{"id":199373,"date":"2025-04-22T21:26:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T21:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/the-1925-womans-worlds-fair-in-chicago\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T21:26:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T21:26:36","slug":"the-1925-womans-worlds-fair-in-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=199373","title":{"rendered":"The 1925 Woman’s World’s Fair in Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In 1925, the inaugural Woman\u2019s World\u2019s Fair was held April 18\u201325 in the American Exposition Palace. It attracted more than 160,000 visitors and consisted of 280 booths representing 100 occupations in which women were engaged.<\/p>\n

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News coverage of the opening showed \u201cMrs. Betty Matthews, horsewoman, who rode up Michigan Avenue in garb of Paul Revere\u201d on the left, a flag raising that signaled the fair\u2019s opening, and a crowd listening to President Calvin Coolidge\u2019s speech, <\/em>Chicago Daily News, April 19, 1925, p. 3.<\/em><\/p>\n

The fair was the idea of Helen Bennett, the manager of the Chicago Collegiate Bureau of Occupations, and Ruth Hanna McCormick, a leading clubwoman and Republican politician.<\/p>\n

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Cover page of The Woman\u2019s World\u2019s Fair souvenir program, 1925. HQ1106 .W6 1925<\/a>. CHM, ICHi-037941<\/em><\/p>\n

It was, in part, inspired by the 1893 World\u2019s Columbian Exposition and initiatives such as the Woman\u2019s Building. However, it was also a response to the unequal representation and lack of visibility some women experienced in 1893. Women organizers publicized and ran the fair; its managers and board of directors were all women.<\/p>\n

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The souvenir program was also entirely produced by women. Photograph by CHM staff<\/em><\/p>\n

The fair had the double purpose of displaying women\u2019s ideas, work, and products, and raising funds to help support women\u2019s Republican Party organizations. The booths at the fair showed women\u2019s accomplishments in the arts, literature, science, and industry. These exhibits were also intended as a source for young women seeking information on careers.<\/p>\n

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Portraits featuring the Woman\u2019s World\u2019s Fair Board of Directors from page 6 of The Woman\u2019s World\u2019s Fair souvenir program, 1925. HQ1106 .W6 1925<\/a>. CHM, ICHi-088653<\/em><\/p>\n

Among the exhibitors at the fair were major corporations, such as Illinois Bell Telephone Company and the major national and regional newspapers. Local manufacturers, banks, stores, and shops, area hospitals, and women inventors, artists, and lawyers set up booths demonstrating women\u2019s contributions in these fields and possibilities for employment. Women\u2019s groups were represented by such organizations as the Women\u2019s Trade Union League, Business and Professional Women\u2019s Club, the Visiting Nurse Association, the YWCA, Hull-House, the Illinois Club for Catholic Women, and the Auxiliary House of the Good Shepherd.<\/p>\n

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From left, seated: Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen, Gov. Nellie Tayloe Ross, Judge Katherine Sellers, Cyrena Van Gordon, Dr. Helen M. Strong. From left, standing: Mrs. Radford Warren, Mrs. Mabel Reinecke, Miss Lucia Briggs, Fannie Ferber Fox, Paulina Palmer, Mrs. Lois Pierce Hughes, <\/em>Chicago Daily News, April 24, 1925, p. 5.<\/em><\/p>\n

The 1925 fair raised $50,000 and was so successful that it was held for three more years.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the Woman\u2019s World\u2019s Fair of 1925 came in the wake of two major events. In the summer of 1919, tensions in the city were high after the racially motivated drowning of Eugene Williams<\/a>, an African American teenager, in Lake Michigan and ensuing violence and deaths of both Euro-American and African American Chicagoans.<\/p>\n

That same year, the US Congress passed the 19th Amendment<\/a>, giving women the right to vote. The suffragist movement also saw racial tensions<\/a>, as white organizers would exclude or segregate African American and other women of color from their marches and other efforts. Nevertheless, the resolution\u2019s ratification in 1920 became a watershed moment for women\u2019s rights and radically shifted the national political climate forever.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, women asserted their right to be recognized and uplifted through dedicated events of their design. On the other hand, while some strides were made in more racially diverse representation, inequality persisted.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1925, the inaugural Woman\u2019s World\u2019s Fair was held April 18\u201325 in the American Exposition Palace. It attracted more than 160,000 visitors and consisted of 280 booths representing 100 occupations in which women were engaged. 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