Blavatsky, Vivekananda and the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, part 1

Virchand Gandhi, Anagarika Dharmapala, Vivekananda , Nikola Tesla

This year, September 11 marked the 130th anniversary of the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, which was the first formal gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions, the first organized interfaith gathering. The official delegation for the Theosophical Society consisted of President William Quan Judge; English orator Annie Besant; Professor G. N. Chakravarti representing Hinduism;  Anagarika Dharmapala representing Buddhism; Miss F. Henrietta Müller representing European Theosophists; and Mrs. Isabel Cooper-Oakley, representing Australia and New Zealand.

 

The event was part of the World's Columbian Exposition, a World's Fair held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The exposition was an influential social and cultural event and had a profound effect on American architecture, the arts, American industrial optimism, and Chicago's image.

 

 

 

What Really Happened at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893?

IT'S HISTORY Jun 23, 2022

Nice 2o -minute documentary 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9XoMtxT0tU

 

A Theosophical Congress was held within the greater Parliament from September 15-17. All six of the credentialed Theosophical Society delegates to the Parliament spoke at the Congress, along with Dr. Jerome A. Anderson, Claude Falls Wright, Mrs. Mercie M. Thirds, Dr. J. D. Buck, and George E. Wright. 

 

A 200-page Proceedings Report was issued later that year, with full transcripts of all the lectures and speeches.

https://archive.org/details/theosophicalcong00theo/mode/2up

It was a rather momentous gathering of prominent theosophists, including Matilda Joslyn Gage, L. Frank Baum, (creator of the Wizard of Oz), and Thomas Edison.  A good account of this can be found in Finding Oz : How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story, 

Evan I. Schwartz Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009, pp. 200-250

Excellent article that touches upon the complex confluence of Columbian Exposition, Theosophy and Wizard of Oz

The secret life of Oz

Marina Warner July 27, 2008 

https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/the-secret-life-of-oz-20080727-ge79ar.html

 

The Wizard in the White City

Scott|April 28th, 2021

https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2021/04/28/the-wizard-in-the-white-city/

 

Gage attended 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions/World's Columbian Exposition and lobbied for The Woman's Building 

Columbian Exposition Books from 2018

https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2019/01/05/2018-books/

 

Petition Signed by Thomas Edison for Sunday Openings at the World's Columbian Exposition

subjects of the petitions, assemblies, & speeches foreshadowed 20th century debates over social issues, including religion, gender, & race

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/edison-petition

 

The event was an important landmark in American history and formed the setting of the opening chapters of Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day, 2006.

 

Part 2