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The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was a remarkable event for many reasons. It was designed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World, and additionally, to show how far the city of Chicago, Illinois had come since the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.
It was considered a success on many levels, but there was also great controversy on a religious level. The World’s Fair lasted from May to October, 1893. The organizers wanted to keep the exposition open on the Lord’s Day, but having sought federal support for the event, Congress - under pressure from Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA), passed a resolution withholding financial support for Sunday events. After legal action was taken on the basis of the First Amendment, the fair was allowed to open on the Lord’s Day, although machines did not operate and most exhibits were closed.
The event served to inaugurate the World’s Parliament of Religions, known also at that time as the General Committee on the Congress of Religions, which was organized by the Presbyterian minister Dr. John Henry Barrows. This gathering of the world’s religious bodies - which clearly had ecumenical aims - did not receive full support from all Presbyterians, but some, including Dr. Philip Schaff, H.D. Jenkins and others gave addresses at the Parliament. Barrows chronicled the landmark event in two massive volumes.
The 1893 minutes of the PCUSA General Assembly record the following concerning the committee designated to represent the Presbyterian Church at the World’s Fair.
The Special Committee on the Columbian Exhibit presented its Report, which was adopted, and the Committee reappointed. The Report is as follows:
The Assembly’s Committee on the Presbyterian Exhibit at the World’s Columbian Exposition would respectfully report that, following the instructions of previous Assemblies, they have caused to be prepared an exhibit, now being installed in the space assigned for it by the Exposition authorities in the department of Liberal Arts, in the section occupied by the exhibits of other churches, and religious and reform societies.
By means of maps, charts, photographs, books, papers, and a small collection of curios, an exhibit is made of the numerical strength, the distribution, and the work of Presbyterianism in the world, and in particular of our own branch of the Church. The work of the various Boards of the Church is also exhibited, together with photographs of many of our educational institutions and their faculties. A full list of our denominational periodicals is displayed, as are the important issues of our Board of Publication. A fine heraldry of the Church has been prepared for the exhibit.
A prominent feature of the exhibit is an historical pamphlet prepared for the Committee by the Rev. H.D. Jenkins, D.D., giving the distinctive features of our history and polity. This pamphlet of some eighty pages is to be distributed gratuitously at the exhibit. It is hoped to present copies to the Assembly before the close of its session.
The cost of the exhibit up to this time has been nearly $2500, of which about one-third has been expended in the preparation and issue of the first edition of 10,000 copies of the historical pamphlet. A full statement of the expenses, and acknowledgment of the generous assistance the Committee has received from many sources, will be made from many sources, will be made in a final Report to the next Assembly.
Owing to some uncertainty in regard to the opening of the Exposition on Sunday, and also the impracticability of securing a definite assignment of space until a comparatively recent date, the Committee delayed active work for a considerable time. When it appeared certain that the Exposition would be closed on Sunday, the work was pushed forward as rapidly as possible, in accordance with the instructions given by previous Assemblies. Recently the question of opening the Exposition on Sunday has again been agitated. It seems improbable that this will be done, but if it shall finally be decided, against the protest of our own Church and that of many of the Churches of the country, to open the Exposition on Sunday, our exhibit will be withdrawn, according to the directions of this Assembly.
The General Assembly minutes from 1894 indicate that when the decision was made to keep the Exposition open on the Lord’s Day, the PCUSA asked the organizers to remove their exhibit, but permission was denied. At various times, as legal wrangling over the Sunday openings was ongoing, the exhibit remained in boxes with a sign posted indicating the General Assembly’s requirement for the exhibit’s closure in protest, and yet the exhibit did provide a testimony not only to the PCUSA’s opposition to Sabbath-breaking, but also to the witness of the American Presbyterian church at large.
An important fruit of the World’s Fair Committee’s labors in this regard was the book by Jenkins, Presbyterianism: A Brief Review of the Doctrine, Polity and Life of Our Churches, which is available to read here. From the 10,000 copies prepared, many were delivered to the various presbyteries, and helped to articulate the witness of the American Presbyterian Church to the world. It remains a worthy read today, and provides us today with a snapshot of how the PCUSA viewed itself - and other branches of the Presbyterian Church - in 1893. It was the World’s Fair that brought forth this witness, and has left us with this legacy.
