The world’s Colombian exposition held in Chicago knocked at the right time in the American city of the century as was popularly known to many Americans. As with any international gathering, such events are associated with subsequent economic boom due to the flow of capital in that economy. The millions of visitors needed accommodation, food and entertainment throughout the fair and this was the most opportune time for the shaky American economy which was full of uncertainty and power struggle which could rekindle another era of civil war. The exposition provided a definitive moment for the Americans. It was the only source of hope to the dwindling economy and a fast eroding culture and identity crises. After analyzing the world’s Colombian exposition, it is appropriate to credit Chicago for creating the modern America through successfully hosting the exposition. The world’s Colombian exposition led to the rebirth of the present America.
What the Exposition Meant for the City of Chicago
The city of Chicago was known for all the bad reasons. It was crafted out of a stinking swamp and was despised by many. However, many historians did believe in the city and historians like William Cronon described it as a shock city of America. Many immigrants saw it as a city of opportunity and it lured people from the East and from over 14 nations worldwide with a hope of a better life. In the eyes of Victoria Brown, the city had no life, she saw children playing with maggots in a manner suggesting the children mistook the maggots with little pets. The filthy state of the city denied it public approval (Findling 13). It had suffered from a massive fire accident in 1871 and the exposition came barely 28 years after the American civil war.
Evidently, there was nothing attractive about the city when the exposition came knocking on its miraculous door that gave birth to the modern America. By the world’s Colombian exposition secretariat chose Chicago, it was a leap choice into the future. The city will again rebuild its tainted image and water its uncertain economy that has been marred with economic downfall caused by industrial growth which was unusual in the then American society where the culture of consumerism was unheard off and agriculture characterized the way of life and this was great mileage in ushering the 20th Century in styles with a promising economy.
How the City Managed to Host the Fair
Chicago was among the four cities that vied for the honor of the forthcoming exposition. Among the cities that vied include New York City, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. It was a competitive process as each of the cities had an equal opportunity to host the event. However, the New York Sun editor, Charles Dana played a crucial role in influencing the choice of Chicago by describing it as a windy city something that attracted many lobbyists to support Chicago and they won when the then-president Benjamin Harrison gave the city the authority to go on with preparation to host the exposition. According to Bolotin and Laing 9, the Chicago fire anniversary also coincided with the Fair and it too played a role in commemorating the event too in the same year (9).
Preparations for the Fair
Hosting an international event that will bring together millions of participants is not an easy task and the city of Chicago knew the success of the event will highly be determined by the choice of location. The organizers after evaluating various logistics agree to use Jackson Park as it location will ensure smooth flow of traffic and few property right issues as was with other proposed locations (Bolotin and Laing 32). After the choice of the venue, the city embarked on building various facilities and expansion of roads to ease the anticipated high traffic during the event. Other preparations which were at the top gear included security and accommodation. Also, Americans were called upon to register their exhibitions to various set committees tasked to evaluate and give permission to the worthy participants.
Benefits of the Exposition
Undeniably, the world’s Colombia exposition brought a lot of goodies to the Chicagoans. To begin with, it enriches their culture as it provided the best opportunity to showcase the unique American culture to the whole world. This helps in solving the identity crisis which was fast gaining pace before the event. It strengthened the economy and property prices stabilized leading to a robust growth of the economy (Rosenberg 63). The Fair also led to the rebirth of the America which was crucial after the end of the American civil war. It also brought industrialization thereby slowly enabling the Chicagoans to embrace industrialization and minimize reliance on agriculture which was predominant. Finally, it led to the building of more railroads and electrification which was fundamental to aide industrialization (Rosenberg 128).
An Examination of Race and Gender in Relation to the Exposition
The exposition did paint a mixture of Culture of the Chicago’s extended city. The citizens had developed a high affinity to Parisian architectural design in their buildings and a wonderful urban planning culture which resonate well to developing cities of great hope. On the other hand, the Fair exposed the dark side of the city characterized by racism and gender discrimination. Colored Americans were not allowed to present any exhibit in the Fair as the all-white approval committee denied them the opportunity to showcase their talents and culture to the whole world (Rydell 223). In fact, the few exhibits that acknowledge African-American ridiculed the community, for instance, Aunt Jemima pancakes. Gender discrimination was evident in the women building exhibits as seen in their reluctance in showcasing fearing stigmatization as they held inferior status in the society. It took the intervention of Berther Palmer, Chicago’s philanthropist, and socialite to ensure the women did showcase their exhibits (Hinsley and David 15).
Works Cited
Bolotin, Norm, and Christine Laing. The World's Columbian Exposition: The Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Urbana: U of Illinois, 2002. Print.
Findling, John E. Chicago's Great World's Fairs. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1994. Print.
Hinsley, Curtis M., and David R. Wilcox. Coming of Age in Chicago: The 1893 World's Fair and the Coalescence of American Anthropology. Chicago, IL: U of Nebrasas, 2016. Print.
Rosenberg, Chaim M. America at the Fair: Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2008. Print.
Rydell, Robert W. World of Fairs: The Century-of-progress Expositions. Chicago, IL: U of Chicago, 1993. Print.
