HIST 100: Engineering The Past

Planners Beliefs and Values

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Daniel H. Burnham- the values and beliefs that stood out to me in Burnham would be that of reputation and status, both for himself and the city of Chicago. Even though he was a very accomplished architect within the City of Chicago with his own firm and innovative buildings he designed, the fact that he wasn’t able to get into one of the prestigious schools of the time and earn a degree made him an outsider. When he was named Director of Works for the World Fair, people did not think it was possible to complete it and have a successful fair with such a short amount of time. With this, he would do whatever it took to make sure that the fair was the greatest of all times and complete by dedication day. It did not matter how much money, lives or employees it took to accomplish this. “ Burnham in particular embodied this insecurity. Denied admission to Harvard and Yale and the “right” beginning, he had become a self-conscious connoisseur of fine things.” (210)

Frederick L. Olmsted- the values and beliefs that stood out to me in Olmsted would be that of environmentally conscientious, liked things natural along with being controlling with his work. He liked to use landscape to bring out the natural environment and beauty within an area and make sure that everything blended well together. His style was not flashy, as he did not like to have the landscaping calling attention to itself. He was a perfectionist and wanted to make sure he took the time to do things correctly and was very assertive in not letting anyone get in the way of his vision or even delegating tasks to others. “His frustration with Ulrich grew, his distrust depend. Later, in another note to John, he said, “Ulrich is unwittingly faithless to us. The difficulty is that he is ambitious of honors outside of his proper line; cares more to be extraordinarily active, industrious, zealous & generally useful, than to achieve fine results in L.A. [Landscape Architecture].” (224-225)

H.H Holmes- the values and beliefs that stood out to me in Holmes would be that of kindness and an entrepreneur. These of course were not used in a good way. He used kindness to manipulate people for his own selfish reasons whether it was a creditor, lover or family and friends. “Pitezel had exaggerated Emeline’s beauty, Holmes saw, but not by much. She was indeed lovely, with luminous blonde hair. Immediately Holmes deployed his tool of seduction, his soothing voice and touch and frank blue gaze. (162-163) Most of the businesses he started or items he sold where to solve a “problem” and he was able to sell most of these ideas to people for a quick profit. He did not think of anyone but himself and his urges. “With Emeline gone and neatly disposed of, he now was able to concentrate on his growing web of enterprises. He savored his scope: He owned a portion of a legitimate company that produced a machine for duplicate documents; he sold mail-order ointments and elixirs and by now had established his own alcohol-treatment company, the Silver Ash institute, his answer to Keeley’s gold cure; “(198)

 

11.2: First Reflection on the Fair

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Near the end of this section of the reading, Erik Larson writes of the “turmoil and grief engulf[ing] Chicago.” “The old world,” he notes, “was passing” (121-22). Based on what you’ve read so far, what do you think was the most significant issue or tension in the United States in the 1880s and 1890s, and why? Cite evidence from the book to support your choice.

I think the most significant issue in the United States in the 1880 and 1890s was becoming organized enough to prosper and control such rapid urbanization of cities throughout the United States. Everything and everywhere seemed to be moving so fast that it was an extremely chaotic time for workers, business, city government and politics. This can be seen in the way the H.H Holmes takes advantage of construction workers, “Holmes cast himself as a demanding contractor. As workers came to him for their wages, he berated them for doing shoddy work and refused to pay them, even if the work was perfect. They quit, or he fired them. He recruited others to replace them and treated these workers the same way” (67). Since nothing was organized it was easy for him to continue his scams with others who had no knowledge of his past or work standards.

Why do you think Larson has chosen to intertwine the story of the fair with that of Holmes?

I think it shows just how unorganized everything really was. With so much going on all around and little to no resource or structure to control such fast growth it allowed people to take advantage of the system for their own means, be they good or bad.