Editing Louisiana Purchase Exposition

{{Short description|1904 world's fair in St. Louis, Missouri, US}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox World's Fair
|box_width       =
|class           = Universal
|category        = 0
|image           = St louis 1904 mucha poster.jpg
|image_width     =
|caption         = Poster for the exposition painted by [[Alphonse Mucha]]
|year            = 1904
|name            = Louisiana Purchase Exposition
|motto           =
|building        =
|area            = {{convert|1270|acre|ha|abbr=off}}
|invent          =
|visitors        = 19,694,855
|organized       =
|cnt             = 62
|org             =
|biz             =
|country         = United States
|city            = [[St. Louis]]
|venue           = [[Forest Park (St. Louis)|Forest Park]], [[Washington University in St. Louis]]
|coord           = {{coord|38|38|18.6|N|90|17|9.2|W|format=dms|type:landmark_region:US-MI}}
|cand            =
|award           =
|open            = {{start date|1904|04|30}}
|close           = {{start date|1904|12|01}}
|prevexpo        = [[Exposition Universelle (1900)]]
|prevcity        = [[Paris]]
|nextexpo        = [[Liège International (1905)]]
|nextcity        = [[Liège]]
|suppl           =
|prevsuppl       =
|prevsupcity     =
|nextsuppl       =
|nextsupcity     =
|simuni          =
|simspe          =
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|website         =
}}
{{History of Missouri}}

The '''Louisiana Purchase Exposition''', informally known as the '''St. Louis World's Fair''', was an [[World's fair|international exposition]] held in [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|15000000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}} were used to finance the event. More than 60 countries and 43 of the then-45 American states maintained exhibition spaces at the fair, which was attended by nearly 19.7 million people.

Historians generally emphasize the prominence of the themes of [[Race (human categorization)|race]] and [[imperialism]], and the fair's long-lasting impact on [[intellectual]]s in the fields of [[history]], [[architecture]], and [[anthropology]]. From the point of view of the memory of the average person who attended the fair, it primarily promoted entertainment, consumer goods, and popular culture.<ref>James Gilbert, ''Whose Fair?: Experience, and Memory, and the History of the Great St. Louis Exposition'' (2009)</ref> The monumental [[Greco-Roman architecture]] of this and other fairs of the era did much to influence permanent new buildings and master plans of major cities.

==Background==
[[File:Worlds-fair-st-louis-1904.png|thumb|right|St. Louis World's Fair map<ref>{{cite web|url=http://maps.slpl.org/img/mom00186.jpg|title=St. Louis World's Fair|access-date=October 12, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012094944/http://maps.slpl.org/img/mom00186.jpg|archive-date=October 12, 2017|website=St. Louis Public Library}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bigmapblog.com/maps/map04/STLOuiswFFORestp.jpg|title=Ground Plan of the Louisiana Purchase Expedition|website=BigMapBlog.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025235132/http://www.bigmapblog.com/maps/map04/STLOuiswFFORestp.jpg|archive-date=October 25, 2020}}</ref>]]
[[File:Louisiana Purchase Exposition St. Louis 1904.jpg|thumb|right|The Government Building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition]]

In 1904, St. Louis hosted a [[world's fair]] to celebrate the centennial of the 1803 [[Louisiana Purchase]]. The idea for such a commemorative event seems to have emerged early in 1898, with [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]] and [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] initially presented as potential hosts for a fair based on their central location within the territory encompassed by the 1803 land annexation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6696365/st_louis_editors_worried_about/ |title=St. Louis Editors Worried: Indorsement of the Plan to Hold an Exposition Causes Adverse Comment |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920073415/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6696365/st_louis_editors_worried_about/ |archive-date=September 20, 2016 |work=[[Kansas City Journal]] |date=February 14, 1898 |page=3}}</ref>

