The Chicago Orchestra’s 1892 Premiere of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite”

One of America’s most beloved holiday artistic traditions originated in imperial Russia and came to the United States through Chicago at the time of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. On October 22, 1892, an audience of Chicagoans—joined by distinguished guests in town for the World’s Fair Dedication Day exercises—gathered in the Auditorium to hear a concert by the Chicago Orchestra conducted by Theodore Thomas. During the third piece on the program, songs of waltzing flowers, terpsichorean reeds, and a [...]

By Scott|2025-12-02T09:28:00-06:00December 2nd, 2025|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

“A realized picture one will never forget”: Windsor Castle in Miniature at the Columbian Exposition

Visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair who entered the west portal of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building encountered a remarkable scene on their right. The striking display left no doubt that they had arrived in the exhibition space of Great Britain. A handsome art gallery wore a fanciful crown—a detailed miniature of Windsor Castle, forty-five feet long and eighteen feet wide. This intricate roof-top model enticed visitors to enter the Sunlight Soap pavilion sponsored by Messrs. Lever Brothers [...]

By Scott|2025-08-18T18:37:41-05:00August 19th, 2025|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment
Read More

174. Picturesque World’s Fair – Interior of the Woman’s Building

INTERIOR OF THE WOMAN'S BUILDING. The interior of the Woman's Building, viewed from the gallery at either end, presented an exceedingly attractive appearance. The great space was admirably lighted from the skylight over the central court, and the objects on display were visible with exceptional distinctness. Very curious and interesting were many these objects, character of which may be at least vaguely discerned in the illustration. A feature of the exhibits in this building was that many of them [...]

By Randy|2025-08-03T11:45:39-05:00May 3rd, 2025|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
Read More

Season’s Readings: 2024 Books about the World’s Columbian Exposition

Relatively few new books were added to the Columbian Exposition bookshelf this past year, but the small selection does cover several interesting topics. Three new academic works explore the Woman’s Building, model Haida Village, and Haiti Building and Frederick Douglass. A new children’s novel time-travels back to 1893. Note: We provide this announcement of new titles without any compensation from authors or publishers. We encourage shopping through independent local book dealers and online platforms that support them, such as [...]

By Scott|2026-01-18T13:00:33-06:00December 1st, 2024|Categories: FICTION, NEWS, PRODUCTS, RESEARCH|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
Read More

Aug. 29, 2024: “The Women’s Building at the Chicago World’s Fair” (Lima, OH)

The Allen County Museum in Lima, Ohio, will host a talk about the Woman’s Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition on August 29, 2024. Dr. David Strittmatter, Ohio Northern University Assistant Professor of History will present on “The Women’s Building at the Chicago World’s Fair.” This talk is part of a lecture series accompanying The Art of Domesticity, a temporary exhibition focusing on the decorative arts from the 19th and 20th centuries as well as works by contemporary [...]

By Scott|2024-09-22T11:06:04-05:00August 20th, 2024|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: |0 Comments
Read More

Sep. 21, 2023: “Women’s Work at the 1893 World’s Fair” (Evanston, IL)

The Evanston History Center will host a presentation on "Women’s Work at the 1893 World’s Fair" by Diane Dillon on Thursday, September 21, 2023, at 7 pm. Her presentation will explore the range of contributions women made to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, including the work of Bertha Palmer and the Board of Lady Managers, the protest of Ida B. Wells, the design of the Woman’s Building by architect Sophia Hayden, and the Congress of Representative Women. [...]

By Scott|2023-10-02T13:37:30-05:00August 31st, 2023|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , , , , , |2 Comments
Read More

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 3: An Enormous Whirligig of Pleasure

Continued from Part 2 [Note: This text includes names and descriptions now considered culturally disparaging. Please see our statement on “Potentially Offensive Text and Images.”] THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 3: An Enormous Whirligig of Pleasure The entrance to the Plaisance was directly beyond this building. Serious purposed womanhood, as personified by the structure, stood before the Plaisance, blocking the way [...]

By Scott|2023-07-03T06:41:30-05:00July 2nd, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |3 Comments
Read More

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque

Continued from Part 1 [Note: This text includes names and descriptions now considered culturally disparaging. Please see our statement on “Potentially Offensive Text and Images.”] THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque But in that brief view a lesson was also taught you which you took to heart at once. It was that the charm of the [...]

By Scott|2023-07-02T13:10:12-05:00July 1st, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment
Read More

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 [...]

By Scott|2025-07-23T10:15:53-05:00February 13th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

Dec. 10-11, 2022: “Sophia Hayden Deserves Better” play reading (Normal, IL)

In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building the Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging, and undermining until she finally spoke up. In a time when women were defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men, her concerns were not only not heard, [...]

