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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
With the push of a button, President Cleveland commences the Chicago World's Fair and welcomes a new era of technological and human advancement. Americans come in droves to see the art and industrial innovation that will become a hallmark of their country’s legacy. But the fair ends with a nasty shock when a popular mayor is assassinated. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic, and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| October 21, 1892 | The World's Columbian Exposition, commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus' landfall in the New World, is dedicated in Chicago. |
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| May 1, 1893 | Thousands gather in Jackson Park to witness President Grover Cleveland press the button signaling the opening of the Chicago World’s Fair. |
| October 30, 1893 | The Fair closes with the city in shock, as popular mayor Carter Harrison, Sr. was assassinated by Patrick Eugene Prendergast two days before the Fair's closing. Closing ceremonies were cancelled in favor of a public memorial service. |
