Conference Highlight

Long before the world ever celebrated "Indigenous People's Day," Christopher Columbus was venerated throughout the United States, especially on Columbus Day, which was traditionally celebrated on October 12. But never was he honored more emphatically than by the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, a massive world's fair staged in Chicago to honor the 400th anniversary of his first voyage to the New World. The Fair was a mixture of the palatial Renaissance and the ultra-modern, for its Greco-Roman palaces were offset by the daring modernism of Louis Sullivan. The Exposition introduced the world's first Ferris Wheel , and its elegant concert halls were enhanced by the talents of John Philip Sousa and Scott Joplin. Please help us commemorate the 130th anniversary of America's greatest world's fair, as Dianne Durante, Sandra Shaw, Thomas Shoebotham and Stephen Siek explore and examine the Fair's art, sculpture, and music.