Wendy J. Katz, associate professor of art history, and Timothy Schaffert, associate professor of English, are among four speakers who will discuss the ways women participated in and were represented at the 1898 Omaha’s World Fair. The event is 4 p.m. March 2 at Omaha’s Dale Clark Library, 215 S. 15th St.
The event, “Ladies at the Fair: Women and the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition,” is free and open to the public. The talks are part of the opening of a library exhibition that features unique artifacts from Omaha Public Library’s Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition archive.
“Women were art critics, newspaper editors, publicity managers, designers, exhibitors, concessionaires, waitresses, typists, salesladies and artists,” Katz said. “I’ll also talk about how the images in photos of women, on coins, souvenirs, pamphlets, etc., communicated ideas about how civilized and progressive Omaha was.”
The exhibition opens March 2 and runs through the month. The display was curated by Husker alumna Victoria Hoyt, curator of the library’s Michael Phipps Gallery.
The exhibition also includes artifacts that women took away from the fair.
