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1893
3: Chicago and the
World
d’s Colu
mbian Exposition
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1893: Chicago and the
World’s Columbian Exposition
Newberry Digital Collections for Classroom Use
Introduction
The World’s Columbian Exposition transformed the city of Chicago in 1893 and influenced the city’s
development for decades to come. The Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, was
located in Jackson Park, at the current site of the Museum of Science and Industry and the Midway Plaisance.
It drew an estimated 27 million visitors, 14 million from outside the United States, at a time when the
population of Chicago was just over one million. The Columbian Exposition celebrated, one year late, the
four hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas. Chicago competed with
cities such as New York and St. Louis for the right to host the fair. Exposition planners wanted to showcase
the nation, still coming to terms with the Civil War that had ended 28 years earlier. They also wanted to
demonstrate Chicago’s international stature just 22 years after much of the city had been destroyed by fire.
Daniel Burnham served as the fair’s lead architect and oversaw the design and planning of the fair’s main
buildings. These massive, neoclassical structures came to be known, collectively, as the White City. Despite
their imposing appearance, the buildings were made from wood frames wrapped in staff, a plaster mixture
that created the illusion of stone. The White City stood for less than six months. The exposition closed in late
October 1893 and, that winter, almost all of the buildings were destroyed by fire. The documents that follow
present the history of the Columbian Exposition in relation to the history of Chicago.
Please keep the following questions in mind as you review the documents
• What is the ideal city expressed in the Columbian Exposition documents? What forms of artistic and
civic culture would this city promote?
• How did the exposition physically transform Chicago, especially its lakefront and parks?
• How does the exposition portray Chicago, the United States, and the world?
• What was the exposition’s legacy for Chicago?

Documents 1, 2, 3, and 4
“North-East from Monadnock Building” and “State Street, North from
Madison.” In Chicago ... as Seen from the Skies. It’s Crowded, Busy Streets ...
Views of Chicago, Covering Every Subject that Forms a Factor in the Make-up
of that City. 1894.
Newberry Call No. G 8962 .149
“Agricultural Hall” and “Northeastern Corner of the Grand Basin.” In The
Dream City: A Portfolio of Photographic Views of the World’s Columbian
Exposition. 1893.
Newberry Call No. Case folio T500.C1 D78 1893
These two collections of photographs were published a year apart and give a strong sense of the contrast
between downtown Chicago in the 1890s and the White City of the Columbian Exposition.
Questions to Consider
1. Compare downtown Chicago, in the first two photographs, to the White City, portrayed in the third
and fourth photographs. What differences do you notice? Describe how you would feel in each of
these settings.
2. How would these very different forms of architecture and urban planning shape the experiences—
and the behavior—of people who moved through them?
Documents 5 and 6
Hubert Howe Bancroft. The Book of the Fair: An Historical and Descriptive
Presentation of the World’s Science, Art, and Industry, as Viewed through the
Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Vol. 1 [of text]. 1893. p. 29.
Newberry Call No. Case oversize R 1832 .07
“Bird’s Eye View World’s Columbian Exposition.” In Hubert Howe Bancroft,
The Book of the Fair. . Vol. 1 [of text]. 1893. p. 71.
Newberry Call No. Case oversize R 1832 .07
Hubert Howe Bancroft’s Book of the Fair offered a history of the conception and construction of the
Columbian Exposition, accompanied by photographs as well as two volumes of gorgeous watercolors.
Questions to Consider
1. How does the text describe Chicago as a physical location? Why do you think the author included
this information in an account of the creation of the Columbian Exposition?
2. Examine the engraved “bird’s-eye view” of the exposition. How does the exposition appear? What
kinds of activities are represented in the illustration? How do these activities compare to people’s
activities in the photographs of Chicago (Documents 1 and 2)?

Document 7
Rand McNally and Company. Indexed Standard Guide Map of the World’s
Columbian Exposition at Chicago. 1893.
Newberry Call No. Map 2F oG4104.C6:2W6 1893.R3
This guide map was sold to visitors at the fair. It includes an index of all of the exposition buildings as well as
a detailed map of the grounds.
Questions to Consider
1. How have the exposition planners incorporated water into their design? What do you think their
goals were? How would the man-made lakes and lagoons, the accessible lakefront, and the free boat
rides affect visitors’ experiences?
2. Using the index (see detail) as well as the map, note the names of buildings in the White City. What
do the buildings and their layout tell us about what the exposition planners wanted to showcase?
3. Examine the index to the Midway Plaisance and identify the different cultures represented there.
Moving from left to right, how are the Midway exhibits arranged? Why do you think they’re arranged
this way? What beliefs about countries and cultures outside the United States does the arrangement
of exhibits suggest?
Documents 8 and 9
“Dahomey Village, on the Midway.” In Official Views of the World’s
Columbian Exposition. 1893. Plate 110.
Newberry Call No. R 1832 .045
“Arabia, Midway Plaisance.” In Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Book of the Fair:
An Historical and Descriptive Presentation of the World’s Science, Art, and
Industry, as Viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.
Vol. 1 [of text]. 1893. p. 62.
Newberry Call No. Case oversize R 1832 .07
While the White City featured monumental buildings to exhibit the fine arts, industry, and agriculture, the
Midway Plaisance took on a very different form and character. Exposition planners intended the Midway to
be a site for entertainment, as well as education. For the Midway’s ethnographic exhibits, groups of people
from around the world—Indonesia, West Africa, Germany—were brought to Chicago to be put on display in
buildings designed to recreate their “native” villages. At the same time, the Midway became a prototype for
the amusement park and included the first Ferris wheel as well as numerous shows and cafes.
Questions to Consider
1. Describe these images from the Arabian and Dahomey exhibits. What do you think the organizers
were trying to accomplish through their layout and design?
2. What kind of experience did the Midway provide to fairgoers? What do you think the experience
would have been like for the people on display in the exhibits?

