Chicago's White City of 1893
Chicago's White City of 1893

Author: David F. Burg

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2014-07-11

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0813150477

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In 1893, the year that marked the four hundredth anniversary of the landing of Columbus in the New World, Chicago was host to an exposition to mark the occasion. Although the World's Columbian Exposition was the fifteenth world's fair, it was of vastly greater scope than any of its predecessors. Chicago created a veritable new city. It was not only larger than any previous exposition but also more elaborately designed, more precisely laid out, more fully realized, and more prophetic. It was the first exposition truly to solicit the participation of the entire world. In this study of the White City, David F. Burg shows America at a crossroads in its development. It was in the process of moving from a largely agricultural society to a predominately urban and industrial one. The exposition was an index of American values, achievements, and expectation in this era of profound and complex change. The exposition was an achievement of cooperative endeavor and expertise. It demonstrated that both artistic capacity and technology were available to transform, in agreeable combination, burgeoning industrial cities into well-designed centers of business, culture, and community. Burg places his discussion in the context of the United States and Chicago during the early 1890s. Besides dealing with the multifaceted fair itself—its architecture, artworks, music, technological achievements—he discusses the congresses that were held on a variety of subjects, two of the most significant being the Congresses of Women and the World's Parliament of Religions. In the exposition's theme was the potential of fashioning the Kingdom of God on earth in contrast to the chaotic, dirty, industrial cities of the time. Burg finds in the exposition a significant legacy to architecture, city planning, and civic organization. Its most promising aftereffect occurred in the City Beautiful movement; its influence extended also to such ordinary concerns as well-lighted streets, efficient waste disposal, and honest government.

The Devil In The White City
The Devil In The White City

Author: Erik Larson

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2010-09-30

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 1409044602

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'An irresistible page-turner that reads like the most compelling, sleep defying fiction' TIME OUT One was an architect. The other a serial killer. This is the incredible story of these two men and their realization of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and its amazing 'White City'; one of the wonders of the world. The architect was Daniel H. Burnham, the driving force behind the White City, the massive, visionary landscape of white buildings set in a wonderland of canals and gardens. The killer was H. H. Holmes, a handsome doctor with striking blue eyes. He used the attraction of the great fair - and his own devilish charms - to lure scores of young women to their deaths. While Burnham overcame politics, infighting, personality clashes and Chicago's infamous weather to transform the swamps of Jackson Park into the greatest show on Earth, Holmes built his own edifice just west of the fairground. He called it the World's Fair Hotel. In reality it was a torture palace, a gas chamber, a crematorium. These two disparate but driven men are brought to life in this mesmerizing, murderous tale of the legendary Fair that transformed America and set it on course for the twentieth century . . .

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893
The Chicago World's Fair of 1893

Author: Stanley Appelbaum

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2012-08-29

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 0486130630

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128 rare, vintage photographs: 200 buildings — 79 of foreign governments, 38 of U.S. states — the original ferris wheel, first midway, Edison's kinetoscope, much more. 128 black-and-white photographs. Captions. Map. Index.

Chicago's Greatest Year, 1893
Chicago's Greatest Year, 1893

Author: Joseph Gustaitis

Publisher: SIU Press

Published: 2013-05-01

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 0809332493

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In 1893, the 27.5 million visitors to the Chicago World’s Fair feasted their eyes on the impressive architecture of the White City, lit at night by thousands of electric lights. In addition to marveling at the revolutionary exhibits, most visitors discovered something else: beyond the fair’s 633 acres lay a modern metropolis that rivaled the world’s greatest cities. The Columbian Exposition marked Chicago’s arrival on the world stage, but even without the splendor of the fair, 1893 would still have been Chicago’s greatest year. An almost endless list of achievements took place in Chicago in 1893. Chicago’s most important skyscraper was completed in 1893, and Frank Lloyd Wright opened his office in the same year. African American physician and Chicagoan Daniel Hale Williams performed one of the first known open-heart surgeries in 1893. Sears and Roebuck was incorporated, and William Wrigley invented Juicy Fruit gum that year. The Field Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Science and Industry all started in 1893. The Cubs’ new ballpark opened in this year, and an Austro-Hungarian immigrant began selling hot dogs outside the World’s Fair grounds. His wares became the famous “Chicago hot dog.” “Cities are not buildings; cities are people,” writes author Joseph Gustaitis. Throughout the book, he brings forgotten pioneers back to the forefront of Chicago’s history, connecting these important people of 1893 with their effects on the city and its institutions today. The facts in this history of a year range from funny to astounding, showcasing innovators, civic leaders, VIPs, and power brokers who made 1893 Chicago about so much more than the fair.

