The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Think of your favorite public spaces—squares, libraries, parks, schools, courts, or beaches. Why are these places important? Why are they worth investing in?  

Teaching Suggestion: This question orients students to the topic of civic architecture and design, one of the main threads of The Devil in the White City. As the text details, a team of architects, engineers, designers, and landscape architects created a vast public gathering space full of beauty and significance. Readers might briefly brainstorm other well-known public spaces such as Olmstead’s Central Park in New York City; alternatively, students might discuss the importance of community gathering spaces on a local level, such as the public library facilities in your hometown, and the elements, such as functionality and aesthetics, that architects must explore in designing them.

• “New York’s High Line Park” – This five-minute video from Time shows the successful civic renovation of New York’s High Line Park and demonstrates how beautiful public spaces can benefit a city.
• The Congress for New Urbanism has created a list of principles for urban development and city planning known as The Charter of New Urbanism that has influenced the planning of cities and towns around the world.  

2. What are the general goals and purposes of a World’s Fair, and how have these expositions changed over time?

Teaching Suggestion: Understanding the grandeur and excitement associated with the 1893 World’s Fair will help readers understand key elements of the text such as Chicago’s intense competition to secure the location and Burnham’s motivations and rationales for his architectural objectives. The first World’s Fair was held in London in 1851; early World’s Fairs showcased achievements in manufacturing and technology and offered peeks at new products and inventions. In the case of Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition (a name that refers to the voyage of Columbus just over 400 years before), dedicated locations and spaces in the fairgrounds represented different nations and states. Students might work in small groups to conduct brief research into an assigned or selected fair and share the event’s features, images, and characteristics to the class; readers can then draw more detailed conclusions about traits historical fairs had in common and how the model and themes of these expositions have evolved over time.

• “World’s Fairs and Expositions” – The James E. Walker Library at Middle Tennessee State University offers this brief article on the purpose of World’s Fairs and short summaries of several well-known examples.
• “The Rise and Fall of World’s Fairs” – Smithsonian Magazine looks at the changing popularity of World’s Fairs in the US over time.
• “American World’s Fairs Icons That Have Stood the Test of Time” – The National Trust for Historic Preservation details key pieces of architecture and design elements still in existence.
• “Vintage Chicago: The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair” – This 22-minute video discusses the history of Chicago, the challenges and special considerations of the Fair’s construction, and the size and scope of the grounds and buildings. If a short video is more suitable, the 3-minute introduction showcases images and describes the fair’s size and scope. (Content Warning: Brief mention of the exploitation of groups. Brief skippable ads appear at 00:08:30 and 00:15:30.)

Differentiation Suggestion: For a more visual-spatial approach, students might study online maps of the World’s Columbian Exposition and compare them to modern maps of Chicago to gain perspective regarding space, land use, and geography. The maps can be revisited during reading to help students better visualize the scene and gain additional understanding of the events relayed in the text.

• “Bird’s Eye View of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893” – Students can zoom in on parts of this map of the grounds from the Library of Congress for a closer look.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

True crime has become a popular genre of nonfiction, with many books, documentaries, and podcasts focusing on murder. Why might audiences be drawn to stories of true crime? How do you think these stories compare to other journalistic narratives or to crime fiction in terms of elements, writing techniques, and style?

Teaching Suggestion: The Devil in the White City is sometimes cited as an important work in the sub-genre of true crime narratives. Discussion regarding this question may provide an opportunity to introduce or review some of the book’s sensitive content, which some readers may find disturbing. Student discussion might also be based in elements and characteristics of the sub-genre; these and similar resources may provide additional context.

• This article answers the question “What Is True Crime?” and provides many other books for continued reading. (Content Warning: The article discusses violent crime including murder as the subject of narratives.)
• The School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon explains some of the special ethical concerns of the true crime genre with “The True Crime Genre Is Popular, but Is It Ethical?” (Content Warning: The article discusses violent crime including murder as the subject of narratives.)