World’s Columbian Exposition Snapshots Collection

Abstract

Most extant images of the World's Columbian Exposition were taken by the official photographer of the Fair, Charles Dudley Arnold. The photographs in this Collection, taken by sometimes anonymous, sometimes named photographers, reflect the spontaneity and joy of snapshots, rather than the formality of the professional portraits.

Biographical/Historical

In 1893, Chicago hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition, a World’s Fair celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. The Fair took place in Jackson Park, on Chicago’s South Side, and ran from May through October of 1893. During those six months, more than 27 million people from around the world visited the Fair. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and architect and planner Daniel Burnham, collaborated with many other luminaries to bring the Fair into existence.

Although photography was in its infancy during the late 1890s, there are abundant views of the Exposition’s neoclassical buildings and statuary, carefully landscaped grounds, and attractions on the Midway Plaisance. These images, however, are quite formal, and are greatly limited to the eye of Charles Dudley Arnold, the official photographer of the Fair.

The opportunity for others to photograph the Exposition was primarily restricted to professional photographers. A fee was charged to bring private cameras on the fairgrounds, and this probably proved too extravagant for the average fair-goer.

Scope and Contents

The World’s Columbian Exposition Snapshots Collection (WCE/SC) documents uncommon views of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The images—taken by sometimes anonymous, sometimes named photographers—reflect the spontaneity and joy of snapshots, rather than the formality of the professional portraits.

The World’s Columbian Exposition Snapshots Collection is a growing resource of photographic images. It includes an album by a vacationing family, another by an experienced photographer, and individual souvenir photographs sold in the turn-of-the-century photo-houses and shops of Chicago, much like the postcards and memorabilia found in today’s souvenir shops.

Arrangement

The photos are divided into series by provenance.

• Series 1: Steve Finer Purchase
• Series 2: St. Louis & Canadian Photographer; Harrison Central Music Hall, Chicago
• Series 3: Harry Delano Album
• Series 4: Kodak Photograph Album
• Series 5: Between the Covers Album Purchase
• Series 6: Stereographs Purchase

Subjects

• Cotton States Exposition (1895 : Atlanta, Ga.)
• Exposition universelle de 1878 (Paris, France)
• Kilburn, B. W. (Benjamin West), 1827-1909
• World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.)

Related Materials

• Charles Dudley Arnold Photographic Collection
• Elizabeth Chandler Papers
• Ellsworth-Arnold Photograph Albums
• James W. Ellsworth Papers
• Moses P. Handy Papers
• E.R. Walker Photograph Album
• World's Columbian Exposition U.S. War Department Exhibit Photographs
• World's Columbian Exposition, Bureau of Music, Official Report
• World’s Columbian Exposition Catholic Educational Exhibit
• World's Columbian Exposition Ephemera Collection
• World’s Columbian Exposition Glass Plate Lantern Slides
• World’s Columbian Exposition Miscellaneous Photographs
• World’s Congress Auxiliary Congress of Authors Collection
• World’s Congress Auxiliary Pre-Publications, Programs and Circulars Collection
• Youth’s Companion Collection

Collection Inventory

Series 1: Steve Finer Purchase, 1994

Scope and Contents

The images in this series were purchased in 1994 from Steve Finer Rare Books. Images 20-27 are not from the World’s Columbian Exposition. They are likely views of the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta.

Arrangement

Images are grouped by subject type. Photographs are 5” x 4.5”.

Series 2: St. Louis & Canadian Photographer; Harrison [Studio], Central Music Hall, Chicago

Scope and Contents

These photographs were found in the collection; no documentation concerning the provenance of these materials exists. St. Louis & Canadian Photographer was a photography magazine published 1888-1910. Harrison was a photographer whose studio was in the Central Music Hall Building at the corner of Randolph Street and N. State Street in Chicago’s Loop.

Arrangement

Images are grouped by subject type. Photographs are 7.25” x 5”.

Series 3: Harry Delano Album

Scope and Contents

The Harry Delano Album contains some 114 images of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Delano, an experienced photographer, was a visitor to the fairgrounds. His images do not display the formality of the C.D. Arnold photographs, but reflect the interests of a tourist. Some of the most engaging photographs in this collection are of the waterways at Jackson Park, vistas from the summit of the Ferris Wheel, and attractions on the Midway Plaisance. The photographs in the album have been annotated by Delano.

Arrangement

Album is arranged in original order. Photographs are 4” x 3”.

Series 4: Kodak Photograph Album

Scope and Contents

The Kodak Photograph Album documents a family vacation to the Chicago World's Fair. A second volume continues the family's travels to the West Coast (see Box 3A). The album was purchased in 1994 from Swann Auction Galleries.

Arrangement

Album is arranged in original order. Photographs are 3” x 3”.

Series 5: Between the Covers Album Purchase

Scope and Contents

This album of photographs of the World’s Columbian Exposition was purchased in 2023 from Between the Covers Rare Books. In 50 photos, the unknown photographer captured many of the Fair’s major buildings and several scenes from the Midway Plaisance.

Arrangement

Images are listed in original order of album. Photographs are 4.5” x 3.5”.

Series 6: Stereographs Purchase

Scope and Contents

This set of stereograph photographs was purchased in 2024 from Zephyr Used & Rare Books. Benjamin (B.W.) Kilburn had exclusive rights to create stereographs at the World’s Columbian Exposition, and so his images were often sold to other stereograph publishers and photographers. The views capture scenes, buildings and activities at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. The stereograph format allowed for special viewing glasses to be used to see the scene in three dimensions. Three Kilburn images of the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle are also included.

Arrangement

Stereographs are arranged alphabetically by subject or location, with general views coming at the beginning and unidentified locations at the end. The Paris images come at the very end. Stereographs include two 3” x 3” images side by side on a 3.5” x 7” card.