John Root Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

World’s Fair architects on “Jeopardy!”
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World’s Fair architects on “Jeopardy!”

NEWS

World’s Fair architects on “Jeopardy!”

The November 29, 2024, episode of Jeopardy! offered contestants this $400 clue in the Double Jeopardy! round under the category of “Do You Want to Build a Building?”: In 1873 Daniel Burnham & John Root started a firm to build together in this city; 2 decades later, Burnham built a fair there. Debbie Mercer, a retired special education teacher from (nearby) Oak Park, Illinois, gave the correct answer of Chicago. Daniel Burnham and John Root in their office [...]

By Scott|2024-11-30T10:23:45-06:00November 30th, 2024|Categories: NEWS|Tags: Daniel Burnham, Jeopardy, John Root|0 Comments

May 7, 2024: DREAM CITY musical (Chicago)
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May 7, 2024: DREAM CITY musical (Chicago)

EVENTS (past), THEATER

May 7, 2024: DREAM CITY musical (Chicago)

A new musical about the 1893 World’s Fair takes the stage at Theater Wit in Chicago for one night only. Dream City, with book and lyrics by June Finfer and music by Elizabeth Doyle, will be offered as a staged reading on May 7, 2024, at 7:30 PM. Finfer and Doyle’s musical is a revision of Burnham’s Dream: The White City, staged in 2018. This new version featured five new songs, two new characters (including a villain), and no [...]

By Scott|2024-06-04T09:23:08-05:00April 22nd, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: Bertha Palmer, Daniel Burnham, Eugene Patrick Prendergast, Ida B. Wells, John Root, Louis Sullivan, Sol Bloom|0 Comments

This brilliant architect and designer, John Wellborn Root
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This brilliant architect and designer, John Wellborn Root

REPRINTS

This brilliant architect and designer, John Wellborn Root

January 15, 2021, marks the 130th anniversary of the death of architect John Wellborn Root in 1891 at the age of 41. As Consulting Architect to the 1893 World’s Fair with his partner Daniel Burnham, Root’s invaluable contributions are recorded by Harriet Monroe in her chapter “The World’s Columbian Exposition” in John Wellborn Root: A Study of His Life and Work (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1896), reprinted here. On January 20, 1891, the Committee on Grounds and Buildings of [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:17:11-05:00January 15th, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: John Root|0 Comments

Pillars of the Fair: John Root and Henry Codman
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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

The Dying Scene of this Magnificent Exposition: Mayor Carter Harrison’s Final Speech
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The Dying Scene of this Magnificent Exposition: Mayor Carter Harrison’s Final Speech

REPRINTS

The Dying Scene of this Magnificent Exposition: Mayor Carter Harrison’s Final Speech

World’s Columbian Exposition celebrated “American Cities Day” on Saturday, October 28, 1893, two days before the close of the Fair. Chicago’s Mayor, Carter Harrison, hosted what was thought to be the largest congregation of U.S. mayors ever assembled. Greeting the guests as they arrived on the fairgrounds on the bitterly cold day was the blast of a cannon and musical fanfares from a group of sixteen trumpeters stationed around Music Hall. Mayors represented the great cities of Philadelphia, Milwaukee, [...]

By Scott|2022-12-10T10:10:40-06:00October 28th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: American Cities Day, Carter Harrison, Columbian Liberty Bell, Daniel Burnham, Devil in the White City (book), Eugene Patrick Prendergast, Grover Cleveland, John Root, Manhattan Day, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Music Hall, New York, New York State Building, Tiffany|0 Comments

Sept. 8-Oct. 13, 2018: “Chicago’s Gold Coast Patronage and the 1893 World’s Fair” Tours (Chicago)
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Sept. 8-Oct. 13, 2018: “Chicago’s Gold Coast Patronage and the 1893 World’s Fair” Tours (Chicago)

EVENTS (past)

Sept. 8-Oct. 13, 2018: “Chicago’s Gold Coast Patronage and the 1893 World’s Fair” Tours (Chicago)

In conjunction with their exhibit “Treasures from the White City: The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893," the Richard H. Driehaus Museum in Chicago is offering a series of walking tours titled “Chicago's Gold Coast Patronage and the 1893 World's Fair” on Saturdays from 1-2:30 pm between September 8 to October 13. Led by Sally Kalmbach, the tour will explore Chicago’s famous Gold Coast neighborhood. Still one the most beautiful and architecturally rich neighborhoods in the city, the Gold Coast [...]

By Scott|2022-03-05T10:34:28-06:00September 2nd, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: Bertha Palmer, Charles McKim, Henry Ives Cobb, John Root, Louis Sullivan, Palmer Mansion, Potter Palmer, Richard H. Driehaus Museum, Richard Hunt, Solon S. Beman|0 Comments

Happy Birthday to Architect Robert Peabody
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Happy Birthday to Architect Robert Peabody

HISTORY

Happy Birthday to Architect Robert Peabody

Today we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Robert Swain Peabody on February 22, 1845. Peabody was a cofounder of the Boston architectural firm of Peabody & Stearns, designer of Machinery Hall (also known as the Palace of Mechanical Arts) and the Massachusetts Pavilion for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Architects invited by Daniel Burnham to contribute building for the World's Columbian Exposition gathered in Chicago on January 10, 1891. Robert S. Peabody traveled from the east [...]

By Scott|2022-03-05T08:35:09-06:00February 22nd, 2018|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Abraham Gottlieb, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Charles McKim, Daniel Burnham, Dankmar Adler, Frederick Law Olmsted, George Post, Henry Codman, Henry Ives Cobb, Henry Van Brunt, Jackson Park, John Root, Louis Sullivan, Machinery Hall, Massachusetts State Building, Peabody & Stearns, Richard Hunt, Robert S. Peabody, Rookery Building, Solon S. Beman, William Le Baron Jenney|0 Comments

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

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 4)
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Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 4)

REPRINTS

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 4)

[Previous installments of this series include Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.] "John Root made the Fair until he died," asserted Owen F. Aldis. We present this fourth 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) on the anniversary of John Root’s death, on January 15, 1891. In this section, Monroe describes the continuing chaos and “hot war” in the fall of [...]

By Scott|2018-03-11T14:45:27-05:00January 15th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Hutchinson, Frederick Law Olmsted, Harlow Higinbotham, Harriet Monroe, Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair, Henry Codman, Jackson Park, John Root, Lake Front Park, Owen F. Aldis, South Park Board, Washington Park|0 Comments

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 3)
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Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 3)

REPRINTS

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 3)

[Previous installments of this series include Part 1 and Part 2] Today marks the 125th anniversary of the passing of Henry Sargent Codman, who died unexpectedly while recovering from an appendectomy on January 13, 1893, at the young age of 29. As Frederick Law Olmsted's protégé, Codman influenced the design of the Columbian Exposition fairgrounds in substantial and creative ways, as described in this third part of Harriet Monroe’s “The World's Columbian Exposition” from John Wellborn Root: A Study [...]

By Scott|2018-03-11T14:45:39-05:00January 13th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Frederick Law Olmsted, Harriet Monroe, Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair, Henry Codman, Jackson Park, John Root, Lake Front Park, shirt plan, Washington Park|0 Comments