Tag: The Field Museum

Schlaumberger Bow

Tiffany & Company in Chicago: Centenary of the Tiffany & Co. Field Museum Gemstone Exhibition’s Move to Lake Shore Drive

By Alexandra Polach

 

A 148.5-carat  Tiffany & Co. aquamarine was part of a prized collection of Tiffany gems and gemstones that was seen by millions of visitors at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

In 1894, the entire collection was purchased from Tiffany & Co. for $100,000 and donated by Harlow Niles Higinbotham, President of the World’s Fair, to start Chicago’s premier natural history museum.

In 2009, Tiffany experts set the aquamarine in a platinum and gold brooch embellished with white diamonds and named the piece the “Schlumberger Bow.” Today, the company offers jewelry under their Tiffany Schlumberger tradename to clients around the world.

Photograph taken by the author, Alexandra Polach, at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

The Tiffany Pavilion in the Façade of the United States Section, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. [1]   

Photo colorized by the author

When LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, completed its $15.6 billion acquisition of U.S. based global jewelry brand Tiffany & Company in January this year, it marked the largest purchase of a luxury company in history. The latest LVMH earnings report emphasizes the importance of this acquisition and highlights the global popularity of the 184-year-old Tiffany & Co. Brand, which was founded in 1837.  This is no surprise to Chicagoans, as Tiffany is a brand that has now been celebrated and formally exhibited in Chicago to millions of viewers for more than 125 years. But we will begin this story in 1889 in Paris, France when Tiffany showed a major collection of gems at the Paris Exposition.

Photo of Founder Charles Lewis Tiffany (left) in his stunning New York store circa 1887

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Tiffany & Co. Exhibits Around the World

Paris, 1889 – At the Paris Exposition of 1889, tens of thousands of visitors flocked to view a remarkable Tiffany & Co. exhibition not previously before seen. After the immense exhibiting success and after the closing of the Paris Exposition, it was the goal of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of the company, and his gem and jewelry team, to keep this gem collection together for the educational benefit of the greater public. Tiffany, a member of the board of the American Museum of Natural History approached a fellow Museum trustee, mogul, and avid collector James Pierpont Morgan, who agreed to buy the collection for $15,000 [2] and maintain it. Morgan would eventually donate this group of gems to the American Museum of Natural History as the Tiffany-Morgan Collection where it remains an important component of the collection today.

Chicago, 1893 – At the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, a second and equally acclaimed Tiffany gem and jewelry collection was formed and exhibited. The collection was prominently exhibited in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the Chicago World’s Fair, and the exhibits again drew great crowds and admiration.

Tiffany received national and international coverage for the collection’s triumphant exhibition at the Chicago World’s Fair. The Jewelers Review, a publication from the time, wrote in August 1893 regarding the exhibition that, “Enthusiasts, watching the endless throngs crowding around the Tiffany diamonds at the Fair, have declared that were any single exhibit to be chosen for a special grand prize as the greatest international exposition the world has ever seen, the Tiffany diamonds would know no rival” [3].

Above: Tiffany & Co. display case with diamonds at the 1893 World’s Fair. The photo was featured in the article, “The Tiffany Exhibit at the World’s Fair” in the publication The Illustrated American issue dated May 20, 1893. According to John Loring, acclaimed Tiffany & Co. historian, the set featured in the photo “contained 147 aquamarines, all cut at Tiffany’s gem cutting shop from the same crystal to assure a uniform color and the set also contained 1,848 diamonds.” [4]

Below: “The Tiffany Exhibit at the World’s Fair” article’s scrolling title. [5]

Photos from Tiffany Jewels, John Loring, Harry N. Abrams, 1999, p. 130.

Again, Charles Lewis Tiffany was proud of the tremendous crowds and positive news coverage that his firm experienced in Chicago in 1893.  In a brochure published by Tiffany & Co. that year the house declared, “The testimonials…from the thousands of daily visitors, the almost unlimited generous comments of the press, and the valued technical reviews by art writers at home and abroad, have all been so overwhelming that the house accepts them not in the spirit of a personal compliment, but as a graceful tribute…” [6] The brochure goes on to state what is and was the vision that has resulted in making the Tiffany brand as popular today in the world as any jewelry brand, that Tiffany’s aim was “to excel the past, and to retain by real merit the approval of the public” [7].

