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The Great Chicago Fire
"It's hard to imagine the Olympics rising to the stature of something like the Chicago Fire that was such a city-changing event."
-Peter Alter, Chicago History Museum Curator A stained glass window at the Chicago Temple Building commemorates the Great Chicago Fire. photo courtesy of SpringSun via Flickr -
The World's Columbian Exposition
"The Columbian Exposition was open for 6 months and had a couple of years of preparation time, so its had a little bit deeper impact on the city than a potential Olympics could."
-Perry Duis, Professor of History, UIC Overhead view of Columbian Exposition, photo courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society -
A Century of Progress- Chicago World's Fair
"I suspect the Olympics will be comparable to The Century of Progress fair of 1933-34, partly because now more than ever the Olympics usually leave some kind of physical imprint on the city."
-Tim Gilfoyle, History Professor, Loyola University Chicago World's Fair poster, courtesy of Joan Thewlis via Flickr -
Democratic National Convention
"If you flash back 40 years ago to August 1968 and you flash forward 40 years to 2008 and Obama's victory speech in Grant Park, I can't imagine how the two could be more contrasting."
-Peter Alter, Chicago History Musuem Curator Hubert Humphrey was the Democratic nominee for President in 1968, eventually losing to Richard Nixon. photo courtesy of Bob Bobster via Flickr -
Chicago named finalist for 2016 Olympics
"The two World's Fairs and the Obama election and the Olympics are all important events, taking place in very different contexts."
-Robert Buerglener, History Professor, DePaul University Chicago 2016 logo on Chicago street corner, photo courtesy of CJKarr via Flickr -
Obama elected President/Grant Park rally
"I hear over and over again what a spectacular city Chicago is and how great it looked to the world on election night. A lot of people don't think of the city in terms of the physical attributes, but they're very important."-Perry Duis, Professor of History, UIC Crowds gathered in Grant Park hours before President Elect Obama spoke on Election Night. photo courtesy of Wendy Piersall via Flickr
