Don’t forget art—to rejuvenate us, to make us believe, to remind us of the power of love, and its mystery, remaining, thank god, always!
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| Louis Sullivan's striking design for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition's Transportation Building featured a polychromatic façade and majestic “Golden Door” entrance on the east side. [Source: ICHi-52341. Chicago History Museum. Reproduction of illustration, artist C. Graham. Date: 1893] |
Every day you open your eyes, and see the world around you, a miracle has happened. And if the sun is shining, that is two miracles that have happened. In a minute.
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| Looking south, Administration Building from Wooded Isle Bridge; World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, IL. [Source: ICHi-25087. Chicago History Museum. Reproduction of photographic print, photographer ?. Date: 1893.] |
The Ferris Wheel, from the World's Columbian Exposition still here, changed cars, changed locations. People still want to ride on high and see Chicago stretched out at their feet. Yes, you can. Come to Chicago and ride the Ferris Wheel, look at the sprawl, the dirt, the lights from 200 feet up. Then, go out, find your spot, and make a difference somewhere there.
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| Original Ferris Wheel at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. Although the original Ferris Wheel was demolished, a new wheel lives on in Chicago at Navy Pier in Chicago, with structural similarities and inspiration from Ferris's original wheel. [Source: Wikipedia, Chicago Tribune] |
The Homeless?
100,000 homeless on the streets of Chicago in the Panic of 1893 after the closing of the World's Columbian Exposition, in the biggest depression in our history. The 100,000 was only the men!
The women and children were put on a train and shipped out to be unloaded and bartered off at each farmland RR station. Until there were none.
The men were claiming their places on the stairs of the Cook County Courthouse, to be inside during one of the coldest of Chicago winters on record. And yes, someone wrote about it.
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| Unemployed men at 563 West Madison Street; Chicago, IL. Source: ICHi-05598. Chicago History Museum. Reproduction of photograph, photographer unknown. Date: 1893 |