 Tiffany was determined to ensure that the public at large would again, as in New York, continue to have access to the remarkable jewelry and gemstones exhibited in Chicago.  As the World’s Fair was ending, “prominent Chicagoans wanted to convert the fair’s collection into a permanent natural history museum” [8]. Just a short time after the close of the Fair in October 1893, Harlow Niles Higinbotham agreed to buy the entire Tiffany gem exhibit for the princely price of $100,000 [9].  This collection would continue to be permanently exhibited over the next 125 years at the Field Columbian Museum, which would later become the Field Museum of Natural History; the collection would grow to include hundreds of specimens.

The acquisition of the Tiffany gems, made possible by Higinbotham, received national coverage.  The New York Times reported at the time that it “forms one of the most interesting exhibits that has been gathered abroad” [10] and that the Higinbotham donation “was one of the most important additions that has been made to the Museum” [11]. The article highlighted standout pieces that were part of the collection, including a stunning Sun-God opal which “is carved in such a delicate way to show the face of the Aztec Sun God.” Other highlights that were part of this exhibition and remain exhibited today include a 154-carat beautiful green peridot, and a collection of golden yellow sapphires, the largest weighing 102.2-carats.

Tiffany Sun God Opal

 The Aztec “Sun-god Opal,” a 35-carat precious white Opal that is exquisitely carved into the shape of a human face. The opal was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and is part of the collection that Higinbotham purchased. In addition, “this Opal was mined in Mexico by the Aztecs in the sixteenth century and eventually found its way to the Field Museum in 1893, where it has remained ever since.” [12]

Photo Courtesy of Field Museum

 

 

 

 

 

“The Green Goddess” a 154-carat peridot gemstone. The peridot itself was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and is part of the collection that Higinbotham purchased. The peridot was set in the gold pendant with diamond embellishment, designed by Lester Lampert of Lester Lampert, Inc in 2009 for a Field Museum exhibit.

Photographs taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

“Sunrise”, yellow sapphires set in a gold bracelet, the largest weighing 102.2-carats. The largest sapphire was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and is part of the collection that Higinbotham purchased. The gems were set in the bracelet by designer Lester Lampert in 2009 for a Field Museum exhibit.

Photograph taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

With Higinbotham’s funding secured, the gems and gemstones did stay in Chicago and were moved to and installed in the new Field Columbian Museum, which was housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts Building of the Chicago World’s Fair in Jackson Park. The gems opened at the Field Columbian Museum on June 2nd, 1894, where they remained until 1921.

The Higinbotham Hall of Gems

Photo from Lance Grande and Allison Augustyn’s book, Gems, and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World. The caption of the above photo as written therein reads, “The Higinbotham Hall of Gems in the Field Museum, 1893.” [13]

H.N. Higinbotham Hall of Gems and Jewels and Tiffany Window

 The entire Tiffany-Higinbotham display was moved in 1921 to the new Higinbotham Hall in the current Museum building, and completely reinstalled in 1941 with “new and highly improved types of exhibition cases on bases of attractive English harewood with view-glasses supported by framework of bright polished bronze…The reconstructed hall, with its colored window of Tiffany glass opposite the entrance, provides a setting worthy of the beauty of the gems and other ornamental objects in the collection.” [14]

Photo courtesy of the Field Museum

 

Higinbotham’s Role and Legacy

Harlow Niles Higinbotham was well-positioned to step up and fund the purchase of the entire collection and thus to make Charles Tiffany’s dream of permanent public access for his achievement a reality. His rise from farm boy to civic leader was very rapid, even by the standards of fortune building in 19th century America. His family came west to Northern Illinois from New York state in the 1830s. They bought farmland, built a mill, and settled at New Lenox, 40 miles southwest of central Chicago, where he was born in 1838.  Higinbotham became one of the “merchant prince” leaders of the gilded age in Chicago and was a major philanthropist, having made his fortune as a partner in Marshall Fields’ dry goods empire. During the Chicago fire of 1871 he was credited as having used his quick wit and leadership instincts to save the firm millions by quickly moving the finest silks and other of the most valuable inventory and irreplaceable financial records from the path of the inferno to his carriage house in New Lenox. Higinbotham married Rachel Davison in 1865 when he returned from serving as an officer in The Civil War. According to scholar and literary critic Harriet Monroe’s 1920 memoir of Harlow Niles Higinbotham, an interesting fact is that Higinbotham was with Lincoln in the White House on March 8th, 1864 when the president, who Higinbotham knew well, promoted Grant to the rank of commanding general of the Union Armies. 

