The
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the
Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in
St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1904.
Background
In 1904, St. Louis hosted a major international World's Fair. The Fair celebrated the centennial of the
Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
(1803), one year late. It was delayed from a planned opening in 1903 to 1904, to allow for full-scale participation by more states and foreign countries. The Fair opened April 30, 1904, and closed December 1, 1904. Of notable interest is that St. Louis had held an annual Saint Louis Exposition since the 1880s as agricultural, trade, and scientific exhibitions, but this event was not held in 1904, due to the World's Fair.
The Fair's 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) site, designed by
George KesslerGeorge Edward Kessler was a German American pioneer city planner and landscape architect.Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 communities, 26 park and boulevard systems, 49 parks, 46 estates & residents, and 26 schools...
, was located at the present-day grounds of
Forest ParkForest Park is a public park located in western part of the city of St. Louis, Missouri. It is a prominent civic center and covers . The park, which opened in 1876 more than a decade after its proposal, has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and...
and on the campus of
Washington UniversityWashington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, and was the largest fair to date. There were over 1,500 buildings, connected by some 75 miles (120 km) of roads and walkways. It was said to be impossible to give even a hurried glance at everything in less than a week. The Palace of Agriculture alone covered some 20 acres (324,000 m²).
Exhibits were staged by 62 foreign nations, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government, and 43 of the then-45
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s. These featured industries, cities, private organizations and corporations, theater troupes, and music schools. There were also over 50 concession-type amusements found on "The Pike"; they provided educational and scientific displays, exhibits and imaginary 'travel' to distant lands, history and local boosterism (including
Louis Wollbrinckright|Louis Wollbrinck, from the 1905 History of the Louisiana Purchase ExpositionLouis Wollbrinck was a civil servant, entrepreneur and builder in St. Louis, Missouri during the Gilded Age....
's "Old St. Louis") and pure entertainment.
19,694,855 individuals were in attendance at the fair.
http://www.youngsaintlouis.com/archive/December2004/text/kids/stlhistory.html
Architects
Kessler, who designed many urban parks in Texas and the Midwest, created the master design for the Fair.
A popular myth says that
Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
, who had died the year before the Fair, designed the park and fair grounds. There are several reasons for this confusion. First, Kessler in his twenties had worked briefly for Olmsted as a
Central ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
gardener. Second, Olmsted was involved with
Forest Park in QueensForest Park is a park in the New York City borough of Queens. It has an area of 538 acres . The park is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.-History:...
, New York. Third, Olmsted had planned the renovations in 1897 to the
Missouri Botanical GardenThe Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist.-History:...
several blocks to the southeast of the park. Finally, Olmsted's sons advised
Washington UniversityWashington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
on integrating the campus with the park across the street.
In 1901 Exposition selected
Emmanuel Louis MasquerayEmmanuel Louis Masqueray was a Franco-American preeminent figure in the history of American architecture, both as a gifted designer of landmark buildings and as an influential teacher of the profession of architecture.-Biography:...
to be Chief of Design of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. In the position for three years, Masqueray designed the following Fair buildings: Palace of Agriculture, the Cascades and Colonnades, Palace of Forestry, Fish, and Game, Palace of Horticulture and Palace of Transportation, all of which were widely emulated in civic projects across the United States as part of the
City Beautiful movementThe City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...
. Masqueray resigned shortly after the Fair opened in 1904, having been invited by Archbishop
John IrelandJohn Ireland may refer to:* John Ireland , Anglican priest and philanthropist* John Ireland , American politician...
of St. Paul, Minnesota to design a new cathedral for the city.[4]
Buildings
As with the
World's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1893, all but one of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition's grand, neo-Classical exhibition palaces were temporary structures, designed to last but a year or two. They were built with a material called "
staffStaff is a kind of artificial stone used for covering and ornamenting buildings.Staff is chiefly made of powdered gypsum or plaster of Paris, with a little cement, glycerin, and dextrin, mixed with water until it is about as thick as molasses, when staff is cast in molds it can form any shape...
," a mixture of
plaster of ParisPlaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
and
hempHemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
fibers, on a wood frame. As at the Chicago world's fair, buildings and statues deteriorated during the months of the Fair, and had to be patched.
The Palace of Fine Art, designed by architect
Cass Gilbert- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
, featured a grand interior sculpture court based on the Roman
Baths of CaracallaThe Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
. Standing at the top of Art Hill, it now serves as the home of the
St. Louis Art MuseumThe Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free through a subsidy from the cultural tax district for St. Louis City and County.Located in Forest Park in St...
.
The Administration Building, designed by
Cope & StewardsonCope & Stewardson was an architecture firm best known for its academic building and campus designs. The firm is often regarded as a Master of the Collegiate Gothic style. Walter Cope and John Stewardson established the firm in 1885, and were later joined by Emlyn Stewardson in 1887...
