Lake Front Park Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

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

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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 4)
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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)

[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)

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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

Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 1)
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Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 1)

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Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair (Part 1)

“The World’s Columbian Exposition has never been so well revealed and appreciated as through her imagination and her eyes,” wrote renowned poet William Carlos Williams, describing fellow poet and publisher Harriet Monroe (1860–1936). “And her part in it was distinguished.” Two of Monroe’s distinguished accomplishments served as bookends to the 1893 World’s Fair. The Dedication Day Ceremony held on the fairgrounds on October 21, 1892, featured a reading of an excerpt of her monumental poem “The Columbian Ode.” Harriet [...]

By Scott|2024-04-04T11:39:23-05:00January 9th, 2018|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Columbian Ode, Exposition Universelle, Frederick Law Olmsted, Grounds and Buildings Committee, Harriet Monroe, Harriet Monroe’s History of the World’s Fair, John Root, Lake Front Park, New York, West Side parks|0 Comments