1893 World's Fair
The Columbian Exposition and Its Relevance to Modern Chicago
What was the Columbian Exposition?
The Columbian Exposition 1893 was an event designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted.
The Exposition took up about six-hundred-and-thirty acres with buildings featuring a neoclassical architectural theme. In these buildings were sixty-five different exhibits from across the world.
Entrance to French Section
Woman's Building
Columbian Fountain
Who Attended?
The Exposition was attended by people from all over the world.
"...there are some people who are letting the chance of seeing this White City, that rose like a Venus from the waters of Lake Michigan, slip from them forever," said Richard Harving David about the fair, "They are missing the greatest event in the history of the country since the Civil War."
Another man, Eggleston, was overwhelmed by the Exposition. He says, "I saw so many wonderful things I hardly know what I liked most, and everything is so confused in my mind I hardly know now what I did see."
Influence on Chicago Today
As Julie K Rose says, "The advent of the consumer-based society in America received its first major expression and celebration at the World's Columbian Exposition."
The Exposition also brought many cultures into Chicago.
Sources/Works Cited
Woman's Building, 1893, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill., http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003675041/, 1 photographic print, January 10, 2014
Entrance to French sect., Manufacturers Bldg., 1893, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill., http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b06963/, 1 photographic print, January 10, 2014
The World's Columbian Exposition: Idea, Experience, Aftermath- http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/title.html
The World's Columbian Exposition - http://www.chicagohs.org/history/expo.html
- San Saba County news. (San Saba, Tex.), 12 May 1893. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86088452/1893-05-12/ed-1/seq-2/>
- Rose, Julie K. "The World's Columbian Exposition: Idea, Experience, Aftermath." University of Virginia. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/title.html>.