The World's Columbian Exposition

In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition had a profound impact on urban planning and the Beaux-Arts period of American architecture. The fair introduced the Ferris Wheel, Cracker Jacks, and fiberglass. Yet today, except for one building and a grassy park, all that remains is the legacy of printed material dispersed throughout the country. This reference guide, intended for historians, librarians, and collectors, provides access to that legacy. The introduction summarizes the Exposition’s influence. The bibliography, arranged to allow researchers to browse topics broadly, describes over 6,000 books, journal articles, and other materials. A directory of special collections of fair-related materials is also included.

Newspaper and magazine articles, books, dissertations, drawings, photographs, maps, letters, documents, and collections of memorabilia—these provide the enduring heritage of the fair. This guide provides information on all aspects of that heritage. In addition to the bibilography itself, an extensive introduction discusses the influence the fair has had on America. Illustrations provide a visual portrayal of the fair. A directory of special collections of fair-related materials provides an inventory of each collection, along with addresses and telephone numbers. This book is the only comprehensive reference guide to the World’s Columbian Exposition.

Author Biography

DAVID J. BERTUCA is an Associate Librarian in the University Libraries, State University of New York at Buffalo. His interest in 18th- and 19th-century American history has enabled him to research topics such as the World’s Columbian Exposition, providing connections between the Fair and the period when it was held.

DONALD K. HARTMAN is a Reference Librarian at Lockwood Memorial Library at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His research interests include subject access to fiction, online data base searching, and world’s fairs. He is the author of several journal articles and editor of Fairground Fiction: Detective Stories of the World’s Columbian Exposition.

SUSAN M. NEUMEISTER is head of bibliographic control in the acquisitions department of Central Technical Services at the State University of New York at Buffalo./e She is editor-in-chief of the OLAC Newsletter, a quarterly publication of the Online Audiovisual Catalogers, Inc.