About 70% of Cook County residents (Chicago and surrounding area) who classified themselves as "white" in the 1890 census indicated they were "foreign-born" (i.e., mostly from Europe). Many were poor and had little education. They worked hard in factories, mills, and workshops to make ends meet. Some might have managed to buy a bit of land in the surrounding Midwest farm belt. Chicago was also a destination for a growing number of African-Americans, former slaves and their descendents, hoping to flee the white supremacy, racial discrimination, and post-slavery poverty in the South. In the meantime, former European immigrants continued their westward migration in a quest for new land, new opportunities, new horizons. In 1893, newspapers and magazines were the main source of information about the outside world for these people. Imagine a world with no radio, no television, no internet. For this reason, the size and scope of Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition (WCE) provided an unprecedented window to the world.

The scope and layout of the World's Columbian Exposition:

Just how big was the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition?

• 630 Acres (Lake Michigan to Cottage Grove Avenue/Washington Park; 56th Street to 67th Street)
• Over 200 buildings, pavilions, and outdoor exhibit areas (only two exhibit buildings remain today: the Museum of Science and Industry in Jackson Park, and the Art Institute in downtown Chicago)
• Over 27 million visitors in a six month period (equal to one-half of the entire U.S. population at the time)

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