The World’s Fair of 1901, alternatively called the Pan-American Exposition of that same year, took place in Buffalo, New York. An ostensible attraction of the event was meant to show the progress of civilization in the Western Hemisphere that had occurred in the 1800s. The book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair by Margaret Creighton highlights ways that this fair was something else altogether.
(Margaret Creighton wrote The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair. The 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo is discussed in the book).
Among many things with the fair, the fact that United States President William McKinley was fatally shot by Leon Czolgosz. Theodore Roosevelt would take the presidential oath of office in succession of McKinley at the Ansley Wilcox House in Buffalo eight days after McKinley was initially shot. While the change in presidential power overshadowed much of the memory of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, Creighton points out in The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City that the assassination may have worsened the losses of the fair yet was not the primary reason for that loss.
(A photograph of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. The exposition is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).
The proximity of Buffalo to Niagara Falls was a natural tourism draw that bolstered the case for investing in the city for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. The access to railroads, the existence and partial creation of state-of-the-art architecture and asphalt streets, and finally magnificent electric lights powered by Niagara Falls helped Buffalo economic and political leaders to see that being the eighth-biggest U.S. city at the turn of the 20th century was indeed a reason for the city to invest in the fair. An unrealized ambition for the fair was to help Buffalo to supplant Cleveland, Ohio as an economic hub while upstaging Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 from Chicago, Illinois eight-years earlier.
(Martha WagenFuhrer successfully riding the rapids and whirlpool of Niagara Falls sealed in a barrel called ‘Maid of the Rapids’ is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).
The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City tells a story “about arrogance, all about unjust power, all about the belief in American exceptionalism. Those are themes that are resonant today, obviously.” The book tells … a [further] “narrative about those who resisted and attempted to subvert that power and that arrogance. For example, Native Americans and African Americans challenged demeaning representations on the fairgrounds in creative ways.” A self-proclaimed Animal King, Frank Bostock, is given much attention for inhumane treatment of people and animals, including Alice Cenda, aka Chicquita as well as an attempted electrocution of an elephant.
(The fate of Alice Cenda, aka Chicquita is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).
Much of The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City involves the efforts to put on the fair, which. Despite some of the shocking things that the fair did to attract folks, when considering for the fact that Buffalo was largely working class in 1901, that seven day work weeks were normal in 1901, and the lack of regional support, Pan-American Exposition stockholders along with the city of Buffalo lost money in putting on this world fair. The federal government ultimately eased the financial pain of many who invested in the fair.
(The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine captured this drawing from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo called The Court of Fountain, From the Plaza. The exposition is discussed in Margaret Creighton‘s book The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair).
The notion of amusement parks, world fairs, and true life intrigue and criminality that sometimes associates with such places or events are interesting to me. I rate The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World’s Fair by Margaret Creighton at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
Matt – Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Matt Lynn Digital 