World's Parliment of Religions

The World's Parliment of Religions appeared on the world stage in Chicago due to the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, an early world's fair. Over 200 smaller conferences of Congresses and Parliments took advantage of the unprecendented gathering of people from 46 nations of the world; the fair drew 26 million visiters. Some of these conferences gathering under the umbrella of opportunity included a major anthropology Exposition, as well as meetings regarding topics such as labor, medicine, temperance, commerce, finance, literature, history, art, philosophy, and science. The World's Parliament of Religions was one of these meeting and it held the largest congress in conjunction with the 1893 Chicago Expo. The first Chairman was Rev. Dr. John Henry Barrows, who was appointed to administer the General Committee by Charles Carroll Bonney, President of the World's Congress at the 1983 World Columbian Exposition .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_World's_Religions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Barrows

Self culture - Volume 8 - Page 111 - Google Books Result

The wikipedia page for Exposition is really a worthwhile visit! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Columbian_Exposition