The past is present : historical representation at the sesquicentennial international exposition / Calista K. Cleary.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Cleary, Calista K.

Contributor:

De Long, David Gilson, 1939- advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--American civilization.

American civilization--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--American civilization.

American civilization--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

xiii, 406 pages : illustrations ; 29 cm

Production:

1999.

Summary:

From May to November of 1926, Philadelphia held the Sesquicentennial International Exposition, a world's fair celebrating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. While the fair's promoters advertised the Sesquicentennial as a commemoration of the past and while much of the fair was built in the Colonial-Revival style, the fair offered a forum in which Philadelphians confronted some of the most pressing issues of the early twentieth century: urbanization, consumerism, the changing role of women, immigration, racism, racial diversity and mass culture. Even though the fair's organizers touted peace, the event proved to be battleground, an arena in which numerous interests fought to control the depiction of the past in order to control the shape of the future. Portrayals of history at the Sesquicentennial became a metaphor, a means for numerous groups to grapple with the upheavals affecting modern America. This dissertation examines the ways in which groups including politicians, middle-class white women, corporations, civic and fraternal organizations, immigrants, and African Americans, deployed particular visions of the past at the Sesquicentennial in order to shape the future and their place in it. Even as the fair's planners debated the nature and location of Philadelphia's historic celebration, they argued not so much about the past, as they did about the shape of the city's urban development in the twentieth century. Corporations and white women used Colonial Revival representations to accommodate fairgoers to two threatening twentieth-century changes: the burgeoning consumer culture and the changing role of women. Amidst the growing racial and ethnic diversity of 1920s Philadelphia, white native-born Protestants used historical representations at the fair as a means to reassert their contested cultural and social dominance. Immigrants and second- and third-generation Americans portrayed their ancestors' roles in American history at the Sesquicentennial to secure better citizenship and treatment in 1920s Philadelphia. Finally, by demonstrating through speeches, pageants, and exhibits their invaluable contributions to American history, African Americans made a strong case for greater social, economic, and political equality.

Notes:

Supervisor: David G. De Long.

Thesis (Ph.D. in American Civilization) -- University of Pennsylvania, 1999.

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

University Microfilms order no.: 99-53514.

OCLC:

187483609