# Daniel Hudson Burnham — The Autobiography of an Idea character guide

> Daniel Hudson Burnham in The Autobiography of an Idea by Louis H. Sullivan.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Dan Burnham, Burnham, Daniel Burnham

**First appearance:** 0011-xi-chicago

## Snapshot

A sentimental Swedenborgian with a will of iron, Burnham buttonholes the young Sullivan on a Chicago street and announces he intends to build big things with big men.

## Who they are

Burnham introduces himself in a roadway, absorbed in a rising building, and within an hour he and Louis are calling each other Dan and Louis. He is a dreamer and a mystic who insists romance need not die out, yet he is also a man of fixed determination who wants organization, big business, and big men. His warmth and largeness of presence draw Sullivan in even as his partner Root — 'a wonder, a great artist' — waits in the wings to become the friendship that matters more.

## In the story

### [Retrospect](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_an_idea_se/chapters/xv-retrospect)

Implicitly referenced in the critique of the World's Fair and its architectural influence.

### [Retrospect](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_an_idea_se/chapters/retrospect)

Chief of Construction for the World's Fair; initially apologizes for Western architects but later performs masterfully.

## Links

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