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“In
spite of two World Wars, The Great Depression and monumental changes
in technology, the economy and society, the fundamental reasons for
founding the Geographic Society of Chicago have endured. Indeed, the
concept Past is Prologue makes all the sense in the world when looking
in-depth at the GSC.” Chicago was the fastest growing city in the history of the world – rocketing back from almost total destruction by fire in 1871 to enter the world stage in 1893 with the dazzling World’s Columbian Exposition celebrating the 400th birth of discovery. Population soared with waves of immigrants, and they flocked to the White City of the Midway to glimpse the future’s promise and ride the Ferris wheel. It was a golden decade with great institutions formed by Chicago’s wealthy leaders – music, museums, libraries, universities, and skyscrapers. People excited and curious about the world around them. And the railroads, the Pullman car, mail-order stores, the stockyards – all eager for new markets. Geography was central to the development of this new age. Almost everyone living in Chicago in the Nineties had come from someplace else. Geography defined the lands they had left, the cultures they brought with them, and geography helped interpret and shape their new homeland. In 1890, the US had just 42 states, and there were continents yet to explore. Chicago, at the crossroads of a young nation, was ready to be propelled into the twentieth century. It was this arena that the Geographic Society of Chicago entered in 1898, embracing all the people of the city and bringing knowledge of the world to their doorstep. “I suggest the founding of a Geographic Society in Chicago, similar to the National Geographic Society in Washington, which will bring together not just professional geographers, but all those who travel and study for pleasure. With lectures and field excursions, the public may be brought to understand the importance of geography.”
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