Bibliography for Selected Documents for
Study of the World’s Fairs of 1876, 1893, 1901 and 1904
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collection of documents can help students understand the cultural
impact and significance of the World’s Fairs by setting
the Fairs’ historical background and revealing how individuals
saw the fairs and how the public as a whole responded to them.
They help show the American historical background of the Fairs
through the Declaration of Independence, Louisiana Purchase,
Thomas Edison’s patent application for the light bulb,
the Supreme Court Decision on Plessy vs. Ferguson (which approved
the notion of separate but equal facilities), and an excerpt
from President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1904 message to
Congress in which he announced what has become known as the
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, advocating American
imperialism. These five documents may be printed out from
ourdocuments.gov, an online collection of 100 seminal documents
from American History and guides to teaching about them.
The many articles from magazines contemporary with the Fairs
provide a window into the social and intellectual setting
of the Fairs and into the Fairs’ evolution through the
quarter century studied here, giving students a first hand
view of how people at the time of the Fairs viewed the events.
Web sites
The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920. dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam
Ohio Historical Society, 1998. This site has documents relating
to African-Americans in Ohio through the second half of the
19th century and first part of the twentieth. Some of these
are newspaper and journal articles addressing broader topics
in America, such as the World’s Fairs.
The Afro-American Almanac.
www.toptags/aama/index.html
The Digital Development Group, 2001. This is an extensive
collection of documents and essays relating to blacks and
race relations in the United States. It has an interesting
essay about the prevalence of Jim Crow laws during the period
of the fairs.
“Doing the Pan…”
panam1901.bfn.org
This site has a self-guided tour of the 1901 Pan-American
Exposition in Buffalo, along with documents from and about
the fair itself.
Illuminations: Revisiting the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition
of 1901.
ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/index.html
The Libraries, University at Buffalo, 2001-2003. This site
has stories, documents, images, and essays from and about
various aspects of the 1901 Fair.
Making of America.
cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/
Cornell University Library, 1999.
Making of America.
http://moa.umdl.umich.edu/
MOA, 1996 and 2001. These are websites with thousands of documents
from the period between 1815 and 1926, with both page images
and text. Magazines such as Atlantic Monthly, The Century,
and many others are included.
Our Documents.
www.ourdocuments.gov
National Archives and Records Administration. This site contains
one hundred seminal documents in United States history, as
well as teaching plans about how to design courses around
them.
Sklar, Kathryn Kish and Erin Shaughnessy. Women and Social
Movements in the United States, 1775-2000.
www.womhist.binghamtom.edu/ibw/intro.html
State University of New York at Binghamton, 1997. This site
has a discussion of the racial issues at the Chicago Fair,
along with many documents relevant to the discussion.
Zwick, Jim ed. BoondocksNet.com.
www.boondocksnet.com
Jim Zwick, 1995-2003. This site is dedicated to anti-imperialism,
and has an extensive section on the World’s Fairs. It has
the text of journal articles and speeches, as well as links
to page images of many articles. A very valuable site for
finding documents.
Background Documents
United States Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
Text and page image printed from Our Documents.
This is the document in which the U.S. claimed independence
from the British Empire, creating the United States of America.
Louisiana Purchase Cession Treaty and Two Conventions, 1803.
Text and page images printed from Our Documents.
In this treaty, the U.S. acquired the whole French territory
of Louisiana, beginning the American drive westward.
Thomas Edison’s Patent Application for the Light Bulb,
1879.
Text and page images printed from Our Documents.
Edison and the light bulb are symbolic of American material
and technological progress in the last two centuries.
Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court Decision, May 19, 1896.
Text and page image printed from Our Documents.
In this landmark decision (overturned more than half a century
later), the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation
constitutional as long as facilities are equal for all races.
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: Excerpt from Theodore
Roosevelt’s Message to Congress on December 6, 1904.
Text and page images printed from Our Documents.
In this speech, Roosevelt announced his desire to expand the
American empire to help civilize the world and strengthen
the American economy.
Articles from the 1876 Fair
“The Centennial Exhibition.” The Manufacturer
and Builder, January 1876.
Page image and text printed from Making of America,
Cornell.
This editorial expects the 1876 Fair in Philadelphia to create
American collective pride in “what will undoubtedly
be one of the grandest events in the history of this country.”
“The Centennial Celebration.” The Nation,
July 1876.
Text printed from BoondocksNet.com.
This very interesting editorial discusses the role of the
American government in making “valuable additions to
the art of living in society.”
Mitchell, Donald G. “In and About the Fair, First Look:
Picturesque Aspects.” Scribner’s Monthly,
September 1876.
Page images printed from Making of America, Cornell.
This article addresses the many exhibits at the Fair. It is
very interesting because it provides insight into how contemporaries
saw the Fair itself.
“Characteristics of the International Fair.” Atlantic
Monthly, July 1876.