The exhibition was grand in scale and lengthy in preparation, with an initial $5 million committed by the city of St. Louis through the sale of city bonds, authorized by the Missouri state legislature in April 1899.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6697840/missouri_legislature_authorizes_5/ |work=Omaha Daily Bee |date=April 30, 1899 |page=18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026212342/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6697840/missouri_legislature_authorizes_5/ |archive-date=October 26, 2016 |title=Missouri Legislature Authorizes $5 Million Donation by St. Louis to Louisiana Purchase Exposition}}</ref> An additional $5 million was generated through private donations by interested citizens and businesses from around Missouri, a fundraising target reached in January 1901.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6718148/st_louis_announces_5_million_in/ |title=Money for the World's Fair: St. Louis Has Fully Redeemed Her Pledge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026172146/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6718148/st_louis_announces_5_million_in/ |archive-date=October 26, 2016 |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |date=January 24, 1901 |page=1}}</ref> The final installment of $5 million of the exposition's $15 million capitalization came in the form of earmarked funds that were part of a congressional appropriations bill passed at the end of May 1900.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6695974/funding_for_louisiana_purchase/ |title=It Was Passed: Sundry Civil Bill Carried Through: Funds for the St. Louis Exposition |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920150103/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6695974/funding_for_louisiana_purchase/ |archive-date=September 20, 2016 |work=Weekly Oregon Statesman |date=June 1, 1900 |page=1}}</ref> The fundraising mission was aided by the active support of President of the United States [[William McKinley]], which was won by organizers in a February 1899 White House visit.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6696679/call_on_the_president_delegation/ |title=Call on the President: Delegation Representing Louisiana Purchase Exposition Promised Support by Mr. McKinley |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920080004/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6696679/call_on_the_president_delegation/ |archive-date=September 20, 2016 |work=[[Kansas City Journal]] |date=February 4, 1899 |page=6}}</ref>

While initially conceived as a centennial celebration to be held in 1903, the actual opening of the St. Louis exposition was delayed until April 30, 1904, to allow for full-scale participation by more states and foreign countries. The exposition operated until December 1, 1904. During the year of the fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition supplanted the annual [[Saint Louis Exposition|St. Louis Exposition]] of agricultural, trade, and scientific exhibitions which had been held in the city since the 1880s.

[[File:Palace of Liberal Arts.jpg|thumb|left|[[Thomas P. Barnett|Palace of Liberal Arts]]]]

The fair's {{convert|1200|acre|km2 mi2|adj=mid}} site, designed by [[George Kessler]],<ref name="handbook">[[Handbook of Texas Online]] – [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fke44 KESSLER, GEORGE E.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521113446/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fke44 |date=May 21, 2011 }}. Retrieved May 18, 2006.</ref> was located at the present-day grounds of [[Forest Park (St. Louis)|Forest Park]] and on the campus of [[Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University]], and was the largest fair (in area) to date. There were over 1,500 buildings, connected by some {{convert|75|mi|km}} of roads and walkways. It was said to be impossible to give even a hurried glance at everything in less than a week. The Palace of Agriculture alone covered some {{convert|20|acre|m2}}.

Exhibits were staged by approximately 50 foreign nations, the [[United States]] government, and 43 of the then-45 [[U.S. state|US states]]. These featured industries, cities, private organizations and corporations, theater troupes, and music schools. There were also over 50 concession-type amusements found on "The Pike"; they provided educational and scientific displays, exhibits and imaginary 'travel' to distant lands, history and local [[boosterism]] (including [[Louis Wollbrinck]]'s "Old St. Louis") and pure entertainment.

Over 19 million<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.youngsaintlouis.com/archive/December2004/text/kids/stlhistory.html|title=Jazz's Wheatstraw and the Whiskey Ring|date=December 2004 |volume=18 |issue=12|magazine=Young Saint Louis|access-date=April 29, 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718143319/http://www.youngsaintlouis.com/archive/December2004/text/kids/stlhistory.html|archive-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref> individuals were in attendance at the fair.

Aspects that attracted visitors included the buildings and architecture, new foods, popular music, and exotic people on display. American culture was showcased at the fair especially regarding innovations in communication, medicine, and transportation.<ref>Cinnamon{{full citation needed|date=May 2024}}</ref>

==Architects==
[[File:Louisiana Purchase Exposition Festival Hall.jpg|thumb|right|Festival Hall]]

George Kessler, who designed many urban parks in Texas and the Midwest, created the master design for the Fair.