, is now
Brookings HallBrookings Hall is a Collegiate Gothic landmark on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The building, first named "University Hall", was built between 1900 and 1902 and served as the administrative center for the 1904 World's Fair...
, the defining landmark on the campus of
Washington UniversityWashington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
. A similar building was erected at
Northwest Missouri State UniversityNorthwest Missouri State University is a state university in Maryville, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, it offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. The campus, based on the design for Forest Park at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, is the official Missouri State Arboretum....
founded in 1905 in
Maryville, MissouriMaryville is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,581 at the 2000 census. The town, organized on February 14, 1845, was named for Mrs. Mary Graham, wife of Amos Graham, then the county clerk. Mary was the first Caucasian woman to have lived within the boundaries...
. The grounds layout was also recreated in Maryville and now is designated as the official Missouri State Arboretum.
Some of the mansions from the Exposition's era survive along Lindell Boulevard at the north border of Forest Park.
The huge bird cage at the
Saint Louis Zoological ParkThe Saint Louis Zoological Park, commonly known as the St. Louis Zoo, is a zoo in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education...
, dates to the fair.
Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
's iconic
cast ironCast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
Vulcan statueThe Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana...
was first exhibited at the Fair in the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy.
The Missouri State building was the largest of the state buildings, as Missouri was the host state. Though it had sections with marble floors and heating and air conditioning, it was planned to be a temporary structure. However, it burned the night of November 18–19, just eleven days before the Fair was to end. Most of the interior was destroyed, but some of the contents were rescued without damage, including some furniture and much of the contents of the fair's Model Library. Since the fair was almost over, the building was not rebuilt. After the fair, the current World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park was built on the site of the Missouri building with profits from the fair in 1909-10.
Festival Hall contained the largest organ in the world at the time, built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company. After the fair, it was placed into storage, and eventually purchased by
John WanamakerJohn Wanamaker was a United States merchant, religious leader, civic and political figure, considered by some to be the father of modern advertising and a "pioneer in marketing." Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:He was born on July 11, 1838.He opened his first store in...
for his new
Wanamaker'sWanamaker's department store was the first department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the first department stores in the United States. At its zenith in the early 20th century, there were two major Wanamaker department stores, one in Philadelphia and one in New York City at Broadway...
store in Philadelphia. See
Wanamaker OrganThe Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest operational pipe organ in the world, located within a spacious 7-story court at Macy's Center City . The largest organ by some measures is the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ...
for more details. The famous Bronze Eagle in the Wanamaker Store also came from the Fair. It features hundreds of hand-forged bronze feathers and was the centerpiece of one of the many German exhibits at the fair. Wanamakers became a Lord & Taylor store, and more recently a Macy's store.
Completed in 1913, the Jefferson Memorial building was built near the main entrance to the Exposition, at Lindell and DeBalivere. It was built with proceeds from the fair, to commemorate
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, who initiated the Louisiana Purchase, as was the first memorial to the third President. It became the headquarters of the
Missouri History MuseumThe Missouri History Museum is located in St. Louis, Missouri in Forest Park. The museum is operated by the Missouri Historical Society and was founded in 1866...
, and stored the Exposition's records and archives when the Louisiana Purchase Exposition company completed its mission. The building is now home to the
Missouri History MuseumThe Missouri History Museum is located in St. Louis, Missouri in Forest Park. The museum is operated by the Missouri Historical Society and was founded in 1866...
, and the museum was significantly expanded in 2002-3.
The
State of Maine BuildingMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, which was a rustic cabin, was transported to
Point Lookout, MissouriPoint Lookout is an unincorporated community in Taney County, Missouri, United States, near Branson and Hollister. A college town, it is next to Lake Taneycomo and is home to the College of the Ozarks. College of the Ozarks hosts the NAIA Division II basketball tournament annually.Point Lookout is...
where it overlooked the
White RiverThe White River is a 722-mile long river that flows through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Missouri.-Course:The source of the White River is in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas, in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest southeast of Fayetteville...
by sportsmen who formed the Maine Hunting and Fishing Club. In 1915 when the main building at the
College of the OzarksCollege of the Ozarks is a private, Christian liberal-arts college, with its campus at Point Lookout near Branson and Hollister, Missouri, United States. It is south of Springfield on a campus, overlooking Lake Taneycomo...
in
Forsyth, MissouriForsyth is a city in Taney County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,686 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Taney County. The town is part of the Branson, Missouri Micropolitan Statistical Area-Geography:...
burned. The school then relocated to Point Lookout where the Maine building was renamed the Dobyns Building in honor of a school president. The Dobyns Building burned in 1930 and the college's signature church was built in its place. In 2004, a replica of the Maine building was built on the campus. The Keeter Center is named for another school president.