Document 10
Chicago by Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of
America. 1892. pp. 201–203.
Newberry Call No. G 8962 .1473
This book, published anonymously the year before the Columbian Exposition, offers visitors a guide to the
city’s amusements. It includes chapters on hotels and theaters, churches and panoramas, as well as “Perils and
Pitfalls” and “Adventuresses.” These chapters warned about con men and women, pickpockets, and
prostitutes. The chapter included here describes “Cheyenne,” purportedly Chicago’s roughest neighborhood.
Questions to Consider
1. How does the author portray Chicago’s “most dangerous district”? Who lives there? What makes it
so dangerous?
2. How does this representation of African Americans and Europeans compare to the exposition’s
portrayal of nonwhite and foreign people?
Document 11
Daniel H. Burham and Edward H. Bennett. Plan of Chicago. 1909. pp. 4 and 6.
Newberry Call No. Case folio W 999 .182
In 1909 the principal architect of the Columbian Exposition, Daniel Burnham, collaborated with Edward
Bennett and the Commercial Club of Chicago on the Plan of Chicago. This ambitious document offered a
comprehensive vision of what the city could become in the twentieth century. The Plan’s recommendations
included the creation of the lakefront and neighborhood parks, the construction of Lake Shore Drive, and the
widening of major streets. Much of the Plan would be realized over the next 50 years. In this passage,
Burnham discusses the goals of the Plan and its relationship to the 1893 exposition.
Questions to Consider
1. What are the goals of the Plan of Chicago? How do Burnham and the other authors believe the city
should develop? What were the primary considerations of the planners?
2. Why does Burnham identify the Columbian Exposition as the “origin” of the Plan?
3. What is the “spirit of the World’s Fair” according to the footnote on page six? What relevance does
it have to the development of Chicago?
4. Why do you think Burnham is concerned with “dignity” and “beauty” in a city that he describes as
the “center of industry and traffic”? How will beautifying the city affect the people in the city?

Document 1: “North-East from Monadnock Building.” In Chicago ... as Seen from the Skies. It’s Crowded,
Busy
Streets ... Views of Chicago, Covering Every
Subject that Forms a Factor in the Make-up of that City.
1894.
Newberry Call No. G 8962 .149

Document 2: “State Street, North from
Madison.”
In Chicago
... as Seen
from the Skies. It’s Crowded,
Busy
Streets ... Views of Chicago, Covering Every
Subject that Forms a Factor in the Make-up of that City.
1894.
Newberry Call No. G 8962 .149

Document 3: “Agricultural
Hall.” In The Dream City: A Portfolio of Photographic Views of the World’s
Columbian Exposition. 1893.
Newberry Call No. Case folioo T500.C1 D78 1893

Document 4: “Northeastern Corner of
the Grand Basin.” In The Dream City: A Portfolio of Photographic
Views of the World’s Columbian Exposition. 1893.
Newberry Call No. Case folioo T500.C1 D78 1893

Document 5: Hubert Howe
Bancroft. The Book of the Fair: An Historical and Descriptive Presentation off
the World’s Science, Art, and Industry,
as Viewed
through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.
Vol. 1 [of text]. 1893. p. 29.
Newberry Call No. Case oversize R 1832 .07

Document 6: “Bird’s Eye View World’ s Columbian Exposition.” In Hubert Howe Bancroft. The Book of
the Fair. . Vol. 1 [of text]. 1893. p. 71.
Newberry Call No. Case oversize R 1832 .07

Document 7: Rand McNally and Company. Indexed Standard Guide Map of the World’s Columbian
Exposition at Chicago. 1893.
Newberry Call No. Map 2F oG4104.C6:2W
W6 1893.R3

Document 7: Rand McNally and Company. Indexed Standard Guide Map of the World’s Columbian
Exposition at Chicago. 1893. Detail.
Newberry Call No. Map 2F oG4104.C6:2W
W6 1893.R3

Document 8: “Dahomey Village, on the Midway.” In Official
Views of the World’s Columbian Exposition.
1893. Plate 110.
Newberry Call No. R 1832 .045

Document 9: “Arabia, Midway Plaisance.” In Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Book of
the Fair: An Historicall
and
Descriptivee Presentation of the World’s Science, Art, and
Industry, as Viewed through the Columbian n
Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Vol. 1 [ of text]. 1893. pp. 62.
Newberry Call No. Case oversize R 1832 .07

Document 10: Chicago by Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America. 1892.
pp. 201–203.
Newberry Call No. G 8962 .1473

Document 10: Chicago by Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America. 1892.
pp. 201–203.
Newberry Call No. G 8962 .1473

Document 11: Daniel H. Burham and Edward H.
Newberry Call No. Case folioo W 999 .182
Bennett. Plan of Chicago. 1909. pp. 4 and 6.

Document 11: Daniel H. Burham and Edward H.
Newberry Call No. Case folioo W 999 .182
Bennett. Plan of Chicago. 1909. pp. 4 and 6.