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1.1.4: "Early Chicago - The 1893 World's Fair" (readings and videos from WTTW Chicago)

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    "Early Chicago: The 1893 World's Fair" from DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis

    black and white photograph of a structure that was the Haiti Pavilion in the Chicago World's FairNow that you have gained an overview of the contents of those extensive spaces of the 1893 World's Fair from the Smarthistory segments of this chapter, you will get to explore some additional dimensions of the fair's construction and public reception, as shared by PBS member station WTTW Chicago in their program DuSable to Obama: Chicago's Black Metropolis: "Early Chicago: The 1893 World's Fair."

    • Please read the short articles focusing on critiques of the fair made by Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass and watch the brief videos (2 min. and 3 min.) in which Dr. Christopher Reed further elaborates on the roles played by prominent Black speakers at the fair as well as the various contributions of Black workers at the fair.
    • Keep these various dimensions of the World's Fair in mind as you approach class activities and assignments for this chapter.

    RIGHT: "The Haiti Pavilion at Chicago’s World Columbian Fair was the center for Black American visitors and
    a site of protest against the exclusion of African Americans and the depiction of people of color as savages
    in the “colonial exhibits.” Courtesy of the Field Museum."     National Museum of American Diplomacy

    Content Warning

    Please note that images depicting historical events may contain themes or include verbal descriptions which do not reflect current understandings of topics like race, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability status, and religious diversity. These are provided in a historical context.

    Racist caricatures are included in some of this chapter's readings.

    Content Warning

    This page titled 1.1.4: "Early Chicago - The 1893 World's Fair" (readings and videos from WTTW Chicago) was last modified on Wed, 02 Sep 2026 05:40:03 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Erica McCormack and Jack Lindsay.