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Summary: Chapter 11: Convocation

On February 24, 1891, the architects present their drawings of the main Fair buildings to the Grounds and Buildings Committee: Hunt’s Administration Building of foremost importance; Post’s Manufactures and Liberal Arts building, the largest every constructed; Adler & Sullivan’s Transportation Building. The committee listens with a “quiet intentness,” and later describes it as “the greatest meeting of artists since the fifteenth century.”

Olmsted realizes that the buildings’ complexities will leave him little time for landscaping once completed. He wants to design around the water and have electric boats and various foreign watercrafts. He plans to arrange flowers “poetically,” with soft glimpses of colors, instead of full flowerbeds.

Burnham worries about the shortened timeline while turmoil slows the Fair. Union workers riot against immigrant workers and demand union wages and hours. The National Commission fights the Exposition Company for financial control, slowing everything.  

Sophia Hayden wins Burnham’s contest to design the Woman’s Building, though she receives only one-tenth of the male architects’ payment. Burnham hires Charles B. Atwood of New York to replace Root as designer.

Summary: Chapter 12: Cuckoldry

Without explanation, Ned’s sister, Gertrude, tells him she must leave Chicago. She refuses to look at Holmes, but Ned does not notice. Ned and Julia’s fights increase. Ned wonders if Julia is having an affair with Holmes. Holmes acts sympathetic and suggests Ned buy life insurance to protect his family. Holmes brings in a man named C. W. Arnold to sell a policy, but Ned refuses.

Holmes offers to sell Ned the drugstore, but neglects to tell him that the store has substantial debts. He only reminds Ned that the sale is final when creditors come knocking. Ned and Julia divorce and Ned moves out, abandoning his interests in the store. After Ned leaves, Holmes loses interest in Julia.

Summary: Chapter 13: Vexed

Burnham struggles and rarely sees his family. The sheer size of the Fair makes it difficult to see much progress. The relationship worsens between the two authoritative bodies: the National Commission and the Exposition Company. William Baker replaces Lyman Gage as president of the Fair. None of the architects deliver their drawings to Chicago on time. The quality of the soil in Jackson Park hinders construction, especially at the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building site.

Carter Henry Harrison narrowly loses the mayoral election in April 1891. Burnham is pleased because he thinks Harrison represents the dirty and unrefined “old Chicago” that he wants the Fair to transform. However, Prendergast mourns Harrison’s loss and resolves to work even harder to help Harrison win the next election. He still believes he will receive a government job in return for his vigorous campaigning.

A battle ensues over how to illuminate the Fair. General Electric bids for the direct current system developed by Thomas Edison. Westinghouse Electric bids for alternating current, developed by Nikola Tesla, which is cheaper and more efficient. Westinghouse wins the bid. Meanwhile, Burnham continues to face setbacks. Olmsted falls seriously ill in June. Manure in the soil causes the ground to sink after rain. The architects do not complete their drawings until mid-summer 1891, and Burnham secures bids from companies to build the plans. To cut delays, he writes himself into the contracts as a czar, with power to hire, impose deadline penalties, and arbitrate disputes. Real work finally begins on July 3, 1891, with less than sixteen months remaining.

Burnham seeks a building to rival the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Only when Alexandre Gustave Eiffel himself proposes to build a taller tower do the American engineers speak out passionately, advocating for an American engineer. Still, nobody presents a feasible idea.

Sol Bloom of San Francisco wants to bring an Algerian village to the Fair. The Fair’s Ways and Means Committee rebuffs him, so he takes the idea to Mike De Young, one of the exposition’s commissioners and the mayor of San Francisco. De Young knows Bloom is a young entrepreneur and convinces the Exposition Company to hire him for concessions over the Midway Plaisance. Bloom is not particularly interested in this role, so he asks for a salary much too high, certain this request will keep him in California. He is approved.

Burnham anticipates threats to the Fair. He instills a large police force and fire department, and bans smoking. To prevent disease, he plans a water-sterilization plant. He strengthens the buildings’ designs to withstand high winds.

Bertha Palmer, head of the Board of Lady Managers, proves trouble for Sophia Hayden. Palmer decides to invite women nationwide to donate anything as decorations for Hayden’s building. A long battle follows between the two women, resulting in Hayden having a mental breakdown.

Workers at the Fair begin to die due to hazards on the jobsite.

Summary: Chapter 14: Remains of the Day

Julia Conner becomes pregnant, and Holmes agrees to marry her only if she allows him to give her an abortion. Julia visits her friends, the Crowes, in a nearby apartment on Christmas Eve. Holmes takes Julia to the basement for the “abortion,” and suffocates her with chloroform. He does the same to Pearl. Upon realizing their absence on Christmas, Mrs. Crowe inquires with Holmes, and he tells her that Julia and Pearl have returned home to Iowa.

