A Sea of Humanity This is Part 3 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. As the procession of the President of the United States began its march south on Michigan Avenue, thousands of people in downtown Chicago began forming their own spontaneous parade to the World’s Fair. Everyone on West Madison Street and North [...]
Presidential Procession to the Fairgrounds This is Part 2 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. Finely decorated with flags and bunting The Auditorium Building, where the Duke of Vergua stayed. [Image from the Rijksmueum, Amsterdam.] On the morning of Opening Day of the 1893 World’s Fair, the center of attraction in downtown Chicago [...]
Morning on the Fairgrounds This is Part 1 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. The day of days dawned with gray skies. Jupiter Pluvius, giver of rain, held an uplifted threatening fist over Chicago this morning. Throughout the city, bunting hung to celebrate the opening of the World’s Fair sagged, damp and listless. A [...]
Chicago’s Day of Days May 1, 1893 "Opening of the World's Fair" [Image from the Library of Congress.] The day of days had arrived in Chicago. After winning the bid to host the World’s Columbian Exposition, months of searching to select Jackson Park as the site of the fairgrounds, the death of the lead architect, two years of constructing a White City on the shores of Lake Michigan, damaging winter storms, delays and setbacks, and a Dedication Day [...]
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Stephen Grover Cleveland on March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey. The second inauguration of Grover Cleveland as the 24th President of the United States was held on March 4, 1893, less than two months before the opening of the World’s Fair in Chicago on May 1. Having previously served as the 22nd president, Cleveland is the only U.S. president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Egyptian Temple Reproduction showing the [...]
