Dedication Day - 1892

K. Shaw
October 21, 1892
Chicago, Illinois

Official "Dedication Day" for the World's Columbian Exposition.  The fair itself will not open for another six months, but dignitaries are gathering today for the ceremony where Chicago formally transfers "ownership" of the Expo to the U.S. government. The parade route is so crowded that I can barely move, let alone get close to the front to see anything, especially with this gargantuan camera around my neck. Those ads with Kodak Girls don't tell you that these things are heavy and bulky.I'm beginning to suspect that the nickname "Kodak fiend" that photographers will be given at this fair is due less to people not wanting their pictures taken and more to their annoyance at being jabbed in the back with a camera case when mashed together in a queue with hundreds of other tourists viewing an exhibit. I do understand that the goal is for me to get the full experience of being here, but it would be so much easier to document these jumps if they'd let me use a holovid. 



But this trip has been worth it if only to see the excitement of the spectators as the parade passed. The economy is very weak right now and the jobs created by the Exposition, both in construction and service, are badly needed. The city lobbied hard to host the fair and they have turned out by the thousands to show their support along the seven-mile parade route.

Along the parade route, near the Midway Plaisance

The young men perched on this pole have the best seat on the entire route, although it sways a bit every time we get a half-decent wind gust from Lake Michigan.  They make me very nervous, especially the little guy at the top, but no one here even glances their way.  This shouldn't be too surprising in an era when kids their age are allowed to work in factories with no sort of safety laws, but I have to fight the temptation to warn them that what they're doing isn't safe--although I doubt they'd listen to me.  I don't remember reading anything about a kid falling to his death along the parade route in the newspaper accounts I read about this day, but would that kind of thing even have been reported?  Probably not.

Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building in September 1892.

I'm amazed at how much work remains to be done in such a short time. Construction began over a year ago, and only a few of the buildings are up.  And even those are a far cry from the finished product that I'm used to seeing on these trips once the Exposition opens its gates to the world.  One building that is close to its final state,however, is the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, where the ceremonies are being held after the parade.  They've made tremendous progress in the month since I was last here, when the rotunda was still mostly a metal framework.  

So, why dedicate the Expo in October when it is so far from finished and the gates will not open to the public until next May?  This month marks the 400th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the New World, and the original hope had been for the fair to open in time to commemorate that event. The political wrangling over which city would actually be home to the Expo, however, went on for months before Chicago garnered enough votes to beat out the other contenders--New York, St. Louis and Washington DC--and that put everything behind schedule.  Then the politicians in Chicago fought for another six months to determine which sector of the city would get the privilege of housing the Expo and thus enjoy the lion's share of the economic boom.  And once the site was chosen, the fact that it was little more than a swamp didn't help matters.  The ground is still pretty damp if you step away from the main path--I nearly lost a shoe in the muck while walking around today.

PM

Crowd at Dedication Ceremony, October 21, 1892

I am now in the middle of the largest audience ever assembled under a single roof--at least as of 1892--and I'm questioning why I thought this trip was a good idea.  The dedication ceremony is packed, with an estimated 140,000 people jammed into this single building, which will eventually  

Crowds of this size will not be unusual for the Expo--over 700,000 people will be on the grounds for Chicago Day, nearly a year from now, on October 9, 1893.   But they will be spread across the full 630 acres and hundreds of exhibits. 

I'll need to schedule another jump and skip the parade.  If I come directly here, I may actually be able to hear the speeches. but here in the middle of the crowd, I haven't been able to make out a word anyone has said.  We're still more than a decade away from loudspeakers and this building obviously wasn't designed with acoustics in mind.  No matter how skilled the orator, no single voice could hope to carry far in this crowd. The music, including a 5000 voice choir is at the back of the building, so it's coming through loud and clear, but if any bits of oration are carrying this far back, they are drowned out by the woman near me who is intent on conversing with her hearing-impaired neighbor. If CHRONOS expects me to report back on the actual ceremony, I will need credentials next time, so that I'm placed near the front and have a seat.  

Learn more about the Chicago World's Fair:

• Bancroft, Hubert.  The Book of the Fair. 1893. 
• Illinois State Library. World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
• Columbian Exposition Dedication Ceremonies Memorial: A Graphic Description of the Ceremonies at Chicago, October, 1892, the 400th Anniversary of the Discovery of America

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Photo Credits:

• Duke Library Digital Collections.  Kodak Girls at the World's Fair.
• Library of Congress. Entering Midway Plaisance.
• Art Institute of Chicago. World's Columbian Exposition, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building.
• University of Northern Iowa Special Collections. Dedication Ceremony for the World's Columbian Exposition, October 21, 1892.

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