Holmes hires Charles Chappell as an articulator to clean and reassemble Julia’s skeleton. He sells it to a medical school in Chicago. Holmes has learned that there exists a high demand for corpses in the medical community for teaching purposes, either surgical practice or anatomical instruction.

Summary: Chapter 15: A Gauntlet Dropped

Labor strife increases and violence in Chicago rises. The Fair so far has cost more than anyone expected. To immediately reduce expenditures, Burnham makes drastic cuts to the workforce, knowing many men will face homelessness and poverty.

To rouse the engineers of America into submitting a design to best the Eiffel Tower, Burnham speaks at a meeting of the Saturday Afternoon Club, a group of engineers who discuss the challenges in constructing the Fair. He inspires a 33-year-old engineer from Pittsburgh to rise to the occasion.

Conflict brews between Burnham and George Davis, the Director-General of the Fair. The directors of the Exposition Company decide to ask for a direct appropriation from Congress to continue funding the Fair, and the result is a harsh and detailed review of all expenditures.

Analysis: Chapters 11-15

The eleventh chapter begins with a major turning point for the Fair: the presentation to the Grounds and Buildings Committee. The architects have finally decided to work together and devote their full intellect to designing the Fair. The result is a proposal of a dream city that leaves the committee stunned. By the end of the presentation, everyone in the room knows something special has occurred. Even though everyone constantly worries about whether they will have enough time, they turn their vision toward the future and commit to building this dream. Once the architects’ initial plans are completed, Olmsted is freed to really begin planning. The meeting is important for him specifically because he clearly sees the obstacles ahead of him. Namely, he knows that the plans for the buildings are so complex that he will have to do his work at the very end. Therefore, he needs to create something that can be completed in a short amount of time. He sets his vision of a sweeping landscape that both works with the grand Roman style of the buildings and yet brings a “poetic” and lively atmosphere. He fixates on the gracefulness of electric boats and becomes obsessed with this aspect of his design.

These chapters highlight how bureaucratic parties can impede progress. The main turmoil occurs between the National Commission and the Exposition Company over finances. The Exposition Company raised the money for the Fair and wants to continue controlling it. The more they argue, the slower they are to make decisions, and these delays are frustrating for Burnham, because he is used to having control over his own company. The National Commission keeps forming new paid departments even though the Fair has already cost much more than expected. Burnham calls his interactions with them a “dance of false grace” that wastes time because he must try and hurry along decisions without offending anyone, instead of being able to get down to business. Burnham eventually feuds with the Commission’s head, Director-General Davis, over who gets to design the artistic interior of the buildings. These conflicts are examples of how pride can divide a unified vision and slow progress.

Through all the setbacks, Burnham displays a great capacity for leadership. He comes up with an innovative way to delegate by hosting a contest to design the Woman’s Building, showing his investment in the advancement of architecture. As a leader, he stands up for the winning woman’s design when other male architects question whether she is capable of having designed it herself. Burnham takes a chance and hires Charles Atwood to replace Root, despite his personal grief over the loss of his friend. Larson tells us that Atwood is addicted to opium and an hour late to meet with Burnham, but Burnham thinks he is brilliant and hires him anyway. Burnham persistently seeks a challenger for the Eiffel Tower. When he hires construction companies and writes their contracts, he makes the executive decision to give himself full power. He also makes the difficult decision to lay off laborers to cut expenses. These are all examples of strong leadership qualities: delegation, fighting for innovation, taking risks, and making difficult decisions. The difference between Burnham’s and Holmes’ drives for power is that Burnham knows he is the best person to control the Fair. Holmes wants power for his own pleasure.

In chapters twelve and fourteen, Holmes concludes his manipulation of the Conners by killing Pearl and Julia. Before this, however, Gertrude acts strangely around Holmes, and may be one of Holmes’ few escaped victims. We do not know for sure that he tried to kill her, but something isn’t right because Gertrude refuses to look at Holmes, blushes, and leaves suddenly, refusing to explain anything to Ned. Ned doesn’t seem very perceptive, and Holmes uses this oblivion to his advantage. At first, Ned doesn’t believe Julia could be having an affair with Holmes, though it is obvious to his friends. Holmes fools Ned by acting sympathetic and suggesting Ned take out life insurance for his family. Ned is ultimately a sad pawn in Holmes’ game. By having a secret affair with Julia but encouraging Ned to keep trying to win her back, Holmes increases and plays the tension in their marriage until they divorce. Again, as soon as he has Julia, Holmes gets bored. Julia’s pregnancy presents a major vulnerability for Holmes to extort. He still forces Julia to go through the anguish of abortion even though he probably planned to kill her all along. This puts him up close and personal to see her confusion and struggle as she dies, which excites him sexually. 


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