Utopians at the Parliament: The World's Parliament of Religions and the Columbian Exposition of 1893

Abstract

This article examines the Columbian Exposition and World's Parliament of Religions, both held in Chicago in 1893. While both events drew on nineteenth‐century beliefs in the superiority of Western Christianity, they reflect divergent views on technology, social inequality, and urban reform. The Exposition's “White City” offered visitors a temporary, otherwordly escape, whereas the World's Parliament emphasized the importance and possibility of concrete solutions to social problems. As such, these events express radically different forms of utopian speculation in Gilded‐Age America.