A popular myth says that [[Frederick Law Olmsted]], who had died the year before the Fair, designed the park and fair grounds. There are several reasons for this confusion. First, Kessler in his twenties had worked briefly for Olmsted as a [[Central Park]] gardener. Second, Olmsted was involved with [[Forest Park (Queens)|Forest Park in Queens]], New York. Third, Olmsted had planned the renovations in 1897 to the [[Missouri Botanical Garden]] several blocks to the southeast of the park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mobot.org/mobot/archives/timeline.asp |title=MBG: An Illustrated History of the Missouri Botanical Garden – Timeline |publisher=Mobot.org |access-date=January 6, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110224033552/http://www.mobot.org/mobot/archives/timeline.asp |archive-date=February 24, 2011 }}</ref> Finally, Olmsted's sons advised [[Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University]] on integrating the campus with the park across the street.

In 1901, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Corporation selected prominent St. Louis architect [[Isaac S. Taylor]] as the Chairman of the Architectural Commission and Director of Works for the fair, supervising the overall design and construction. Taylor quickly appointed [[Emmanuel Louis Masqueray]] to be his Chief of Design. In the position for three years, Masqueray designed the following Fair buildings: Palace of Agriculture, the Cascades and Colonnades, Palace of Forestry, Fish, and Game, Palace of Horticulture and Palace of Transportation, all of which were widely emulated in civic projects across the United States as part of the [[City Beautiful movement]]. Masqueray resigned shortly after the Fair opened in 1904, having been invited by Archbishop [[John Ireland (archbishop)|John Ireland]] of [[St. Paul, Minnesota]] to design a new cathedral for the city.<ref name="noted">{{cite news |date=May 27, 1917 |title=Noted Architect Dead. E. L. Masqueray Was Chief of Design of St. Louis Exposition |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E11F7395F1B7A93C5AB178ED85F438185F9 |accessdate=March 22, 2011 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |quote=Emmanuel Louis Mnsqueray chief of design of the St Louis ... of a number of American cathedrals died here today aged 56. Mr. Masqueray was ...}}</ref>{{Fv|date=July 2024}} The [[:File:1903 ElectricityPalace StLouis WorldsFair.png|Palace of Electricity]] was designed by Messrs, Walker & [[Thomas Rogers Kimball|Kimball]], of Omaha, Nebraska. It covered {{convert|9|acre}} and cost over $400,000 (equivalent to more than ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|400000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}).{{inflation/fn|US}} Crowning the great towers were heroic groups of statuary typifying the various attributes of electricity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kurtz |first=Charles M. |title=The Saint Louis World's Fair of 1904: In Commemoration of the Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory; a Handbook of General Information, Profusely Illustrated |asin=B009PCJC1M |page=56 |publisher=Ulan Press |year=2012}}</ref>

==Board of Commissioners==
[[File:Florence Hayward, 1904.jpg|thumb|St. Louis mayor Rolla Wells, Frank D. Hershberg, Florence Hayward, Fair president David R. Francis, Archbishop John J. Glennon, and Vatican commissioner Signor Coquitti (l to r) at the opening of the Vatican Exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair. Photograph attributed to [[Jessie Tarbox Beals]], 1904. Missouri History Museum.]]

[[Florence Hayward (writer)|Florence Hayward]], a successful freelance writer in St. Louis in the 1900s, was determined to play a role in the World's Fair. She negotiated a position on the otherwise all-male Board of Commissioners. Hayward learned that one of the potential contractors for the fair was not reputable and warned the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company (LPEC). In exchange for this information, she requested an appointment as roving commissioner to Europe.

Former Mayor of St. Louis and Governor of Missouri [[David R. Francis]], LPEC president, made the appointment and allowed Hayward to travel overseas to promote the fair, especially to women. The fair also had a Board of Lady Managers (BLM) who felt they had jurisdiction over women's activities at the fair and objected to Hayward's appointment without their knowledge. Despite this, Hayward set out for England in 1902. Hayward's most notable contribution to the fair was acquiring gifts Queen Victoria received for her Golden Jubilee and other historical items, including manuscripts from the Vatican. These items were all to be shown in exhibits at the fair.