Page images printed from Making of America, Cornell.
This article reveals an outlook on society and underlying
assumptions about everyday life that may seem unusual to modern
students.
Articles from the 1893 Fair
“Topics of the Times: What the Columbian Exhibition
Will Do for America.” The Century, October 1892.
Page images printed from Making of America, Cornell.
This is a look at the role of American art; it reveals the
evolving feelings many Americans shared about their place
in the world.
“A City of Realized Dreams.” Catholic World,
July 1893.
Page images printed from Making of America, Cornell.
This discusses art, American ideals and the magnificence of
the White City. It is an interesting view on the country.
Wells, Ida B. and Frederick Douglass. The Reason Why the
Colored American is not in the World’s Columbian Exposition.
1893.
Text printed from Women and Social Movements in the United
States.
These chapters open the pamphlet circulated at the Columbian
Exposition. They show how many African-Americans viewed America.
Burnham, Daniel. “White City and Capital City.”
The Century Magazine, February 1902.
Text printed from BoondocksNet.com.
Daniel Burnham, the chief architect of Chicago’s White
City, discusses the impact the Chicago Fair’s design
had on the planning of cities throughout the country.
Barrows, John Henry D.D. “The World’s First Parliament
of Religions, in September 1893, at Chicago.” American
Review of Reviews, April 1893.
Text printed from BoondocksNet.com.
This article extols the virtues of creating a parliament of
religions, which the author says has never been held before.
It then proceeds to focus almost exclusively on the different
types of Christianity and what the gathering can do for Christians.
This view on pluralism is very different from those of today.
Van Brunt, Henry. “The Columbian Exposition and American
Civilization.” Atlantic Monthly, May 1893.
Text printed from Making of America, Cornell.
Van Brunt argues that the Columbian Exposition will be a magnificent
display unlike any before and will awaken American desire
to improve in all walks of life.
Articles from the 1901 Fair
Chapple, Joe Mitchell. “Personal Impressions of the
Pan-American Exposition.” National Magazine,
an Illustrated American Monthly, July 1901.
Page images printed from Illuminations.
In his observations on the Fair, Chapple claims that the Pan-American
Exposition “is a composite study of American life, such
as can never be enjoyed elsewhere” and that “it
is the unity of spirit and keen observance of other that has
goven America pre-eminence in the industrial and commercial
world.”
McKinley, William. William McKinley’s Pan American
Address. Bensley and Wesley Printers, 1901.
Page images printed from Illuminations.
On the day he was shot, McKinley spoke of America’s
pride in her accomplishments, claiming that “expositions
are the timekeepers of progress.”
White, Eugene Richard. “Aspects of the Pan-American
Experience.” Atlantic Monthly, July 1901.
Page images printed from Making of America, Cornell.
This is an interesting article about the enormity of entertainment
and the midway in the Fair. It suggests that the whole fair
is an allegory for the country. Some concerns raised about
American tendencies will reveal much about the nature of American
society at the time.
The Pan-American Herald. The Pan-American Herald Co.,
August 15, 1899.
Page images printed from Illuminations.
This is an issue of the Official Publication of the Pan-American
fair, published nearly a year and a half before the Fair opened.
It includes discussions of several forthcoming exhibits as
well as many interesting advertisements.
Articles from the 1904 Fair
“World’s Fair: Discrimination Against the Race
Having a Natural Effect.” The Cleveland Gazette,
July 30, 1904.
Page images printed from The African-American Experience
in Ohio.
This article talks briefly about the poor treatment of African
Americans at the 1904 Fair.
McGee, W. J. “Strange Races of Men.” The World’s
Work, August 1904.
Text printed from BoondocksNet.com.
McGee claims that “the course of human progress may
be traced in a general way from the ethnic and cultural types
assembled on the grounds,” and he describes how some
of the foreign exhibits fit into “human progress.”
“Theodore Roosevelt’s Address at the Dedication
Ceremonies of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, April 30,
1903.” Addresses and Presidential Messages of Theodore
Roosevelt, 1902-1904. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons,
1904.
Text printed from BoondocksNet.com.
Roosevelt describes American expansion over the previous century,
declaring that the history of westward expansion “showed
the practical governmental genius of our race.”
Meiklejohn, Bernard. “A New Epoch in the Use of Power.”
The World’s Work, August 1904.
Text printed from BoondocksNet.com.
This article discusses with awe and amazement the new technologies
shown at the fair, and claims that they will revolutionize
industry.
Walker, John Brisben. “Athletics and Health: The Department
of Physical Culture.” Cosmopolitan, September
1904.
Text printed from BoondocksNet.com.
This article addresses the changes Americans made since the
1893 Exposition in how they viewed athletics. “What
is needed is not violent competition for the few” claims
Walker “but constant, steady development for all.”
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