The Legacy Left by the 1893 World's Fair

I had a blast researching the 1893 Columbian Exposition, aka World's Fair, for my novel Shadows of the White City. Below, I'll share just some of what I learned. But first, here's what the novel is all about:

The one thing Sylvie Townsend wants most is what she feared she was destined never to have--a family of her own. But taking in Polish immigrant Rose Dabrowski to raise and love quells those fears--until seventeen-year-old Rose goes missing at the World's Fair, and Sylvie's world unravels. Brushed off by the authorities, Sylvie turns to her boarder, Kristof Bartok, for help. He is Rose's violin instructor and the concertmaster for the Columbian Exposition Orchestra, and his language skills are vital to helping Sylvie navigate the immigrant communities where their search leads. From the glittering architecture of the fair to the dark houses of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods, they're taken on a search that points to Rose's long-lost family.

The World’s Fair of 1893 in Chicago has left a lasting legacy in ways you have probably experienced yourself—especially if you’ve ever visited Chicago.

• L. Frank Baum was so inspired by the Fair, also called the White City, that he modeled the Emerald City in his book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz after it.
• The brownie was invented at the request of Bertha Palmer, wife of hotelier Potter Palmer, expressly for visitors in town for the Fair.
• The first Ferris Wheel was invented for the 1893 World’s Fair.
• Wellesley College English professor Katharine Lee Bates’s visit to the Fair inspired her to write the line “thine alabaster cities gleam” in the anthem “America the Beautiful.”
• The Art Institute of Chicago was built for the Fair and used for assemblies. After the Fair, it was converted to housing the Art Institute’s collection.
• Chicago’s current Museum of Science and Industry is housed in the only permanent building of the Fair, originally built to house the Palace of Fine Arts.
• Named for Marshall Field for his donation, The Field Museum was founded as a memorial to the World’s Fair and held fifty thousand objects collected for it, many of which can still be seen today.

The World’s Fair was a dazzling spectacle for twenty-seven million visitors. While travel and special events haven't been possible for many of us due to the pandemic this past year, we can still travel through both time and space through books.