Mr. Gerald James of London, puzzled by the discouraging impressions of the Fair reaching him through the New York press, came to Chicago to see for himself what the Exposition had to offer an open mind. “The Fair is supreme,” he wrote. “It is a scintillating diadem crowning the civilized world with the honor and glory of peace. It tells a story that centuries of books and newspapers could not tell, and is worth more to a man or [...]
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF STATE BUILDINGS—LOOKING NORTHEAST.—Very popular was the Fifty-seventh street entrance, at the northwest corner of the Exposition Grounds, situated as it was close to a railroad station and at the end of a street car cable system, and hundreds of thousands of people became, in consequence, familiar with the view given in the illustration. The scene is that presented looking to the northeast from a point near the entrance to the grounds, and is that of the [...]
“Extremes meet at Chicago.” —librarian Caroline Harwood Garland. The 1893 World’s Fair was full of contrasts: exotic dancing on the Midway and educational exhibits; fountains illuminated by electricity and bibles illuminated by paintings, dynamos and the Dewey decimal system; balloon rides and books. Amidst the Cracker Jack and orange cider was also “food for reflection in the existence of so many libraries.” To celebrate National Library Week, let’s take a look at libraries at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. [...]
Few full exhibits from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition remained intact after the close of the fair. A notable exception is the “Exhibit of Large North American Mammals” that was on display inside the Kansas State Building. The University of Kansas Natural History Museum is home to the display, which is the subject of a series of events this summer to celebrate its 125th anniversary. Professor Lewis Lindsay Dyche created the panorama to showcase the university’s natural-history and taxidermy [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 45 – A GROUP OF STATE BUILDINGS A GROUP OF STATE BUILDINGS.—The State Buildings, though dwarfed by the monster structures south of them, made a city by themselves in the north and northwest parts of the Exhibition grounds, and afforded varying and beautiful types of architecture in their exteriors, while among their interior displays were many rarely surpassed in interest- The view above presented is from an elevated point [...]
PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS Page 20 BIRD'S-EYE VIEW LOOKING SOUTH.—It is difficult to determine what first attracts attention in this picture—the mirror surfaces of water, the cluster of state buildings, or the distant but easily recognized outlines of the great Exposition buildings. Certain it is that Nature, in all her loveliness, never appeared more at her best or appealed more bewitchingly than she does in these two sequestered sheets of water. The crowded roofs [...]
