This photograph album (31cm x 23cm) contains 105 pictures taken during the World's Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) in Chicago, Illinois, in 1893. The title Views of the World's Fair is stamped in gold on the front cover, along with an image of the Statue of the Republic. A second title, World's Fair Photographs, Including Views of the New Jersey Educational Exhibit, is printed on the first page. With the exception of two larger prints, items are pasted two to a page, above manuscript captions.
The album includes a group of rare interior views of the displays in the Liberal Arts Building. Featured are the New Jersey educational exhibit, the packing of displays after the fair's closure; views of international cultural exhibits; statues, and artifact displays. The majority of the album is comprised of more common exterior views of the exposition's large thematic and individual state pavilions. Many of the main structures, such as the Administration Building, Liberal Arts Building, Electricity Building, and the Palace of Mechanical Arts, are shown from a variety of perspectives, along with smaller structures representing many U.S. states.
Also shown are views of the nautical vessels displayed at the fair including the replica battleship USS Illinois, a replica of Columbus's Santa Maria, a replica Viking ship, and the fair's gondolas and similar smaller boats. Photographs of the Wooded Island and the Midway Plaisance also appear in the album. Of particular note are the pictures of ethnographic displays including Native American shelters and a group of "Dahomey Villagers." A series of photos taken on "Chicago Day," October 9, 1893, shows the crowds that set the world record for outdoor event attendance.
Impressed with the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, France, Americans began to propose a similar world's fair exposition, to be held in October 1892 in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in North America. On February 24, 1890, Congress awarded the fair to the city of Chicago.
The resulting fair, the World's Columbian Exposition, was held in Jackson Park, Chicago, from May to October 1893. The fair became known for its stunning Beaux Arts architecture, the use of technical advances such as electric lights, the many international participants, the thematic displays of technology, art, and commerce, numerous state and international pavilions, and innovative marketing promotions linked to commercial products. Over 25 million visitors from around the world attended the exposition throughout the summer and fall of 1893 immeasurably boosting the status of the city of Chicago.
S. R. Morse was the superintendent for the New Jersey educational exhibit in the fair's Liberal Arts Building.
