{"id":1295,"date":"2011-03-16T01:00:57","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/info-libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/?p=1295"},"modified":"2023-07-12T15:29:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T15:29:44","slug":"1929","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/2011\/03\/16\/1929\/","title":{"rendered":"Year 69 – 1929: The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition: A Record Based on Official Data and Departmental Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published: Philadelphia, 1929\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

85 years before MIT\u2019s sesquicentennial, the United States celebrated a 150th birthday of its own. The Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition was held in Philadelphia from May 31 through November 30, 1926 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As the introduction to this text breathlessly declares, the fair \u201cinvited the American people to assemble at the most sacred spot on the American continent; upon the most important date in the entire history of political liberty; and to commemorate an event farther reaching in its effect than any which has transpired since the beginning of the Christian era.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>During the 6 months the fair was open, nearly 6.5 million people accepted that invitation. They passed underneath an 80-foot-tall replica of the Liberty Bell (illuminated with 26,000 bulbs) to enter through the Exhibition gates. Once inside, they enjoyed exhibits in the various exhibition palaces and state and country buildings; they watched shows, strolled down a recreated 1776 Philadelphia \u201cHigh Street,\u201d and participated in special days and celebrations. Attendees witnessed demonstrations of such \u201cmodern wonders of applied science\u201d as the radio, electrical refrigeration, \u201ctalking\u201d motion pictures, and \u201clabor-saving devices for the home and for business.\u201d<\/p>\n

This volume, published 3 years later, details in 35 enthusiastic chapters (plus appendices) every aspect of the Exposition from \u201cEarly History of the Project\u201d in Chapter II all the way through \u201cDog Show, Poultry, Pigeon and Pet Stock Shows\u201d in Chapter XXXV.<\/p>\n

A chapter devoted to the celebration of 122 \u201cSpecial Days\u201d \"\"<\/a>describes several of them, but leaves the reader wondering what might have transpired during the festivities associated with \u201cLibrarian Day\u201d (August 24) and \u201cNational Puzzlers\u2019 Day\u201d (September 4).<\/p>\n

The numerous sepia-toned photos in the book offer a glimpse into the Exhibition\u2019s buildings, events, and displays. In so doing they help fulfill the volume\u2019s stated goal of making the \u201cevents of the year 1776 live again within the pages of a book, as the Exposition sought to make them live again in its patriotic observances, its architectural design with the Forum of the Founders and the columns of the signers, and its High Street of \u201976.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find it in the library<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published: Philadelphia, 1929 85 years before MIT\u2019s sesquicentennial, the United States celebrated a 150th birthday of its own. The Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition was held in Philadelphia from May 31 through November 30, 1926 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As the introduction to this text breathlessly declares, the fair \u201cinvited the American people to assemble at the most sacred spot on the American continent; upon the most important date in the entire history of political liberty; and to commemorate an event farther reaching in its effect than any which has transpired since the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":false,"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1295"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4283,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295\/revisions\/4283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/150books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}