Pitch

In 1893, the city of Chicago unearthed the White City, the center of the World’s Fair constructed by architect Daniel Burnham. It was a paradise for American visitors, who were besieged and worried by financial troubles, work strikes and labor upheavals, and shifting values in society. There was no crime in the White City, no homeless. Or at least that’s what we thought.

         A recent document found in the Chicago Archives details how James Buford, a drifter of renown and a fugitive wanted for vagrancy, successfully lived in the White City for its entire 6 months of operation. It is written in the first person, and the loopy handwriting, when compared to Buford’s arrest records, suggests that he wrote it himself. It is heavily detailed, including what he found there, how he lived, who he associated with, but whether this is fact or fiction depends on the mindset of the reader…