"Columbia, oh Columbia. You truly inspire the realm of muggles and spread enlightenment through your gleaming white city"
 ~ Marshal Field, 1893

The city of Chicago was quite the booming in city in 1893. It was a matter of a few years ago that it was announced that it would play host to the Colombian Exposition, a worlds fair to end all fairs. For those who planned and dreamed of it's gleaming walls and massive innovations, it was to be the event of a life time.

Yet, these were the thoughts of the brightest muggles. 

Chicago in 1893 was no place to be a wizard in the open. The city was still recovering from the Great Chicago Fire, and there were those who pointed to blame to a small coven of witches and wizards that lived just outside the city on a rather small farm. Even though history would come to blame their unfortunate cow, it created a divide between muggles and those who openly practiced the art of magic. Many wizards and witches began practicing their craft in secrecy and in the privacy of their own homes. Those who decided to openly decided to preform magic in the open ran the risk of being ran out of town.

There were even rumors of secret lynchings that took place at the dead of night, but these rumors have yet to yield any solid evidence.

However, this fair, this showcase of the worlds many wonders gave one man the chance to unite the city's magical community and form a place where the magically gifted of the country could come, learn, and prosper. 

This man was Marshal Field, and his dream was the Columbia Institute.