This Guide is intended for students in Dr. Manuela Di Franco's ITA199 Italian Fascism and Global Responses: The Dark Side of Italianità in the Fall 2021 term.
Interior view of the Italian Pavilion at the Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago 1933-34.
Notes from the repository: "The Pavilion was designed to resemble a giant airplane to celebrate Italo Balbo's 1933 transatlantic flight that ended at the Century of Progress. Balbo was an Italian fascist, a leader of the Blackshirts, and one of Benito Mussolini's government officials. The front of the building sported a design that resembled the bundled fasces, an ancient symbol of the Roman Republic that was adopted by Italian and German fascists in the 20th century. Seen here is a general view of the Pavilion's auditorium."
Credit: COP_17_020a_00000_004. Century of Progress records, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago Library.