Centennial Exhibition -- Philadelphia 1876

In 1876, the United States celebrated its 100th birthday with a Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. This site, presented by The Free Library of Philadelphia and funded by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, presents more than 1500 digitized images of silver albumen photographs related to the Exhibition. The site is divided into four broad categories. ¨Exhibition Facts" contains a wide variety of statistics and brief (250-word) explanations of aspects like the Fair's organization, attendance, costs to visitors, transportation, food, grounds, and management. This section features photographs of buildings erected by participating foreign nations, images of the Library's Centennial Sheet Music Collection, and various other Fair attractions. Addressing the economic and cultural significance of the Fair, the site provides eight quotes about the Fair from public figures and contemporary writers, as well as a bibliography of more than 150 related scholarly works. A timeline traces the Fair's creation from the 1871 Act of Congress that created the U.S. Centennial Commission to plan the Philadelphia exhibition, to the removal of the exhibits in December 1876. In the Tours section visitors can click on sections of an interactive map of the fair grounds to find details and photographs of buildings and spaces in the Centennial Exhibition. The ¨Centennial Schoolhouse offers activities for students and teachers, including excerpts from a 17-year-old boy's diary about his visit to the Fair, a list of five children's books about the Fair published in 1876, and three newer children's books on the Fair. There are also ideas about how history, art, English, and world language teachers can use the site in their classrooms. Visitors can search the site by keyword or subject. This site is ideal for exploring the nationˆs first Worldˆs Fair and United States cultural history in general.