Introduction of new foods
A number of foods are claimed to have been invented at the fair. The most popular claim is that the waffle-style
ice cream coneAn ice cream cone, poke or cornet is a dry, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, allowing ice cream to be eaten without a bowl or spoon...
was invented and first sold during the fair. However, it is widely believed that it was not invented at the Fair, but instead, it was popularized at the Fair. Other claims are more dubious, including the
hamburgerA hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
and
hot dogA hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
(both traditional
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
foods),
peanut butterPeanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
,
iced teaIced tea is a form of cold tea, often served in a glass with ice. It may or may not be sweetened. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink. It can be mixed with flavored syrup, with common flavors including lemon, peach, raspberry, lime, passion fruit, and cherry...
, and
cotton candyCotton candy , candy floss or candyfloss or candy buttox , or fairy floss is a form of spun sugar. Since cotton candy is mostly air, a small initial quantity of sugar generates a tremendously greater final volume, causing servings to be physically large and voluminous...
. It is more likely, however, that these food items were first introduced to mass audiences and popularized by the fair. Dr Pepper and Puffed Wheat cereal were first introduced to a national audience at the fair.
Influence on popular music
The fair inspired the song "
Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis"Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis", better known as just "Meet Me in St. Louis", is a popular song from 1904 which celebrated the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, i.e., the St. Louis World's Fair. The words were by Andrew B. Sterling; the music, by Kerry Mills. The song was published in 1904 in New York...
", which was recorded by many artists, including
Billy MurrayWilliam Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
. Both the fair and the song are focal points of the 1944 feature film
Meet Me in St. LouisMeet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 musical film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904...
starring
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, which also inspired a
Broadway musical versionMeet Me in St. Louis is a musical based on the 1944 film of the same title, about a family living in St. Louis, Missouri on the eve of the 1904 World's Fair....
.
People on display
Following the Spanish–American War, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
acquired new territories such as
GuamGuam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, and
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Some natives from these areas were brought to be on "display" at the fair. Such displays included the
ApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
of the American Southwest and the
IgorotCordillerans are the people of the Cordillera region, in the Philippines island of Luzon. The word, Igorot is a misnomer term invented by the Spaniards in mockery against the Nortnern Luzon tribes. The word ‘Igorot’ also as coined and applied by the Spaniards means a savage, head-hunting and...
of the Philippines, both of which peoples were dubbed as "primitive".
In contrast, the Japan pavilion advanced the idea of a modern yet exotic culture unfamiliar to the turn-of-the-century Western world, much as it had during the earlier Chicago World's Fair.
Ota BengaOta Benga was a Congolese Mbuti pygmy known for being featured in a controversial human zoo exhibit at New York City's Bronx Zoo in 1906. Benga came to the United States through the action of businessman and missionary Samuel Phillips Verner...
, a Congolese Pygmy, was featured at the fair. Later he was given the run of the grounds at the
Bronx ZooThe Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
in New York, then featured in an exhibit on evolution alongside an
orangutanOrangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
in 1906, but public protest ended that.
Exhibits
After the fair was completed, many of the international exhibits were not returned to their country of origin, but were dispersed to museums in the United States. For example, the Philippine exhibits were acquired by the
Museum of Natural HistoryThe University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, founded in 1858, is a museum on the University of Iowa campus at Iowa City, Iowa. The museum is known for its extensive collection of birds, mammals, and Native American artifacts...
at the
University of IowaThe University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. The great organ in Festival Hall eventually became the nucleus of the
Wanamaker OrganThe Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest operational pipe organ in the world, located within a spacious 7-story court at Macy's Center City . The largest organ by some measures is the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ...
in
John WanamakerJohn Wanamaker was a United States merchant, religious leader, civic and political figure, considered by some to be the father of modern advertising and a "pioneer in marketing." Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:He was born on July 11, 1838.He opened his first store in...
's palatial Philadelphia department store, where a famous bronze eagle from the German exhibits is also displayed in the Grand Court. The
Vulcan statueThe Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana...
is today a prominent feature of the Vulcan Park and Museum in
Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, where it was originally cast.
The
Smithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
coordinated the U.S. government exhibits. It featured a blue whale, the first full-cast of a
blue whaleThe blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
ever created.
1904 Summer Olympics
The Fair hosted the
1904 Summer Olympic GamesThe 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States from 1 July 1904, to November 23, 1904, at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University...
, the first Olympics held in the United States. These games had originally been awarded to Chicago, but when St. Louis threatened to hold a rival international competition, the games were relocated. Nonetheless, the sporting events, spread out over several months, were overshadowed by the Fair. With travel expenses high, many European athletes did not come, nor did modern Olympics founder Baron
Pierre de CoubertinPierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French educationalist and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games...
