The Congress, a week-long conference managed and attended by women as part of the World's Fair, included a day of programming devoted to the Eastern Star on May 16, 1893. Pitkin also participated in the World’s Congress of Representative Women on behalf of OES. The photograph shows various Eastern Star charts, signets, and banners from over nine of the organization's chapters in the Upper Midwest. Pitkin (1845-1922), a women's activist and high-ranking member of the Order of the Eastern Star (OES), a Masonic women's auxiliary group, advocated for this Eastern Star exhibit (pictured at left) to be displayed in the Woman’s Building. A number of female associations were featured in the building, including the Women's Christian Temperance Union, Order of the Eastern Star, and Ladies Catholic Benevolent Association.īoard member Lorraine J. The structure, created to showcase women artisans and highlight women’s achievements, was managed by an all-female board. Organizers built over 200 new structures and pavilions that spanned over 600 acres in the South Side of Chicago, including a “Woman’s Building,” designed by architect Sophia Hayden (1868-1953). This exposition, commonly referred to as the Chicago World’s Fair, celebrated the 400 th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ (1451-1506) arrival in the Americas in 1492. On May 1st, 1893, thousands of visitors streamed into the newly opened Columbian World Exposition at Jackson Park in Chicago, Illinois. Order of Eastern Star Booth at Columbian Exposition, 1893.

Young women in eastern star order