In 1893 Chicago held a huge fair, the World's Columbian Exposition, ostensibly to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas but in reality to bind together the city's squabbling immigrants and fractious social groups with a bit of cultural adhesive.
Anniversaries have always been important culturally, he said, and he points to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, which famously celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World.
It takes up the entire cubic footage capacity of this art museum that started off as an exposition hall for world trade fairs early in the 20th century.