During the planning of the Fair, Higinbotham served as a trustee, and in 1892 he was made president of the Exposition. He was president of the Field Columbian Museum from 1898 until 1908.

The Gilded Dome of the Administration Building on Chicago Day, October 9th, 1893

 President Higinbotham’s Private Office looked East out over the Court of Honor and onto Lake Michigan.

C.D. Arnold, Photographer, Courtesy of a Private Collection

 100 Years Ago this Month, Marshall Field’s Bequest and Higinbotham’s Plans are realized for the 1921 Building for the Field Museum of Natural History

Closeups of the blueprint for the new Field Museum of Natural History building, dated January 31, 1907. Images show signatures of both Daniel Hudson Burnham, lead architect, and

Harlow Niles Higinbotham, museum president.

 Courtesy of a Private Collection

When Museum benefactor Marshall Field died in 1906, it was revealed that his will included $8,000,000 in funding for a new building to replace the original (and at that point crumbling) location in Jackson Park. At the time, Harlow Niles Higinbotham was serving as president of The Field Museum; having closely worked together on the Fair, Higinbotham immediately hired Daniel Burnham to work with him to design the new structure. By January 1907, the first plans (shown above as a blueprint) were presented to the public.  The Chicago Tribune wrote that the plan showed promise of “a structure which will be unlike anything ever built in Chicago, with the exception of the World’s Fair buildings” [15]. Construction of the stately, multimillion square foot marble-clad structure” which cost an exorbitant $6,750,000 [16], was completed in 1920 and opened in May 1921.

From the opening day of the new building, the Tiffany Gems in Higinbotham Hall were a top attraction. One hundred years ago this month, on May 2, 1921, hundreds of guests flocked to stand in line for their maiden visit.  The Chicago Tribune, (which, at the time, was owned and published by Higinbotham’s son in law, Joseph Medill Patterson (“The Captain”) and Patterson’s cousin Robert R. McCormick (“The Colonel”)) described the new Museum’s inaugural exhibits with great praise which has continued to the current day.

Continued Higinbotham-Patterson-Crane Collecting and Support Over Three Centuries

Support for The Field Museum by members of the Higinbotham family has now continued over three centuries. Most significantly, perhaps, was the major donation of a second major collection of Tiffany & Co. gems by Higinbotham’s daughter Florence Higinbotham Crane in 1941. Mrs. Higinbotham Crane was the wife of Richard T. Crane, Jr., heir to the Chicago elevator, plumbing, industrial, and aerospace fortune and a long-serving trustee of the museum.  The donation included a 97.5-carat imperial ruby topaz, which is the largest of its kind in any museum, and a stunning 341-carat faceted aquamarine, shown in photos below.

 

 

A Tiffany & Co. 97.5-carat imperial ruby topaz purchased by Florence Higinbotham Crane for the Higinbotham Gem Hall in 1941 set in a rose gold pendant designed and created by Lester Lampert of Lester Lampert, Inc. in 2009 for a Field Museum exhibit. [17]  

 Photographs taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

The “Crane Aquamarine”, a 341-carat faceted gem measuring 60 x 37 x 22 mm purchased from Tiffany & Co. and donated to the Field Museum by Florence Higinbotham Crane in 1941.

 Photograph taken by the author at The Field Museum, April 22, 2021

 Beyond the magnificent gemstones that Mrs. Crane donated to the Field Museum, the family’s philanthropy continued with their focus on advancing the museum’s scientific research. There is an entire hall dedicated to larger American mammals, which in 1942 was named Richard T. Crane Jr. Hall [18], after Mrs. Crane’s husband.  The Cranes’ son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane, funded and donated the use of his yacht “The Illyria”, for the Field Museum’s “Crane Pacific Expedition” which took place in 1928-1929 throughout the Pacific Ocean [19]. The expedition prioritized marine research and enabled many Field Museum scientists and specialists to participate.  In addition, donations were made by Higinbotham’s son, Harlow Davison Higinbotham, who collected art and artifacts in South America for both the World’s Fair and as donations for the Field Museum.