Pleased with her success in Europe, Francis put her in charge of historical exhibits in the anthropology division, which had originally been assigned to Pierre Chouteau III. Despite being the only woman on the Board of Commissioners, creating successful anthropological exhibits, publicizing the fair, and acquiring significant exhibit items, Hayward's role in the fair was not acknowledged. When Francis published a history of the fair in 1913, he did not mention Hayward's contributions and she never forgave the slight.<ref>{{Cite book|title=In Her Place: A Guide to St. Louis Women's History|last=Corbett|first=Katharine T.|publisher=Missouri History Museum|year=1999|location=St. Louis, MO}}</ref>

==Scientific contributions==
{{quote|Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancement. They stimulate the energy, enterprise, and intellect of the people; and quicken human genius. They go into the home. They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. They open mighty storehouses of information to the student.|President William McKinley at the 1901 World's Fair}}
[[File:“Universal Exposition Commemorating the Louisiana Purchase 1803” “Office of the President” “PAX” art - Official catalogue of exhibitors (IA officialcatalogu01stlo) (page 12 crop).jpg|thumb|left|"Office of the President" 1904 official letterhead art]]

Many of the inventions displayed were precursors to items which have become an integral part of today's culture. Novel applications of electricity and light waves for communication and medical use were displayed in the Palace of Electricity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924015340114#page/n209/mode/2up|title=The Official Guide Book to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition|last=Lowenstein|first=M. J.|date=1904|publisher=Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company|access-date=November 13, 2016}}</ref> According to an article he wrote for Harper's Weekly, W. E. Goldsborough, the Chief of the Department of Electricity for the Fair, wished to educate the public and dispel the misconceptions about electricity which many common people believed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|title=Electricity at the Fair|last=Goldsborough|first=W.E.|date=April 30, 1904|publisher=Harper & Brothers|newspaper=Harper's Weekly|editor-last=Harvey|editor-first=George|location=New York|pages=677–678|via=harpweek.com}}</ref> New and updated methods of transportation also showcased at the World's Fair in the Palace of Transportation would come to revolutionize transportation for the modern day.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=History of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition|last=Bennitt|first=Mark|publisher=Universal exposition publishing Company|year=1905|editor-last=Stockbridge|editor-first=Frank Parker|location=St. Louis}}</ref>

===Communication contributions===

'''Wireless telephone''' – The "wireless telephony" unit or "[[Photophone#Radiophone|radiophone]]" was invented by [[Alexander Graham Bell]] and installed at the St. Louis World Fair.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> This radiophone comprised a sound-light transmitter and a light-sound receiver,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044048683098;view=1up;seq=9 |access-date=March 5, 2018 |title=Wireless Telephony |last=Collins|first=A. Frederick |date=March 1905 |magazine=Technical World |volume=III |number=1}}</ref> as an apparatus in the Palace of Electricity transmitted music or speech to a receiver in the courtyard. Visitors heard the transmission when holding the cordless receiver to the ear. It developed into the [[radio]] and telephone.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Personal Communication by Wireless|last=White|first=Thomas H.|website=United States Early Radio History |url=https://earlyradiohistory.us/sec004.htm#part020 |access-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203151204/http://earlyradiohistory.us/sec004.htm#part020|archive-date=December 3, 2016}}</ref>

'''Early fax machine''' – The [[telautograph]] was invented in 1888 by American scientist [[Elisha Gray]], who contested Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elisha Gray|website=Ohio History Central |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Elisha_Gray |access-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115140004/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Elisha_Gray|archive-date=November 15, 2016}}</ref> A person wrote on one end of the telautograph, which electrically communicated with the receiving pen to recreate drawings on paper. In 1900, assistant Foster Ritchie improved the device to display at the 1904 World's Fair and market for the next thirty years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Telegraph: A History of Morse's Invention and its Predecessors in the United States|last=Coe|first=Lewis |publisher=McFarland and Company, Publishers|year=1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/telegraphhistory0000coel/page/20 20] |via=www.deadmedia.org|url=https://archive.org/details/telegraphhistory0000coel/page/20 |isbn=0-89950-736-0}}</ref> This developed into the [[Fax|fax machine]].

