 2023: “Harriet Monroe & the Open Door” (Chicago and online)

The Newberry Library in Chicago will host a lecture on 1893 World’s Fair poet Harriet Monroe on October 19, 2023. Liesl Olson, Director of the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and former Director of Chicago Studies at the Newberry Library, will present “Harriet Monroe & the Open Door.” Harriet Monroe's extraordinary life and work gave the world one of the most exciting and enduring magazines devoted to “the best English verse which is being written today, regardless of where, by [...]

By Scott|2023-11-05T17:54:44-06:00September 5th, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: Harriet Monroe, Newberry Library|0 Comments

A Valentine’s Day Wish from Harriet Monroe
Gallery
A Valentine’s Day Wish from Harriet Monroe

REPRINTS

A Valentine’s Day Wish from Harriet Monroe

Here is a Valentine’s Day verse from Harriet Monroe’s Valyria and Other Poems (A.C. McClurg & Company, 1892), which she dedicated to the memory of architect John Wellborn Root. FOR JOHN PAUL Who sent roses on St. Valentine's day. Stay, sweet roses, stay but a day, Breathe me your souls ere your leaves decay. That over the air to my valentine I may waft him a perfume as rich as wine, That shall charm his desire to some dear [...]

By Scott|2020-02-09T19:35:37-06:00February 14th, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Harriet Monroe|0 Comments

Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman
Gallery
Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman

HISTORY, LOST & FOUND

Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman

Two pillars of the 1893 World’s Fair died unexpectedly before they could complete their work on the fairgrounds. Even the preliminary architectural contributions of both men, however, played a monumental role in the success of the Columbian Exposition. So, it was fitting that a small monument to the memory of these two leading designers graced the fairgrounds. John Wellborn Root (left) and Henry Sargent Codman (right). Glorious achievements January 13 marks the anniversary of the death of [...]

By Scott|2022-12-10T10:11:00-06:00January 13th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY, LOST & FOUND|Tags: Columbian Fountain, Daniel Burnham, Devil in the White City (book), Field Museum, Frederick Law Olmsted, Harriet Monroe, Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair, Henry Codman, John Root, MacMonnies Fountain, Museum of Science and Industry, Palace of Fine Arts|2 Comments

Remembering Harlow Higinbotham, President of the World’s Columbian Exposition
Gallery
Remembering Harlow Higinbotham, President of the World’s Columbian Exposition

REPRINTS

Remembering Harlow Higinbotham, President of the World’s Columbian Exposition

Today we mark the birthday of Harlow Niles Higinbotham (October 10, 1838 – April 18, 1919), who served as the third President of the World’s Columbian Exposition Company, following terms of Lyman J. Gage and William T. Baker. The quote below, reprinted in Harriet Monroe’s Harlow Niles Higinbotham: A Memoir with Brief Autobiography and Extracts from Speeches and Letters (R.F. Seymour, 1920) came from a speech that Higinbotham made years after the 1893 World’s Fair, at a banquet for [...]

By Scott|2018-10-09T08:07:53-05:00October 10th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Harlow Higinbotham, Harriet Monroe|0 Comments

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

OPENING DAY

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 [...]

By Scott|2018-04-25T20:23:28-05:00April 27th, 2018|Categories: OPENING DAY|Tags: Christopher Columbus, Columbian Ode, George R. Davis, Harriet Monroe, Jessie Couthoui, The Prophecy, Thomas Edison, William A. Croffut|1 Comment

Site of the World’s Columbian Exposition
Gallery
Site of the World’s Columbian Exposition

REPRINTS

Site of the World’s Columbian Exposition

The piece below, from the first issue of The World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated (Vol. 1 No. 1, February 1891) and likely written by editor James B. Campbell, offers an enthusiastic description of the locations that Chicago had recently selected to host the 1893 World’s Fair. The editorial boosterism belies much of the bitter fighting that went into reaching the decision to use Jackson Park as the main fairgrounds. At the time of this publication in early 1891, plans to [...]

By Scott|2021-05-16T11:25:52-05:00February 18th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: bird’s eye view, Book of the Builders, Harriet Monroe, Jackson Park, Lake Front Park, Midway Plaisance, The World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated, Washington Park, World’s Congress Auxiliary Building|2 Comments

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 5)
Gallery
Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 5)

REPRINTS

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 5)

[Previous installments of this series include Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.] This fifth part of Harriet Monroe’s “The World's Columbian Exposition” from John Wellborn Root: A Study of His Life and Work (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1896) describes how John Root in late 1890 assembled the “best fruit” of American architecture to design the buildings of the 1893 World’s Fair. Part 5: Expect to be Judged by the World Root looked upon the Columbian Exposition [...]

By Scott|2018-09-02T18:35:30-05:00January 17th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: George Post, Grounds and Buildings Committee, Harriet Monroe, Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair, Jackson Park, John Root, McKim Mead and White, Peabody & Stearns, Richard Hunt, Van Brunt & Howe|0 Comments