Illuminations: Revisiting the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition of 1901

Because the Pan-American Exposition is a relatively recent event in Buffalo's history, many of the related documents and source materials are still held in local repositories, libraries and with individual collectors. At the same time, most of these texts and artifacts are old enough to have reverted to the public domain.

The documents below have been scanned in their entirety (unless otherwise noted) and are being made available via this online exhibit to inform and educate anyone interested in contemporary accounts of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. This would not have been possible without the generosity of the owners and collectors who were kind enough to allow us to digitize and in many instances exhibit their materials in our Summer 2001 celebration of the Pan-American Centennial. Our thanks are immeasurable.

The Online Documents in this exhibit are organized by the following subjects with relation to the Pan-American Exposition:

Walker, John Brisben. "The City of the Future—A Prophecy."
The Cosmopolitan, v. 31, no. 5 (September 1901) pp. 473-475. [see html version]

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Music

Music at the Pan-American Exposition: Organists, Orchestras, Bands.
[Buffalo, N. Y.: The Pan-American Exposition Company], 1901.

Twenty-eight pieces of sheet music are available from the Sheet Music Page.

Music and Art.
[New York: The Aeolian Company, 1901] Courtesy of Kerry S. Grant
The pamphlet published by the Aeolian Company about their Aeolian player organs.

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Science and Technology

"Edison at the Pan-American Exposition" [An Interview with a Representative of the Western Electrician.] Western Electrician, v. 29, no. 7 (Aug. 17, 1901) p. 103.

"The Edison Storage Battery at Buffalo."
Western Electrician, v. 29, no. 6 (Aug. 10, 1901) p. 83.

"Edison Storage Battery Not in Competition at Buffalo."
Western Electrician, v. 29, no. 5 (Aug. 3, 1901) p. 71.

"The Evolution of Exposition Lighting," by Luther Stieringer.
Western Electrician, v. 29, no. 12 (Sept. 21, 1901) p. 187+

"How Niagara Has Been Harnessed."
Article by William C. Andrews looks at the development of hydroelectric power production at Niagara Falls.
The American Monthly Review of Reviews, June 1901.

"Kellogg Telephone and Switchboard Exhibit at the Pan-American Exposition."
Western Electrician, v.29, no. 16 (Oct. 19, 1901) p. 261

"Models of Niagara Falls Power Houses."
Western Electrician, v. 29, no. 2 (July 13, 1901) p. 21.

"Pan-American Exhibit of General Electric Company."
Western Electrician, vol. 28, no. 24 (June 15, 1901) pp. 406-407.

"Pan-American Exposition Searchlight Signals to Toronto."
Western Electrician, v. 29, no. 8, (Aug. 24, 1901) p. 114.

"Police Signaling and Telephoning at Pan-American Exposition."
Western Electrician, v.29, no.21 (Nov. 23, 1901) p. 341.

"The Power Plants of the Pan-American Exposition."
The Engineering Record, vol. 43, no. 21 (May 25, 1901) pp. 500-501.

"Searchlight Illumination at Niagara," by Orrin E. Dunlap.
Western Electrician, v. 28, no. 7, (Apr. 27, 1901) p. 285.

The Story of Acetylene, the New Illuminating Gas.
Chicago : Acetylene Journal Publishing Co., 1900. [See html version]

"Telephoning the Roar of Niagara."
Describes the use of telephony to transmit the sound of Niagara Falls from the Cave of the Winds to the Pan-American Exposition. Western Electrician, vol. 28, no. 24, p. 405.

"Westinghouse Pan-American Exhibits."
Western Electrician, v. 29, no. 5, pp. 65-67.

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Africans, Darkies and Negroes: Black Faces at the Pan American Exposition of 1901, Buffalo, New York
The subject of the Africans and Africans at the Pan American Exposition of 1901 is a very complicated and involved story. Peggy Brooks-Bertram, Dr. P.H. and Barbara A. Seals Nevergold, Ph.D. provide a beginning of some of the important matters involving Africans and their descendants in this world-wide event.

