Chicago Illinois, USA
Closed 1893
I’ve had a long fascination with ephemeral architecture, and the “White City,” as the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was known, one of the grandest examples yet created and had a tremendous impact on architecture and urban design in the United States and far beyond. It is also the location for Erik Larson’s riveting “Devil in the White City,” which stars an architect! Sean S.
| The World’s Columbian Exposition was awarded to Chicago by Congress to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America. The grounds were designed by John Wellborn Root, Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmstead and Charles B. Atwood as a prototype for a city following Beaux Arts principles. It covered almost 700 acres and included almost 200 new temporary neoclassical structures. The Exposition opened on May 1, 1893 and closed on October 30, 1893. It was attended by over 27 million people during its six-month run.. Civil rights leaders protested the fair’s refusal to include an African America exhibit, but several smaller exhibitions did feature African Americans such as Edmonia Lewis and George Washington Carve and Frederick Douglass was selected by Haiti as its national representative. The mayor Carter Harisson III was assassinated two days before the projected closing which led to the closing being replaced with a public memorial service. The fair is mentioned in the University song “ The City Wh ite hath fled the earth, but where the azure waters lie, a nobler city hath its birth, the City Gray that ne’er shall die.” The painting is based on a photograph by C. D. Arnold. |
No. 307