.
Anglo-Boer War Concession
Frank Fillis produced what was supposedly "the greatest and most realistic military spectacle known in the history of the world". Different portions of the concession featured a British Army encampment, several South African native villages (including Zulu,
BushmenThe indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
, Swazi, and Ndebele) and a 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) arena in which soldiers paraded, sporting events and horse races were held and major battles from the
Second Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
were re-enacted twice a day. Battle recreations took 2–3 hours and included several Generals and 600 veteran soldiers from both sides of the war. At the conclusion of the show, the
BoerBoer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
General
Christiaan de WetChristiaan Rudolf de Wet was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician.He was born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State...
would escape on horseback by leaping from a height of 35 feet (10.7 m) into a pool of water.
Admission ranged from 25 cents for bleacher seats to $1.00 for box seats, and admission to the villages was another 25 cents. The concession cost $48,000 to construct, grossed over $630,000, and netted about $113,000 to the Fair—the highest grossing military concession of the Fair.
Notable visitors
Notable attendees included
John Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
, whose band performed on opening day and several times during the fair.
Thomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
is claimed to have attended. President
Theodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
opened the fair via
telegraphTelegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
, but did not attend personally until after his re-election in November 1904, as he claimed he did not want to use the fair for political purposes.
RagtimeRagtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
music was popularly featured at the Fair.
Scott JoplinScott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...
wrote "The Cascades" specifically for the fair, inspired by the waterfalls at the Grand Basin, and presumably attended the fair.
Helen KellerHelen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
, who was twenty-four and graduated from
Radcliffe CollegeRadcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
, gave a lecture in the main auditorium.
J.T. Stinson, a well-regarded fruit specialist, introduced the phrase, "An
appleThe apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
a day keeps the doctor away" (at a lecture during the exhibition).
The famous French organist
Alexandre GuilmantFélix-Alexandre Guilmant was a French organist and composer.- Short biography :Guilmant was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer...
played a series of 40 recitals, from memory, on the great organ in Festival Hall, then the largest
pipe organThe pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
in the world.
GeronimoGeronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
, the famous former
war chiefWar chief can refer to* Warlord* Tribal chief during wartime, particularly among Native Americans...
of the
ApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
, was "on display" in a teepee in the Ethnology Exhibit.
Henri PoincaréJules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science...
gave a keynote address on
mathematical physicsMathematical physics refers to development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The Journal of Mathematical Physics defines this area as: "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of mathematical methods suitable for such applications and...
, including what eventually became known as
special relativitySpecial relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
.
See also
- Saint Louis Exposition (1884)
The Saint Louis Exposition or St. Louis Expo was a series of annual agricultural and technical fairs held in St. Louis' Fairgrounds Park, from the 1850s to 1902. In 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, a major World's Fair, was held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The annual...
- Ota Benga
Ota Benga was a Congolese Mbuti pygmy known for being featured in a controversial human zoo exhibit at New York City's Bronx Zoo in 1906. Benga came to the United States through the action of businessman and missionary Samuel Phillips Verner...
, Congolese man put on display in the Bronx ZooHuman zoos were 19th- and 20th-century public exhibits of humans, usually in a so-called natural or primitive state. The displays often emphasized the cultural differences between Europeans of Western civilisation and non-European peoples...
- Human zoo
Human zoos were 19th- and 20th-century public exhibits of humans, usually in a so-called natural or primitive state. The displays often emphasized the cultural differences between Europeans of Western civilisation and non-European peoples...
- Forest Park
Forest Park is a public park located in western part of the city of St. Louis, Missouri. It is a prominent civic center and covers . The park, which opened in 1876 more than a decade after its proposal, has hosted several significant events, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 and...
- St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
- Meet Me In St. Louis
Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 musical film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904...
- University City, Missouri
University City is an inner-ring suburb in St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 35,371 in 2010 census. The city was shaped by Washington University in St. Louis, whose campus abuts the city to the southeast....
- Central West End, St. Louis
The Central West End is an affluent neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri, stretching from Midtown's western edge to Union Boulevard and bordering on Forest Park with its outstanding array of free cultural institutions. It includes the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis on Lindell Boulevard at...
- World's Largest Cedar Bucket
The World's Largest Cedar Bucket is a red cedar bucket. The bucket is approximately tall, has a diameter at its base and at its top.-History:The bucket was built in 1887 by the Tennessee Red Cedar Woodenworks Company from Murfreesboro, Tennessee...
- Pyreliophorus
The Pyreliophorus was a device created by the Portuguese priest Manuel António Gomes, also known as padre Himalaya, whose objective was to melt many different types of materials using solar energy. The device used several reflecting mirrors to concentrate the sunlight into a common point...
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