World’s Fairs Resources at Hagley Museum and Library

Those interested in researching World’s Fairs will find the Hagley Museum and Library a rich resource. As a research institution emphasizing the history of American enterprise, Hagley Museum and Library’s internationally regarded holdings of business history and history of technology contain a wealth of materials related to World’s Fairs.

Almost all of the exhibit Centuries of Progress: American World’s Fairs, 1853-1982 was taken directly from the institution’s holdings. The Hagley Library and Archives houses more than 1,600 published volumes related to World’s Fairs in addition to an extensive collection of trade catalogs, pamphlets, maps, and photographs. Hagley also maintains an expansive archival collection of personal papers and corporate records related to the World’s Fairs, ranging from the Centennial Collection’s documentation of the 1876 Exposition to the architectural contributions of designers Raymond Loewy and Walter Dorwin Teague. Numerous scrapbooks, diaries, and personal correspondence related to the World’s Fairs complement the holdings. In addition to archival sources, Hagley’s Museum Division owns over one hundred and forty artifacts from thirteen different expositions, many of which are presently on display.

The Hagley Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society also awards travel grants for visiting scholars. Some housing is available on the property. The Center also organizes conferences, research seminars, and academic programs. For more information, email clockman@hagley.org. Extensive information on Hagley’s research holdings, scholarly programming, and grant opportunities may be found by referring to Hagley’s homepage (link here?). You may also call us at (302) 658-2400 or write Hagley at P.O. Box 3630; Wilmington, DE 19807-0630.

Select Bibliography

Allwood, John. The Great Exhibitions. London: Studio Vista, 1977.
Anderson, Norman D. Ferris Wheels: An Illustrated History. Bowling Green, OH:
Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1992.
Badger, R R. The Great American Fair: The World's Columbian Exposition and
American Culture. Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1979.
Beauchamp, K.C. Exhibiting Electricity. London: Institution of Electrical Engineers,
1997.
Brown, Julie K. Contesting Images: Photography and the World’s Columbian
Exposition. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994.
Burg, David F. Chicago's White City of 1893. Lexington, KY: The University Press of
Kentucky, 1976.
Findling, John E., Kimberly D. Pelle, and Robert W. Rydell. Fair America. Washington:
Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.
Fox, Timothy J., and Duane R. Sneddeker. From the Palaces to the Pike: Visions of the
1904 World's Fair. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1997.
Gaige, Crosby. Food at the Fair: A Gastronomic Tour of the World, New York World’s
Fair 1939-1940. New York: Exposition Publications, 1939.
Gilbert, James, et al. Grand Illusions: Chicago's World's Fair of 1893. Chicago: Chicago
Historical Society, 1993.
Gilbert, James. Perfect Cities: Chicago's Utopias of 1893. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1991.
Haas, Robert B. Muybridge: Man in Motion. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1976.
Harris, Neil. Cultural Excursions: Marketing Appetites and Cultural Tastes in Modern
America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Heller, Alfred E. World's Fairs and the End of Progress: An Insider's View. Corte
Madera, CA: World's Fair, 1999.
Hendricks, Gordon. Edweard Muybridge: The Father of the Motion Picture. New York:
Grossman, 1975.
Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions, 1851-1988. Ed. John E. Findling,
and Kimberly Pelle. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.
Hines, Thomas S. Burnham of Chicago: Architect and Planner. New York: Oxford UP,
1974.
Johnson, Stewart J. American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New Age. New York:
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000.
Karp, Ivan, and Steven D. Lavine, Eds. Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of
Museum Display. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991.
Lerner, Mel, Herbert Rolfes, and Larry Zim. The World of Tomorrow: The 1939 New
York World's Fair. New York: Harper and Row, 1988.
Mansfield, Harold. The Space Needle Story. Mercer Island, WA: The Writing Works, 1976.
Mattie, Erik. World’s Fairs. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.
Morgan, Murray Cromwell. Century 21: The Story of the Seattle World’s Fair, 1962.
Seattle: Acme Press, 1963.
Remembering the Future: The New York World’s Fair from 1939-1964. New York:
Rizzoli, 1989.
Rydell, Robert W. All the World's a Fair: Visions of Empire at American International
Expositions, 1876-1916. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
_____. World of Fairs: The Century of Progress Expositions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
Solnit, Rebecca. River of Shadows: Edweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild
West. New York: Viking, 2003.
Spector, Robert. The Space Needle: Symbol of Seattle. Seattle: Documentary Media,
LLC, 2002.
Spillman, Jane Shadell. Glass from World’s Fairs, 1851-1904. Corning, NY: Corning
Museum of Glass, 1986.
Vaccaro, Pamela J. Beyond the Ice Cream Cone: The Whole Scoop on Food at the 1904
World's Fair. St. Louis, MO: Enid Press, 2004.
Weimann, Jeanne M. The Fair Women. Chicago: Academy Chicago, 1981.
Wilson, Benjamin Franklin. The Parthenon of Pericles and Its Reproduction in America.
Nashville: Parthenon Press, 1937.
Wurts, Richard. The New York World's Fair, 1939-1940. Ed. Stanley Appelbaum.
Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1977.


Young Readers’ Booklist
Alter, Judy. Meet Me at the Fair: Country, State, and World’s Fairs & Expositions.
New York: Franklin Watts, 1997.
Anderson, Norman D. and Walter R. Brown. Ferris Wheels. New York: Pantheon,
1983.
Doherty, Craig, and Katherine Doherty. The Seattle Space Needle. Woodbridge,CT:
Blackbirch P, 1997.
Greenstein, Elaine. Ice Cream Cones for Sale! New York: Arthur A. Levine Books,
2003.
Hoobler, Dorothy, et. al. The Summer of Dreams: The Story of a World’s Fair Girl.
Morristown, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1993. (fiction)
Jackson, Robert. Meet Me in St. Louis: A Trip to the 1904 World’s Fair. New York:
HarperCollins Publishers, 2004.
Lawson, Robert. The Great Wheel. New York: Scholastic, 1994. (fiction)
Manes, Stephen. Pictures of Motion and Pictures that Move: Edweard Muybridge and
the Photography of Motion. New York: Coward, McCann, and Geohegan, 1982.
Peck, Richard. Fair Weather. New York: Puffin Books, 2001. (fiction)
Roesch, Roberta. World’s Fairs: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. New York: John
Day Co., 1964.
Swanson, June and Priscilla Kiedrowski. The Spice of America. Minneapolis:
Carolrhoda Books, 1983.