Statue of the Republic Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair
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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!) [...]

The most admired and the most criticized of the sculpture at the 1893 World’s Fair
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The most admired and the most criticized of the sculpture at the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

The most admired and the most criticized of the sculpture at the 1893 World’s Fair

Daniel Chester French’s Statue of the Republic … “was the most admired and the most criticized of the sculpture at the World’s Fair—admired because of its magnificent proportions and criticized by many artists because they claimed to see nothing artistic in a female figure with both arms raised. Its fate as a work of art was sealed when some unkind critic saw in the rear elevation of the figure the semblance of a washerwoman hanging out clothes.” Ouch. [...]

By Scott|2024-02-21T15:52:49-06:00February 21st, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Daniel Chester French, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

159. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Front of the Agriculture Building and Lawn
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159. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Front of the Agriculture Building and Lawn

REPRINTS

159. Picturesque World’s Fair – The North Front of the Agriculture Building and Lawn

THE NORTH FRONT OF THE AGRICULTURE BUILDING, AND LAWN.—Between the magnificent Agriculture Building and the Grand Basin was a lawn not very broad, but nearly a thousand feet in length, resting the eye with its strip of green, and giving room for a just estimate of the architectural beauties displayed above. In the view given here is afforded not only a charming perspective of the Agriculture Building's graceful front, but of two Exposition features which commanded general admiration and [...]

By Randy|2023-12-27T09:06:06-06:00December 27th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, colonnade, Grand Basin, Peristyle, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

2023 Columbian Exposition Gift Guide
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2023 Columbian Exposition Gift Guide

NEWS, PRODUCTS

2023 Columbian Exposition Gift Guide

If you are shopping for a gift to give a Columbian Exposition enthusiast or just want to treat yourself to a little something during the holiday season, check on these products relating to the 1893 World’s Fair. Note: We provide this announcement of new products without any compensation from vendors. Prices and availability subject to change. We already reported on a fun new World’s Fair board game, Chicago 1893: The City Beautiful, from Transit Tees ($40). Atlas Stationers has [...]

By Scott|2024-04-01T08:49:51-05:00December 1st, 2023|Categories: NEWS, PRODUCTS|Tags: Ferris Wheel, H. H. Holmes, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 1: “Behold my grandeur!”
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The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 1: “Behold my grandeur!”

REPRINTS

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 1: “Behold my grandeur!”

Continued from Introduction THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 1: “Behold my grandeur!” As a loving word rings in the heart when the voice that breathed it is still, as a beautiful face dwells in Memory’s kingdom after years have flown, and a noble deed still lives though its occasion be passed, so the beauty of the Fair, written anew in thousands [...]

By Scott|2023-07-03T06:44:38-05:00June 30th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Mulford Robinson, clock tower, Columbus Quadriga, Court of Honor, Grand Basin, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Peristyle, Statue of the Republic|2 Comments

The Making of the White City (Part 2)
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The Making of the White City (Part 2)

REPRINTS

The Making of the White City (Part 2)

[Continued from Part 1] A great stage decked with ambitious scenery Perhaps the first thing that would strike a stranger entering the World’s Fair grounds in the summer of 1892 would be the silence of the place, the next the almost theatrical unreality of the impression by the sight of an assemblage of buildings so startlingly out of the common in size and form. When I speak of the silence, I mean the effect of silence. There are seven [...]

Death of the Republic: The fiery end to the golden colossus of the 1893 World’s Fair
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Death of the Republic: The fiery end to the golden colossus of the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

Death of the Republic: The fiery end to the golden colossus of the 1893 World’s Fair

They toppled the Republic at dawn on August 28, 1896. As the first rays of the sun spread across Lake Michigan and into Jackson Park, a funeral pyre lit inside the colossus began to spread up the structure. A flash of light soon appeared in her raised left arm. On a pedestal in the lagoon, the ghostly goddess stood with impassive dignity as muffled cracking within her heralded impending doom. A halo of yellow light formed about her head, [...]

By Scott|2022-12-09T11:20:09-06:00August 28th, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Court of Honor, Daniel Chester French, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Grand Basin, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor
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From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor

REPRINTS

From Hades to Heaven: Penelope Gleason Knapp’s Visit to the Court of Honor

A visit to the 1893 World’s Fair inspired Penelope Gleason Knapp to pen a romantic and effusive love letter to the wonders of the White City. With Victorian flourish, she describes her rapturous experience in the Court of Honor, “where enchantment reigns supreme.” Her memoir offers a reminder that electric illumination on such a grand scale was an overwhelming experience for many visitors from small towns in America. Penelope Gleason Knapp In 1893, twenty-two-year-old Penelope Gleason Knapp was living [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:11:32-05:00March 22nd, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Court of Honor, Diana, electric fountains, gondolas, illumination, MacMonnies Fountain, Obelisk, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

1893 World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks
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1893 World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks

NEWS

1893 World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks

The Chicago Public Library Blog post "World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks" offers a brief review of four replica sculptures from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition that can be seen today in various Chicago Parks. These include Daniel Chester French's Statue of the Republic (1918 replica) in Jackson Park, George Wade's Fountain Girl (2012 replica) in Lincoln Park, and Edward Kemey's Prairie King and Sound of the Whoop bison (1911 replicas). Other statues from the 1893 World's Fair grace [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:12:23-05:00March 13th, 2021|Categories: NEWS|Tags: Daniel Chester French, Edward Kemeys, Edward Potter, Fountain Girl, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments

Chicago Statues from the 1893 World’s Fair Under Scrutiny
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Chicago Statues from the 1893 World’s Fair Under Scrutiny

NEWS

Chicago Statues from the 1893 World’s Fair Under Scrutiny

The City of Chicago has announced the beginning of a process to review forty-one statues, monuments, murals, and plaques in the city that have been “identified for public discussion.” The list includes four statues that have a direct connection to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago: The Republic by Daniel Chester French https://chicagomonuments.org/monuments/the-republic This 1918 smaller replica of the original 1893 Statue of the Republic by Daniel Chester French is an enduring icon of the World’s Fair in [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:14:54-05:00February 21st, 2021|Categories: NEWS|Tags: Christopher Columbus, Daniel Chester French, Edward Potter, Statue of the Republic|0 Comments