By Scott|2023-01-17T17:46:43-06:00December 3rd, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments
Read More

Mar. 27, 2022: “Sophia Hayden Deserves Better” play reading (Barrington, IL)

In 1891 a brilliant 23-year-old woman won an architecture contest to design the Woman’s Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. What should have been the start to a flourishing career in architecture became career-ending. Throughout the two-year process of building the Woman’s Building, the architect quietly endured bullying, micromanaging, and undermining until she finally spoke up. In a time when women were defined as physically and intellectually weaker than men, her concerns were not only not heard, [...]

By Scott|2022-04-07T13:07:03-05:00March 24th, 2022|Categories: EVENTS (past), THEATER|Tags: , |0 Comments
Read More

Which of the 6 Everyday Inventions Debuted at 1893 World’s Fair?

Do you know which of these “6 Everyday Inventions That Debuted at World's Fairs," from a list assembled by History.com, are from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition? 1. telephone 2. zipper 3. dishwasher 4. electrical plug and socket 5. television 6. touchscreens Josephine Cochrane (1839–1913) of Shelbyville, IL, is credited with inventing the dishwashing machine, which she exhibited in the Inventions Room of the Woman’s Building. Whitcomb L. Judson is widely recognized as the inventor of the zipper, which [...]

By Scott|2023-12-05T15:44:48-06:00January 16th, 2022|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , |0 Comments
Read More

“The Spatula and the White City” podcast

“One of my favorite things in the world is the spatula,” confesses Diane T. Sands, host of the podcast This Fact is Overdue. In the episode “The Spatula and the White City” (March 1, 2021), she shares interesting connections between this simple and useful kitchen utensil and the 1893 World’s Fair. Along the way, listeners will learn about Anna M. Mangin, a young Black woman who invented the pastry fork in 1891. Her invention was exhibited in the New [...]

By Scott|2021-05-01T14:07:28-05:00May 2nd, 2021|Categories: AUDIO, NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments
Read More

The women of Effingham, Illinois, go the 1893 World’s Fair

Many small towns sent their best for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. "Effingham County [Illinois] had much to be proud of in its contributions to the exhibits in the Woman’s Building at the Columbian Exposition in 1893," writes Delaine Donaldson. "It’s women were achieving success in a variety of ways and were vital to shaping the course of the county’s history and future." See "A Yearlong Celebration" in the the Effingham Daily News (Mar 15, 2021). The [...]

By Scott|2022-03-05T11:03:51-06:00April 2nd, 2021|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments
Read More

108. Picturesque World’s Fair – Miriamna, A Woman from Ceylon

MIRIAMNA, A WOMAN FROM CEYLON.—The Singhalese type was well illustrated in Miriamna, a woman who, from the nature of her position at the Fair, became, perhaps, better known than any other one of her race there. The Ceylon tea room, in the Woman's Building, was a popular resort, and there Miriamna sold tea and made a pretty picture as she moved about. She was a wee bit of a woman, but had a dignity of her own which she [...]

By Randy|2020-10-24T10:59:39-05:00October 24th, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , |0 Comments
Read More

Utah Women Raise Money for the 1893 World’s Fair

A new podcast highlights the work of Margaret Salisbury and women in Utah, who raised funds for their state displays in the Woman’s Building and in the Utah Building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Zion’s Suffragists podcast from the Deseret News explores how Utah pioneered voting rights for women in the United States. Episode 3, “Woman will be restored,” features Salisbury, who served on the Board of Lady Managers as one of its vice-presidents and [...]

By Scott|2020-01-31T14:06:48-06:00January 31st, 2020|Categories: AUDIO, NEWS|Tags: , , , |1 Comment
Read More

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 13)

THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)

By Scott|2024-09-22T10:10:23-05:00January 3rd, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment
Read More

Which 1893 World’s Fair building is Among “The 12 Most Controversial Buildings in America”?

A new article at the home advice website BobVila.com describing “The 12 Most Controversial Buildings in America” includes one from the 1893 World’s Fair. The article by Jamie Birdwell Branson lists the Woman’s Building, designed by architect Sophia Hayden. Branson notes that the controversy occurred because the building design “underwent contentious changes during construction, and many architectural journals gave it negative reviews upon completion” and also observes that the criticism may be been “reactions to the fact that the architect [...]

By Scott|2019-06-22T10:46:40-05:00June 22nd, 2019|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , |0 Comments
Read More

Louisville celebrates 1893 World’s Fair sculptor Enid Yandell

Louisville, Kentucky, is celebrating hometown sculptor Enid Yandell (1870-1934) with a series of events in 2019. The Louisville native, who studied under Auguste Rodin and Frederick MacMonnies, contributed several notable works to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Yandell sculpted the four caryatids supporting the railing of the roof garden of the Woman’s Building. She was selected for the job for Bertha Palmer, President of the Board of Lady Managers and herself a Kentucky native. The artist also [...]

By Scott|2022-09-02T08:25:09-05:00April 25th, 2019|Categories: EVENTS (past), NEWS|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
Read More
Copyright 2024 WorldsFairChicago1893 | All Rights Reserved |
Go to Top