Why Is Daniel Burnham Important

Daniel Burnham had to overcome many manmade and natural obstacles in building the World’s Fair. The most important obstacle Burnham had to overcome was time. He was only given three years to build the World’s Fair. Daniel Burnham hired four

Throughout parts I and II of the novel, Larson switches between the plotline of Burnham and the plotline of Holmes. The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is introduced in chapter two. In this chapter we are also given more

“Chicago was nothing more than a greedy, hog-slaughtering backwater.” (Larson pg 13). This wasn’t how Burnham wanted people to look at Chicago. In order to influence the public to have a better attitude towards the city, he had to ensure that the World’s Fair was perfect. Burnham knew that failure would take away from his political power, as well as the city’s reputation. “Failure would bring humiliation from which the city would not soon recover, given how heartily its leading men had boasted that Chicago would prevail.” (Larson pg 13). By establishing the quality of the fair, Burnham is attempting to gain some favorable popularity for himself as well as Chicago. The fair’s success boosted political power and reputation for Chicago and Burnham. “Both Harvard and Yale granted him honorary master’s degrees in recognition of his achievement in building the fair...For him the awards were a form of redemption.” (Larson pg 376). Burnham failed to gain admission to both universities but after he built the fair they acknowledged his proficiency. His success increased his power and public reputation. “Burnham tried to anticipate every conceivable threat to the fair. Aware of Chicago's reputation for vice and violence, Burnham insisted on the creation of a large police force, the Columbian Guard, and placed it under the command of Colonel Edmund Rice, a man

Furthermore, Burnham has the passion to succeed in architecture in hopes of building the White City. “He found his calling, he wrote in 1868, and told his parents he wanted to become the ‘greatest architect in the city or country’ ”(Larson 19). Burnham has a dream to be the best, and he uses his passion for a respectable cause. Through his architectural capabilities, creativity, and innovation, he is able to affect millions of people that attend the fair and the ones who do not. As he begins to take his blueprints and put them into reality, he gives hope and inspiration to all Americans during a time of depression. Burnham uses his unique ingenuity to make the unrealistic White City that is unlike anything America has ever seen, and he shows his originality to as many people as possible. As Burnham oversees and creates the new White city, he develops a new,

These impossible lengths of the building gives the reader insight on how powerful Burnham is with architecture. Burnham’s mind “pioneered the erection of tall structures” (13). that gives the visual image that Burnham made the first tall buildings of his generation, a huge accomplishment for an architect. Larson uses Burnham as the “leading architect”

In the novel, The Devil in The White City, the author, Erik Larson, utilizes a back and forth organizational pattern between the two main characters, Daniel H. Burnham and H.H. Holmes. It showed how their lives contributed to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Larson began the novel where the story actually ends in 1912 on the Olympic, a sister ship of the Titanic. The character, Burnham, waits for a response from his initial message to his friend Millet, aboard the Titanic. What Burnham doesn’t know at that time, is that the Titanic sunk and his friend Millet is dead. This is the point to which the story begins. Burnham flashes back to the building of the World’s fair while waiting for his friend’s response.

Yeah! That was the sound of the crowd as we won the battle of Yorktown. That was the day we declared our independence from Great Britain. After George Washington served as our nation's first President then John Adams became the second President of the United States. John Adams was a key part in the American Revolution. John Adam's life, his politics and his effect on the world were very sophisticated. These are some things that made John Adams the man he was.

The Columbian World’s Exposition of 1893 marked an important time in American history. The overall fame of the World’s Columbian Exposition, or also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, is in large part due to the spread of ideas and inventions that originated at the fair itself. The novel, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, depicts a clear portrait of the fair’s impact in the time leading up to, during, and after the exposition. The fair established itself as a metaphorical historical monument, in the way that it honored the past and served as a memorial to Columbus, and the way that it impacted future societies and events. The fair began as a show of superiority on part of American society, over all other countries, like France or England. Regarding competition, the fair sought to “Out-Eiffel” Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower, for architecture, and to outclass the rest of the world in all other fields. The fair also served to foreshadow the growing powers of America both intellectually and militarily; the spirit and ideas shown at the fair showed the emergence of intellectual superiority that would only serve as a sample of the achievements of society that were yet to come. The intellectual productions of the fair can be attributed to the architectural firm coordinating the event, Burnham and Root. The firm was headed by Daniel Burnham and John Root, both accredited as the brightest in their field. Under their management, the Chicago World’s Fair