In the current generations, a great-grandson, Harlow Niles Higinbotham, and his wife Susan have also served on the board of trustees and as well as head of fundraising committees and events; their children are seventh-generation Chicagoans who will support the museum and its scientific mission well into the future.

Tiffany & Co, Lady’s “H” Monogrammed Diamond and Gold Lorgnette

Not all Tiffany pieces collected by the Higinbotham-Crane family have been donated to museums; pictured is a diamond-encrusted “H” monogrammed lorgnette from the early 20th century held in a private family collection.

 Courtesy of a Private Collection

 In writing this article, it was imperative to see these gems and gemstones in person and visit and support one of city’s most well-known institutions. A photo simply does not capture the gemstones’ magic radiance and I highly encourage you to do as I did and visit the Tiffany-Higinbotham-Crane exhibit. I personally crave authenticity and cherish craftsmanship in the brands I align with today and these gemstones show the highest level of expertise, in the way they were sourced, assembled, and faceted by Tiffany, and displayed to this day by the museum. They remain incomparable to anything you might find in the market today.

 As I opened with Louis Vuitton, I will close with it. My next article will feature the stories of the Higinbotham-Patterson-Crane family’s and friends’ global travels with their hand-made, expertly crafted, and beloved Louis Vuitton trunks, purchased in Paris as early as the 1880s.

Continue reading →

Candle in the Windy City

BY CORDELIA MESEROW

 

It had been well over a century since the Great Fire left the city in ashes in 1871. But in 1996, Chicago was yet again set ablaze, not by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow (as legend maintains), but by a princess: Diana, Princess of Wales. 

 

Princess Diana arrives at The Drake Hotel with manager, Martin Lawrence.  Image courtesy of The Drake.

Princess Diana arrived in Chicago on June 4, 1996 for a three-day stay organized by Northwestern University. Henry Bienen, the President of Northwestern at the time, spearheaded the visit, with help from Landon Jones, the-then editor-in-chief of People Magazine. Diana was a patron of the Royal Marsden Hospital, a specialty cancer center in London, and the trip focused on fundraising for Royal Marsden, in conjunction with Northwestern’s own cancer research efforts.

By the middle of 1996, Diana had already been formally separated from Prince Charles, and her divorce was to be finalized within months.  A trip to the United States was an excellent public relations opportunity for the princess, as she relaunched herself into society as a single woman.  Former Northwestern President Henry Bienen said in a 2016 article in The Chicago Tribune: “‘I don’t think she wanted another New York visit,’ but somewhere in ‘the center of the country.’” Diana had already been well-received in New York City during her marriage.  A trip to America’s midwestern heartland offered Diana the chance to expand her reach and generate awareness for her charitable causes beyond the coasts.  With an elite research university, a large public hospital, and a significant museum gala, Chicago was an ideal city in which to position Diana for her next chapter — a chapter that proved to be tragically brief.   

 

Princess Diana on the cover of “People” magazine’s June 17, 1996 issue, which heralded her trip to Chicago.  Image courtesy of Amazon.

Fresh from her British Airways flight, Diana went straight to Northwestern’s Evanston campus to tour the school’s sculpture garden and attend an intimate reception at President Bienen’s home.  Crowds in the hundreds greeted Diana upon her arrival in the humble Chicago suburb.  She wore a crisp mint green suit and was driven in a black Rolls-Royce limousine.  (The car is now exhibited at a museum outside of the city at the Volo Auto Museum).  Local Evanston residents and hordes of college students were there to partake in the action, with a level of excitement for a British native not seen since the Beatles arrived state-side to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. 

 

A clipping from The Associated Press’s coverage on Diana’s arrival at Northwestern’s Evanston campus.  Image courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.

