Library celebrates new book on Century of Progress October 20
The UIC Library and the University of Illinois Press celebrate the publication of The 1933 Chicago World's Fair: A Century of Progress, by Cheryl R. Ganz, in UIC's Richard J. Daley Library, Monday, October 20, 2008, 3:00-5:00 pm. The program, book signing, reception will take place in the Reserve Reading Room (1st floor north).
Chicago's 1933 world's fair set a new direction for international expositions. Earlier fairs had exhibited technological advances, but Chicago's fair organizers used the very idea of progress to buoy national optimism during the Depression's darkest years. In this engaging social and cultural history, Ganz examines Chicago's second world's fair through the lenses of technology, ethnicity, and gender. From fan dancers to fan belts, the book offers the compelling, untold stories of fair planners and participants who showcased education, industry, and entertainment to sell optimism during the depths of the Great Depression.
Ganz is the chief curator of philately at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Washington, D.C. She was the curator and designer of the "Pots of Promise" exhibition for the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, and is the coeditor of Pots of Promise: Mexicans and Pottery at Hull-House, 1920-40. Ganz conducted some of her research for her new book in UIC's Special Collections, which holds the corporate records of the Century of Progress as well as a collection of memorabilia from fair-goers.
In honor of the University of Illinois Press's 90th anniversary, the Library will feature some of the Press's titles by UIC-affiliated authors.
More information about the October 20 book launch is available online., field_56ba6f8fdb00c