Chicago History Museum: History Of The Chicago Fire Cyclorama

Press release from the Chicago History Museum:

Carl Smith

2021-10-04

Featured in our exhibition is a 40-feet-long painting study created as a guide for a larger Chicago Fire Cyclorama painting, which was displayed in Chicago in 1892-93 in a round building constructed for visitors to have an immersive experience. You can take an in-depth look at the painting study in our latest Chicago00 experience: c reated for the 150th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire.

Here, Carl Smith, Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English and American Studies and Professor of History, Emeritus, at Northwestern University, writes about this history of cycloramas and how the Chicago Fire Cyclorama came to be.

Here, Carl Smith, Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English and American Studies and Professor of History, Emeritus, at Northwestern University, writes about this history of cycloramas and how the Chicago Fire Cyclorama came to be. here Theater advertisements, , April 4, 1892. Paris by Moonlight Inter-State Exposition Building at Michigan Avenue and Adams Street, c. 1890; J. W. Taylor, photographer. CHM, ICHi-064394. The Siege of Paris, The Battle of Lookout Mountain, Jerusalem and the Crucifixion Niagara Falls. Cyclorama Buildings at Wabash and Hubbard (with the rounds roofs), looking south, c. 1895–1900. CHM, ICHi-005715. The Battle of Shiloh Fire Insurance Map showing location of the cyclorama building (here referred to as the Panorama Building) on Michigan Avenue between Monroe and Madison Streets. , Rascher Insurance Map Publishing Co., 1893. Bird’s-eye Views and Guide to Chicago View of Fire Cyclorama Building (in oval) from , 1893, p. 55. The Battle of Chattanooga Hawaii Kilauea Cyclorama on the Midway, 1893. CHM, ICHi-092991. Isaac N. Reed (left) and Howard H. Gross (right), from , by Rev. David Swing, 1892. Artist working on the Chicago Fire Cyclorama, from , by. Rev. David Swing, 1892. Note the reference books, drawings, and camera, all of which were important to the creation of a cyclorama. Chicago Tribune Advertisement for the Chicago Fire Cyclorama, , April 3, 1892. The Story of the Chicago Fire Cover of , 1892. CHM, ICHi-1788417-001. Chicago Tribune The seven-story red building and the twelve-story building to its left now occupy the site of the Chicago Fire Cyclorama building on the west side of Michigan Avenue, between the University Club and the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. Millennium Park is across the street. Photograph by Carl Smith. Battle of Atlanta Battle of Gettysburg Special thanks to Eugene Meier.

Further Reading

• Atlanta History Center, Cyclorama: The Big Picture
• Bernard Comment, The Painted Panorama (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999)
• Theodore R. Davis, “How a Great Battle Panorama Is Made,” Nicholas 14, no. 2 (December 1886): 99‒112
• Gettysburg Foundation, Gettysburg Cyclorama 
• Ralph Hyde, ed., Dictionary of Panoramists of the English-Speaking World
• “Moving a Cyclorama,” Boston Daily Globe, December 7, 1890, 23.
• National Park Service, Cyclorama
• Stephen Oettermann, The Panorama: History of a Mass Medium (New York: Zone Books, 1997)
• David Swing, The Chicago Cyclorama (Chicago, 1892)

This press release was produced by the Chicago History Museum. The views expressed here are the author’s own.