Diana had a packed itinerary for her three-day visit.  In addition to the Northwestern Evanston campus visit, the Princess would also give a speech at the university’s downtown law school campus, tour Cook County Hospital, and headline two benefits: a luncheon at The Drake Hotel and a landmark black-tie gala at The Field Museum.  Classic Chicago’s own Judy Bross was lucky enough to be in attendance when Princess Diana gave her speech on breast cancer research at Northwestern’s downtown campus and had the following memories of her visit:

 

“Members of the Women’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital were invited to attend a talk given by Princess Diana in one of the hospital’s large auditoriums on Chicago Avenue. We were told to get there early to sit down front.  I remember being on the same side of the auditorium where her podium was.  She was dressed in a pale blue suit, was very tall and smiled frequently.  She spoke with beautiful diction and obvious sincerity as she talked of compassionate care and her own humanitarian commitments, always about what others had accomplished not focusing on herself. It was not at all a “canned” speak, but one she obviously meant.   What most impressed me was that she then went to the Hospice floor where she allowed no press or photographers to join her.  I was a volunteer at the time there and heard afterwards from the unit’s chaplain that she spent over an hour and visited with each patient there.  That was a time when we had many young patients suffering from HIV-AIDs on the floor, many of them quite young whom their families refused to visit, both men and women.  She talked with everyone in her tender way that made everyone always love her.  I am sure she did this so frequently in her life, not as a photo opportunity, but her graciousness to both patients and staff that day at the Hospice unit will always be a memorial to her kindness.”

 

Diana at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital symposium where she would give a speech.  Image courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.

Judy keenly picked up on the genuine nature of Diana’s words.  It was later noted that the Princess composed her speech herself, a rare occurrence for a public figure of her standing.  How lucky Judy and the other members of the Women’s Board are to have been able to witness such a beautiful and inspiring talk from the Princess and to have glimpsed the impact of Diana’s presence in person.  Chicago’s own Renée Crown, who was instrumental in organizing Diana’s visit, also remarked on Diana’s incredible ability to delight and inspire the public, especially in the midst of a packed schedule.  In a 1997 issue of People magazine after Diana’s death, Crown recalled asking the Princess how she did it – and while Diana admitted that despite that she was “so tired, I could put my head down on the table and fall asleep,” it was “commitment and duty” that motivated her. 

 

Diana arrives at The Field Museum in a purple Versace dress escorted by Northwestern President Henry Bienen.  Image courtesy of Northwestern University.

The Princess’s commitment proved to be unwavering throughout her trip to Chicago, and she shined at an evening gala at The Field Museum during her visit.  A sold-out crowd of 1,300 guests descended upon Chicago’s museum campus on a warm June night to be in the presence of the most famous woman in the world.  Tony Bennett was flown in to sing for the occasion.  The singer noted it was one of the few times in his career that he waived his fee for performing.  Northwestern President, Henry Bienen, escorted the Princess to the event, where she wore a deep purple floor-length gown designed by her dear friend Gianni Versace.  Many noted that Diana’s dress was Northwestern’s signature purple.  Bienen recalled to The Chicago Tribune in 2016 asking Diana if she chose the dress for that reason: “‘I asked her, … ‘Did you wear purple because of Northwestern, or because of royal purple?’ She just laughed. She never answered.”  Royal watchers well know the scrutiny given to any princess’s fashion choice, but Diana was sly enough to never reveal the purpose of her dress that night and leave it to the audience’s imagination. 

 

Diana dances in the crowds of guests at The Field Museum gala. Image courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.

Let us not forget it was the 1990s, and in that decade, Chicago was ruled by the House of Jordan, not the House of Windsor.  (Classic Chicago Magazine detailed Jordan’s influence in an article written this past June by yours truly).  One of the Northwestern revelers who greeted Princess Diana in Evanston held a sign that read: “We love you like we love da Bulls!”, the highest praise anyone could receive from a Chicago resident at the time.  The second night of Diana’s visit brought a conflict between Chicago’s “King” Jordan and Princess Di: the night of the benefit gala at The Field Museum coincided with game one of the NBA finals against the Seattle SuperSonics at the United Center.  Deloris Jordan, Michael’s mother, was supposed to attend the gala at The Field Museum but only stayed for a short time before jetting off to the city’s west side to watch her son beat Seattle.  When Ms. Jordan met the Princess, she presented Diana with a bag of Bulls’ gear to bring home for her sons.  Even though the Bulls won against the SuperSonics that night, former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar conceded to The Associated Press that Diana was the real victor.  She was “the only one who could knock Michael Jordan off the front page” and recalled saying to the Princess that she should tell her sons that she was the one who made it on the Tribune’s front page over Michael the following day. 