The motives of a person reflect who they are. In the book, Burnham had a goal to make the Chicago World’s Fair the best it could be. One way he did this was by noticing the need for a clean water supply. He believed “that the fair’s workers and visitors needed a better, safer supply [of water]” (138). This action made the exhibition a greater success and more appealing. Burnham also chose to use Westinghouse electricity to illuminate the White City better than the previous arc lights could. His actions were meant to help the country as a whole. Erik Larson showed how there are people who strive to use their

Olmsted had written Burnham a letter about adding something new to the fair and BUrnham didn’t quite like his idea. Larson writes, “Burnham had devoted the last two years to creating an impression of monumental beauty”. (277) Here Burnham had worked so hard to create something for the people to enjoy. Yet when you think of what Holmes have spent his years doing of creating a hotel, his castle for people to enjoy and be comfortable. When his true intentions happened to be for his own personal enjoyment instead of others. These two different men show the two of the many sides of Chicago many people still haven’t realized. As of this moment the fair was coming to an end and the people were mourning over it going away. Larson also writes, “The fair was so perfect, its grace and beauty like an assurance that for as long as it lasted nothing truly bad could happen to anyone, anywhere”. (289).This was funny because we all know that was nowhere near the

     The Fair, with its mix of East and West and everything in between, became a microcosm of the country that was building it. In it, you see all the conflicts that were going on in the country at the time. Probably the most obvious is the labor that built the fair. At this point in history, the working class of the country, and indeed the world, were slowly, but unstoppably moving toward unionization, fairer working conditions and change that is very much the same as the working class of today. You also saw the unchecked, without government regulated capitalism, and the very strong personalities of the men who ran the fair. In my opinion, it was the personalities of the leaders of the fair, as much as anything, that resulted in its amazing pace and scale of construction being pulled off. Burnham is a

The Magic of Mister Daniel Burnham would be the tool that would be behind the greatest fair that Chicago has even seen in the history of its city. Daniel Burnham was forty-three years old at the time he would receive news that Chicago would be the site of the fair, and he worked as an architect in Chicago. He was one of the best architects in Chicago because he and James Root were the first to design the towering building that would make cities build upwards, the skyscraper. That high achievement was would test Daniel Burnham and James Root even more so because of the fair that they were tasked to construct and build up eventually. The

Larson makes that the reader knows Burnham understood that the fair was not only about the buildings. Burnham’s attention to the scale at which the exposition shows that he was focused on the production as a whole, setting him up to limit the amount of unforeseen problems that would occur and through this Larson praises Burnham and his understanding of what the fair would require. Another location where Larson purposefully includes Burnham’s understanding of grandeur and elegance’s effect on people is at the beginning of the book, when Burnham is quoted, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood” (xii). Larson includes this quote at the very beginning of the story to highlight that Burnham has a working knowledge of human desire. The significance of its placement before the story begins allows the reader to understand that anything Burnham does in this book; he will do it to the fullest potential because he understands that, in order to leave a lasting impact on the world, he must make this fair the grandest creation ever seen by man. Because Larson chose to include this quote, he emphasizes that Burnham’s understanding of human reactions is a reason why Burnham was a perfect fit for the role of lead architect. Burnham’s obsession with grandeur and elegance becomes his greatest tool as he goes about building this

Burnham eventually goes to New York to personally convince three of the architects. Because Burnham used architects outside of Chicago they brought in five firms from the Chicago area to help assist.

The U.S.A., a superpower of varying converging forces entering the twentieth century, led by the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. In Erik Larson’s book, The Devil in the White City, he illustrates the entire Fair, from start to finish. Before the famous Chicago World’s Fair, there were countless problems the city and the nation faced. There was pollution almost everywhere the eye could see, then the infamous Chicago fire of 1871, and the notorious Civil War. Chicago was a dismal and unfavorable city, that is, until the renowned 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Led by Daniel Burnham, the city saw a colossal change in its environment and people. The three main converging forces that created a blueprint for America to enter the twentieth century was