I grew up in Chicago in the 30s and 40s, and I remember when my dad used to drive my brother and I past this statue, and in his best falsetto voice, convinced us that the statue was talking to us. Not that we believed him, but it makes for great memories. You are correct, by the way about the Museum of Science and Industry also being a relic of that Worlds Fair. (However the Field Museum is not -- it dates from the 1933-34 Fair on the lakefront.) The Statue of the Republic is a replica, by the way -- the original was much larger. To read more about the great fair of 1893, be sure to read the new novel "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. It's based entirely on fact. I couldn't put it down.
— Phil Douglis, June 23, 2003