 

The fall 1997 collector’s issue of People Magazine issued after Diana’s death.

Diana has always been a presence in my life, yet it is only when I began to write this article that I realized it.  Squeezed among the Latin School of Chicago magnets on the hood of the stove in the apartment where I grew up is a magnet of Princess Diana, Queen of Hearts, wearing the famous “revenge” dress.  On the shelf in my childhood bedroom is an early copy of her infamous 1992 Andrew Morton biography.  I have even kept the memorial copy of People magazine that was issued in the fall of 1997 after her death.  But my most enduring memory of Diana is when my mother took me to see the princess as she departed The Drake Hotel during her Chicago visit.  We walked down to Walton Street just off Michigan Avenue and stood in front of the Palmolive building to see Diana leaving The Drake to get into her car.  She emerged in that mint green skirt suit into her chauffeured Rolls-Royce with her shy sideways smile – the crowd was ecstatic.  Diana rolled down the window and waved to the crowds as her car continued slowly west on Walton Street.  I did not know it then, but it was a moment I would never forget and one for which I would always be grateful to my mother for ensuring I witnessed.  After Diana had driven away, my mother and I walked to Goudy Park, where I told my friends that I had just seen a real-life princess.  They scarcely believed me then, but maybe now they just might! 

 

A memorial Princess Diana magnet I have at home. 

Princess Diana exits The Drake Hotel.  My mother and I are somewhere in the crowd across the street from Diana on Walton Street.  Image courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.

The Drake Hotel continues to honor Diana and her 1996 visit.  The Presidential Suite where she stayed has been rechristened the “Princess Diana Suite.”  Guests can even indulge in the new “Crowning a Lady” package, which allows guests of the Suite to experience it just as Diana did when she was there.  The package includes a stationary bike in the room, the Princess’s favorite mineral water, a bottle of perfume, a bouquet of her favorite flowers, among other items. The package was launched this November, with the recent royal buzz surrounding season four of Netflix’s The Crown. In honor of the hotel’s 100th anniversary this month, the Drake launched a contest for a prized night in the “Diana” suite. The hotel’s general manager, Damien McArdle, remarked in an article on the Drake’s 100th anniversary in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune that Diana was “humble…She was very modest, very friendly, very engaging and a very warm person to the team, from the doormen to room service, to the room attendants.” McArdle’s words are a fitting description of the woman who was often known as “the people’s” princess.

 

The former Presidential Suite at The Drake Hotel, now renamed the Princess Diana Suite.  Image courtesy of The Drake.

By the end of August, the following year after her visit to Chicago, Diana was killed in a fatal car crash in Paris on the Pont de l’Alma.  I studied abroad in Paris in 2012 and lived close to the site where the Queen of Hearts died.  I saw the Flame of Liberty statue on the renamed “Place Diana” every day when I walked to classes, and every day there were bouquets of flowers on the monument that became a tribute to Diana’s memory – fifteen years later and the wounds of Diana’s death remained as fresh as the cut roses lying on the plaque honoring her near the Seine. 

 

The Flame of Liberty Statue on the Pont de l’Alma in Paris, where Diana died in a car accident in 1997.  Image courtesy of The Telegraph UK.

 Elton John sang that Princess Diana was “England’s Rose” in his and Bernie Taupin’s 1997 re-write of, “Candle in the Wind,” which the pair recomposed and John performed at Diana’s funeral.  But Diana was not just a rose to England.  She blew the Windy City away in 1996 and delighted cities and people around the world with her warm presence.  Diana altered the definition about what royalty could be.  She touched hearts because she opened hers and that legacy can never be forgotten.  So, twenty-four years after her visit, Chicago bids adieu to you, dear Princess.  Your candle continues to shine ever-bright. 

 

Elton John performs a revised “Candle in the Wind” at Princess Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in September 1997.  Image courtesy of Associated Press.