Chicago's 1893 World's Fair
Chicago's 1893 World's Fair

Author: Joseph M. Di Cola

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 0738594415

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What came to be known as the World s Columbian Exposition was planned to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus s 1492 landfall in the New World. Chicago beat out New York City, St. Louis, Missouri, and Washington, DC, in its bid as host a coup for the Windy City. The site finally selected for the fair was Jackson Park, originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, a marshy area covered with dense, wild vegetation. Daniel H. Burnham and John W. Root were selected as chief architects, creating the famous White City. The fair featured several different thematic areas: the Great Buildings, Foreign Buildings, State Buildings, and the Midway Plaisance, a nearly mile-long area that featured exotic exhibits. The exposition also showcased the world s first Ferris Wheel and introduced fairgoers to new sensations like Cracker Jack, Pabst Beer, and ragtime music. The World s Columbian Exposition, covering 633 acres, opened on May 1, 1893. Admission prices were 50cents for adults, 25cents for children under 12 years of age, and free for children under six. Unfortunately, by 1896, most of the fair s buildings had been removed or destroyed, but this collection takes readers on a tour of the grounds as they looked in 1893."

The World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition

Author: David J. Bertuca

Publisher: Greenwood

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0313266441

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In 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition had a profound impact on urban planning and the Beaux-Arts period of American architecture. The fair introduced the Ferris Wheel, Cracker Jacks, and fiberglass. Yet today, except for one building and a grassy park, all that remains is the legacy of printed material dispersed throughout the country. This reference guide, intended for historians, librarians, and collectors, provides access to that legacy. The introduction summarizes the Exposition's influence. The bibliography, arranged to allow researchers to browse topics broadly, describes over 6,000 books, journal articles, and other materials. A directory of special collections of fair-related materials is also included. Newspaper and magazine articles, books, dissertations, drawings, photographs, maps, letters, documents, and collections of memorabilia—these provide the enduring heritage of the fair. This guide provides information on all aspects of that heritage. In addition to the bibilography itself, an extensive introduction discusses the influence the fair has had on America. Illustrations provide a visual portrayal of the fair. A directory of special collections of fair-related materials provides an inventory of each collection, along with addresses and telephone numbers. This book is the only comprehensive reference guide to the World's Columbian Exposition.

Almanac of World War I
Almanac of World War I

Author: David F. Burg

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2004-03-05

Total Pages: 605

ISBN-13: 0813137713

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“A detailed day-by-day account of the war’s events, emphasizing the military dimensions but also touching on politics and diplomacy.” —Choice Almanac of World War I provides reports of the action on all fronts and of the events surrounding the conflict, from the guns of August 1914 to the November 1918 Armistice and its troubled aftermath. Daily entries, topical descriptions, biographical sketches, maps, and illustrations combine to give a ready and succinct account of what was happening in each of the principal theaters of war. This definitive book on the Great War by David F. Burg and L. Edward Purcell—coauthors of The World Almanac of the American Revolution—“captures the pathos and absurdity of the conflict in a way that few others have” (American Reference Books Annual). “Whereas most accounts of World War I zero in on the muddy trenches of the Western front, Burg and Purcell’s work puts that theater in the context of the larger war.” —Tallahassee Democrat “There is really nothing comparable to this volume.” —Booklist “Almanacs represent the final book(s) needed to complete a collection regarding a particular period in history. David Burg and L. Edward Purcell’s Almanac of World War I is such a book.” —BookLovers “A useful reference for the Great War.” —Paper Wars “This valuable reference book provides a day-by-day account of the First World War, with each entry divided geographically.” —Canadian Military History