Esquimaux Village
Sandra Orock Hall, Researcher of the Inupiat Eskimos and Family Historian, shares some of her family history -- the stories of Unaquthlook and Rosie Midway Spoon with Barbara A. Seals Nevergold, Ph.D.

Images of the African Village: Pan American Exposition 1901.
Photographs reproduced and exhibited on the Uncrowned Queens web site as part of their examination of the representation of People of Color at the Exposition. Photos courtesy of the Buffalo Museum of Science.

Pan-American Recipe Book 1901. (Pan-American Cook Book)
Compiled by the Ladies Aid Society of the Riverside Methodist Episcopal Church, Buffalo, New York, 1899.
Buffalo, N.Y. : The Society, 1899.

Pan-American Exposition Board of Women Managers. May 1--November 1, 1901.
Buffalo, N. Y.: The Matthews Northrup Co., 1901.
This pamphlet was distributed to members of the Daughters of the American Revolution upon their visit to the Exposition.

African American Response to McKinley Assassination.
"A Negro in it" A poem by Lena Mason published in the Baptist Hymnal, Philadelphia : American Baptist Publication Society, 1903. Reproduced on the web site Uncrowned Queens: African American Community Builders.

Medical Bulletins on the condition of President William McKinley after he was shot by Leon Czolgosz.

Park, Roswell. " Reminiscences of McKinley Week."
In Selected Papers Surgical and Scientific. Buffalo: Julian Park, 1914. pp. 375-381.

Rixey, P.M., Matthew D. Mann, Herman Mynter, Roswell Park, Eugene Wasdin, Charles McBurney, and Charles G. Stockton. " The Official Report on the Case of President McKinley."
Buffalo Medical Journal, vol. 57, no. 4 (1901), pp. 271-293.

Images of the African Village: Pan American Exposition 1901
Photographs reproduced and exhibited on the Uncrowned Queens web site as part of their examination of the representation of People of color at the Exposition. Photos courtesy of the Buffalo Museum of Science.

General Information About the Pan-American

Costs of the Pan-American Exposition Compared to other International Exhibitions.
Kenneth W. Luckhurst. The Story of Exhibitions. London: The Studio Publications, 1951. Appendix II - "Statistics of Some Great Expositions," pp. 220-221.

Over 100 Views Showing the Grandeur of the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York--1901.
Buffalo, N. Y.: Chas. J. Shults & Co., 1901.

Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo May 1 to November 1, 1901. Its Purpose and Plan.
[Buffalo, N. Y. : The Pan-American Exposition Company], 1901.

The Pan-American Exposition Illustrated by C. D. Arnold.
Buffalo, N. Y.: C. D. Arnold, 1901.

Issues of the Pan American Herald

Pan-American Exposition Daily Programs (not all are complete):

"Personal Impressions of the Pan-American Exposition" by Joe Mitchell Chapple. National Magazine, an Illustrated American Monthly. July 1901. [pdf] [html]

Poem Delivered at the Dedication of the Pan-American Exposition by Robert Cameron Rogers.

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Online Documents Available at Other Locations

Doing the Pan
Numerous documents and photographs have been compiled on this web site created by Sue Eck.

Pan-American African Village
Features the pamphlet presented to individuals visiting the Pan-American African Village. Includes photographs taken by Carlos E. Cummings who worked on the Midway. Later he became director of the Buffalo Museum of Science.

The True Story of the Assassination of President McKinley at Buffalo
Reproduction of the 1901 book by Richard Hayes Barry.: An Historic Memento of the Nation's Loss; the True Story of the Assassination of President McKinley at Buffalo, With Many Scenes and Pictures Connected with the Tragedy, Including the Last Tributes of Respect at Washington and Canton. Buffalo, N.Y., R. A. Reid, 1901.

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