The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition lives in popular culture as “The White City,” and through Erik Larsen’s The Devil in the White City it has become linked in popular imagination with the vice and crime, political maneuverings, and tragedies that marked the end of the 19th century in Chicago. This month’s cover features Chicago of To-day: The Metropolis of the West-The Nation’s Choice for the World’s Columbian Exposition, a guide to the fair published in 1892 and held by DePaul University. The guide shows the other side of the fair—a commercial venture designed to highlight the progressiveness of Chicago, its place as a center of transportation and industry, a vibrant and thriving bustling metropolitan city.

DePaul University Library’s Department of Special Collections uses works on Chicago history to develop a better knowledge of the city for DePaul students. For more information, visit library.depaul.edu/Collections/SpecialCollectionArchives.aspx.