By the fair's close, Tracy had received several silver and bronze medals and a diploma from the World's Columbian Commission for her elevator models.
By the close of the World's Columbian Exposition on October 30, 1893, Harriet Tracy had been awarded several silver and bronze medals along with a formal diploma from the World's Columbian Commission, in recognition of her passenger-elevator models displayed at the fair. This recognition placed her mechanical innovations alongside the most celebrated industrial and scientific exhibits of the exposition.
The World's Columbian Commission's medal system was a rigorous and prestigious form of recognition, awarded following expert evaluation of exhibits across categories including mechanical arts, manufacturing, and engineering. For Tracy to receive multiple medals for her elevator designs signals that her safety innovations were judged on their genuine technical merit by contemporary experts, not merely showcased as a novelty because of her gender.
This award represents one of the clearest formal, institutional acknowledgments of Tracy's engineering achievements during her lifetime. In an era when women were rarely permitted entry into formal engineering societies or industrial competitions, receiving recognition from the World's Columbian Commission underscored the legitimacy and quality of her elevator safety work, cementing her reputation as one of the era's most accomplished woman inventors.