This study offers an engaging reassessment of the 1893 Chicago
World's Fair (the Columbian Exposition), generally regarded as the
preeminent civic pageant in Victorian America. Based on exhaustive
research, Downey uses the Exposition as a representative cultural
symbol to challenge established interpretations of the event and to
suggest a new approach to writing American cultural history.
Adopting the approach of culture as conversation, he stresses the
manner in which the Chicago fair reflected the main currents and
conflicting tendencies in American life at the end of the 19th
century.
Viewing the Exposition as a cultural moment, Downey emphasizes
the theme of renewal as central to the cultural aspirations of the
enterprise and its engagement of public life. Throughout the
narrative, the divergent voices that comprised a great cultural
conversation on the salient issues of the day emerge through their
presence at, and participation in, the Exposition. This lively
account offers new insights into the cultural climate of the
period, while introducing readers to the sheer majesty and splendor
of an event that captivated the city and the nation more than a
century ago.
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