As the city of Chicago prepped for the 1893 World’s Fair Columbian Exposition, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World, people all over the world brought artifacts to the city. To keep these artifacts in the city long after the Exposition ended, Edward Ayer and Marshall Field established the Columbian Museum. Built using Field’s money, Columbian Museum would go on to house world artifacts as well as function as a research institution. As time passed, the museum eventually changed names to the Field Museum of Natural History and moved buildings to its much larger current location on Museum Campus. Today, the Field Museum continues to be an innovating research institution and stable of the Chicagoland community. The Field Museum currently houses eight permanent exhibits ranging from the Mammals of… series to the Evolving Planet. Each exhibit revolves around one of the four core departments: Botany, Zoology, Geology, and Anthropology. Different from other museums, each collection at Field are closely entwined and work together to orchestrate a visual presentation of the progression of natural history. To highlight the relationship between each of the exhibitions, the staff could provide daily visitors with a cohesive guide map of the entire museum. The current location of the museum is massive to accommodate for the displays as well as three research laboratories, but due to large size, each exhibit feels isolated and
Quoted by Handler and Gable, critic Ada Louise Huxtable declares the newly constructed reproduction of Colonial Williamsburg as “too clean,” arguing that it “does not include the filth and stench that would have been commonplace.” (Source E) This sanitation of the truth completely misrepresents history, and the educational value greatly suffers. Conversely, the National Museum of the American Indian hopes to avoid this lack of judgment by dedicating itself to the “preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and Arts of Native Americans.” (Source C) The main goal of the museum is to “span all major cultural areas” (C) and educate the public about and preserve the rich history of such a vast culture. The authenticity and significance of artifacts are important to representing culture and history, and the ability of these artifacts to educate should be a key factor of the selection process.
#1 – May 1, 1893 12:08 at the east end of the administration building – The fair is official initiated when President Cleveland turns a gold key, completing an electric current that causes an exuberant display of water works, the release of a large American flag, and the firing of the Michigan, resulting in the audience to sing and revel in its beauty and grandeur. Thus, the significance of this event is revealed as being the start of the Great Chicago World’s Fair. (Larson 237-239)
The 1893 Chicago World's Fair had a major impact on today's culture and America as a whole. New products and inventions were influenced by the fair and made the ideas fun, new, and exciting for the world to see. Architectural and technological aspects during the fair were the starting foundation of some of America's greatest accomplishments. The fair was a chance for the world to acknowledge America's ingenuity and perseverance in times of struggle and conflict.
The Chicago World’s Fair, also known as the Columbian Exposition, put on display many new technologies that would never have been seen by the majority of the world if not for this fair. While celebrating 400 years since Columbus had discovered the Americas was the reason behind this fair, new technologies were the reason people came to the fair. Traveling from different continents to see the best the world could offer. Once people started arriving, they were awestruck at what
The thought of Chicago hosting the world’s fair would be daunting at first, but it could turn around the reputation of Chicago from one of a city of gloom and darkness, to one of a city of light and progress from the Great Chicago fire of 1871, and that city would be fascinating for years to come. Chicago would get an economic shot in the arm from the revenue that it would get from hosting the 1893 World Fair and it would make Chicago into a great city of America. The event and also the transformation that would happen to the city of Chicago would not have happened if it would not be for one great man who had taken up the challenge to make sure to host this 1893 World fair.
Much like the name suggests, the exhibits revolve around two of the most defining aspects of history, Art and Science. Their galleries include displays from both the past and present, along with a planetarium for shows about our galaxy and the always entertaining laser rock shows. To learn about events and new exhibits coming to the Museum of Art and Sciences, you can visit their website here.
Given the nickname the "White City" because of its elegant and pristine buildings, the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 was one of the most powerful events in American history. There were long lasting impacts on American culture, economy, and technology- the fair brought new advancements in virtually every aspect of daily life. It was held “to commemorate Columbus’s discovery of the New World” (Larson 15). The fair was a symbol of the expertise America possessed, but simultaneously highlighted the hardships that surrounded it. The fair increased wages, marketed more products for public use, and produced architectural feats that challenged the ones that stood at the 1889 Exposition Universelle. There was much more to the fair behind the showstopping displays that it created. Behind the exotic Algerian belly dancers and astonishing replicas of famous cities, the corporate world was establishing its dominance. Labor unions struggled to fight for fair wages and working time. Although disturbances and disagreements in the construction of the fair foreshadowed a negative ending, breakthroughs such as white lead paint and the Ferris Wheel attracted many visitors. The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 is a vivid exhibit of the independent cultural, economical, and technological superpower that America would grow to become in the future.
