World's Columbian Exposition of 1893


The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was held in Chicago 
to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in the 
new world. One of the reasons for the fair was an attempt to 
bring together an American society ripped apart by the Civil 
War (1861-1865), and the later industrial revolution and surge 
in immigration that had spurred class violence.

     SEE VIDEO OF "THE WHITE CITY" 
  
Those who were selected to construct the fair decided that 
architecture and sculpture would be two great showcases 
around which it would be developed.  Many of the time’s great 
sculptors and architects were recruited to create the physical 
settings of the fair.  The overall neoclassical theme 
that resulted, and its chalky white plaster look, led the main 
section to be nicknamed “the White City”.  Meanwhile, another 
section of the fair included a midway of amusements and con- 
cessions, but also a series of “ethnological villages” like 
an African village and“Streets of Cairo”. Further, a women’s 
faction fought for and won the right to have their own build-
ing, apart from the exhibits created and representing “men”.

     SEE A VIRTUAL RECREATION   

The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition became not only a repre-
sentation of the social and artistic movements in American 
society at the time, but inspired such things as the lighting 
of cities and streets with electric lights, the production of 
the automobile by Henry Ford, the founding of the Smithsonian 
Institution, the Chicago Field Museum, the Science and 
Industry Museum, and the Chicago Art Institute.  
Worlds Columbian Exposition