The Adler Planetarium, the first planetarium in the western hemisphere, opened to the public on May 12, 1930. Chicago business leader Max Adler contributed funds for the museum’s construction, the Zeiss planetarium projector, and the Mensing Collection of astronomical instruments. Adler dedicated the institution as a “classroom under the heavens” for popular astronomy education. 

At the time of this photograph, during the Century of Progress World’s Fair, the Adler’s total attendance for the two-year period was more than 1.2 million people.