To describe the 1933 Chicago World's Fair in a word, one might choose, "modern" or "dazzling," perhaps even "outrageous." The fair experimented with modern architecture, dazzling electric illumination, and a daring color scheme meant to reflect the scientific content of the fair's exhibits. The
The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 was one of the most memorable and historical moments in American history other than the Civil War. However, some people do not know what went on during the fair. They only think that people came together and the Ferris wheel that was there, now in Navy Pier, debut there. The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 may be a memorable event. But the majority of Americans don't know how extraordinary it was.
The 1893 Chicago, Illinois World’s Fair, also known as the Columbian Exposition, was an extended celebration in memory of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. The World’s Fair was a major milestone in history because it gave insight to what Americans could accomplish in the future, when pushed to their full extent. It came with many firsts, allowing Americans to take part in, and experience things that were, at the time, unheard of to humans. It greatly accelerated the urbanization of America. Although at the time it was just a celebration, the six-month sensation had a far greater significance. The influence it had on American society in the coming years had been far greater than anyone could have imagined, as well as the role it played in the American Gilded Age, and the debatable topic it devised, concerning whether the World’s Fair was viewed as a “white city,” “black city,” or both. The World’s Fair changed American society in more ways than not. For instance, everyone doubted them. They did not think that Americans had what it took to successfully construct and manage the fair, let alone outdo the Eiffel Tower, (built for the 1889 Paris Exposition) but in constructing the Ferris Wheel, they accomplished just that. This widely changed the perception of Chicago, and America as well. The World’s Fair had transformed Chicago from a nothing town, to one of the main points of interest in America. The fair’s sanitary conditions set an
In the closing years of the 19th century, The United States of America stood before the world as a divided nation in the ruins of a deadly civil war. After years of tragedy and hardship, it was time for the states to turn a new leaf and start a new chapter of prosperity. To accomplish such, America’s greatest minds were assembled to construct a fair so magnificent, it would not only usher in a new age of American civilization. but establish the foundation of the urban world. The finished project became known as the White City. This venue for the World’s Columbian Exposition left a multitude of positive and negative impacts on the social, political and economic scale. Socially, this event introduced the foundation of the modern American living and lifestyles. Politically, the 1893 Columbian Exposition put The United States on the map. While economically, the Fair had succeeded at the cost of cultivating a new rise in crime and fraudulent activity. Although it barely turned a profit, finance was one of many factors in determining whether the Fair truly was the transitional event sparking the rise of a global superpower. In summary, the 1893 Columbian Exposition to a significant extent was a watershed event in US history providing a blueprint for a global superpower entering the 20th century.
Illinois has some intriguing history to it. For example, the name “Illinois” comes from an Algonquin word, Illini, meaning men, or warriors (Student Learning Center). When the French settlers crossed paths with the Algonquin tribe, they decided to use the French version of the word. This eventually became the name of the state, although it was originally the name of one of the rivers. The very first bridge to be built on the Mississippi River was crossed by the very first railroad train in Illinois in the city Rock Island (Burgan 9). Illinois also has a history of entertainment. In 1893, there was a convention called the “World’s Columbian Exposition”. It celebrated the 400-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s journey to the
In the 1890’s, America was celebrating it’s 100th anniversary by creating the Columbian Exposition in Chicago which would hence establish Chicago and America’s place on the world’s stage. The Columbian Exposition would be visited and attended by millions of people from all different places and all different kinds of people would visit. America was competing with not only time but also with the Paris Exposition. With only a few years to plan everything and to have every building constructed, Burnham and Root found a team of dedicated architects who deliberately found a way to get the job done just in time for the grand opening. After an enormous amount of stress building the fair, it was completed and they were proud of their accomplishments.
The building at 111 South Michigan Avenue, home of the Art Institute of Chicago, was opened in 1893 as the World’s Congress Auxiliary Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition. The building was passed on to the Art Institute after the end of the exposition. Designed in the Beax-Arts style by Boston firm Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, building has become an icon for chicagoans an tourists alike. The Modern Wing, the Art Institute’s latest and largest addition to date, opened on May 16, 2009, and was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano. The 264,000 square foot addition now houses the museum’s collections of modern European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography. The new
The World’s Columbian Exposition to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World was held in Chicago in 1893. With the crowding of people, tourists have a high demand for a place to stay during their visit. A young man by the name of H.H. Holmes decides to open up a large hotel during the Columbian Exposition to bring in extra money. Little did his customers know that the man they are staying with would soon become one of the first documented serial killers. Many aspects throughout Holmes’s life formed him into the kind of person he turned out to be. Influences from his childhood, his greed for money and power, and his intelligence gave him the ability to construct his “Murder Castle” and carry out the numerous killings.