History on Display
History on Display: Wonders of the 1893 World’s Fair
Last Sunday My Own True Love and I cocked a snook at cold and snow* and headed out to Chicago’s Field Museum to see what we thought was an exhibit on the 1893 World’s Fair, aka the Columbian Exposition. We had neglected to read the subtitle for the exhibit: “Opening the Vaults”. As is often…
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History on Display: Pritzker Military Library
My Own True Love and I are spending the day at a military history symposium at the Pritzker Military Library. In the morning, Tim O’Brien (author of The Things They Carried) and Karl Malantes (author of Matterhorn) are going to discuss literature, war, politics and the art of writing.* In the afternoon, major historians and…
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History on Display: The Gettysburg Cyclorama
Cycloramas were the I-Max of the nineteenth century. Viewers stood in the center of a specially constructed auditorium, surrounded by a huge cylindrical oil painting of an exciting historic event or dramatic scene. Sometimes the exhibit included music or a narration of the events. With or without a soundtrack, when you went to see a…
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