===Medical contributions===
'''Finsen light''' – The Finsen light, invented by [[Niels Ryberg Finsen]], treated [[tuberculosis luposa]]. Finsen received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1903.<ref name=":4" /> This pioneered [[phototherapy]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/79/Finsen-light.html|title=Finsen Light|website=faq.org|publisher=Advameg, Inc.|access-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115135946/http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/79/Finsen-light.html|archive-date=November 15, 2016}}</ref>

'''X-ray machine''' – The [[X-ray generator|X-ray machine]] was launched at the 1904 World's Fair. German scientist [[Wilhelm Röntgen|Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen]] discovered X-rays studying electrification of low pressure gas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1901/rontgen-bio.html|title=Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen – Biographical|date=2014|website=Nobelprize.org|publisher=Nobel Media AB|access-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120234908/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1901/rontgen-bio.html|archive-date=November 20, 2016}}</ref> He X-rayed his wife's hand, capturing her bones and wedding ring to show colleagues. [[Thomas Edison]] and assistant [[Clarence Madison Dally|Clarence Dally]] recreated the machine. Dally failed to test another X-ray machine at the 1901 World's Fair after [[Assassination of William McKinley|President McKinley was assassinated]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/history/clarence-dally-the-man-who-gave-thomas-edison-x-ray-vision-123713565/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818192816/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=%2Fhistory%2Fclarence-dally-the-man-who-gave-thomas-edison-x-ray-vision-123713565%2F|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 18, 2015|title=Clarence Dally — The Man Who Gave Thomas Edison X-Ray Vision|last=King|first=Gilbert|date=March 14, 2012|website=smithsonianmag.com|access-date=November 13, 2016}}</ref> A perfected X-ray machine was successfully exhibited at the 1904 World's Fair. X-rays are now commonplace in hospitals and airports.<ref name=":3" />

'''Infant incubator''' – Although [[Neonatal intensive care unit#Incubator|infant incubators]] were invented in the year 1888 by Drs. Alan M. Thomas and William Champion, adoption was not immediate. To advertise the benefits, incubators containing preterm babies were displayed at the [[Brussels International Exposition (1897)|1897]], [[Trans-Mississippi Exposition|1898]], [[Pan-American Exposition|1901]], and 1904 World Fairs.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Incubator Graduates|date=August 6, 1904|publisher=Harper & Brothers|newspaper=Harper's Weekly|editor-last=Harvey|editor-first=George|location=New York|page=1225|via=harpweek.com}}</ref> These provided immunocompromised neonates a sanitary environment. Each incubator comprised an airtight glass box with a metal frame. Hot forced air thermoregulated the container. Newspapers advertised the incubators with "lives are being preserved by this wonderful method."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://atthefair.homestead.com/pkeatt/Babyincubators.html|title=Baby Incubators|last=Gaskins|first=Lee|date=2008|website=At The Fair: The 1904 St Louis World Fair|access-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510101238/http://atthefair.homestead.com/pkeatt/Babyincubators.html|archive-date=May 10, 2017}}</ref> During the 1904 World Fair, E. M. Bayliss exhibited these devices on The Pike where approximately ten nurses cared for twenty-four neonates.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://source.wustl.edu/2004/04/xrays-fax-machines-and-ice-cream-cones-debut-at-1904-world-fair/|title=X-rays, 'fax machines' and ice cream cones debut at 1904 World's Fair|last=Lutz|first=Diana|date=April 7, 2004|website=Washington University in St. Louis: the Source|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115134317/https://source.wustl.edu/2004/04/xrays-fax-machines-and-ice-cream-cones-debut-at-1904-world-fair/|archive-date=November 15, 2016|access-date=November 15, 2016}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> The entrance fee was 25 cents ({{inflation|US|0.25|1904|r=2|fmt=eq}}){{inflation/fn|US}} while the adjoining shop and café offered souvenirs and refreshments. Proceeds totaling $181,632 (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|181632|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}} helped fund Bayliss's project.<ref name=":3" /> Inconsistent sanitation killed some babies, so glass walls were installed between them and visitors, shielding the infants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://webpages.charter.net/mtruax/1904wf/home.html|title=Infant Incubators|last=Truax|first=Mike|date=October 2009|website=Mike's 1904 St. Louis World's Fair|access-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824131950/http://webpages.charter.net/mtruax/1904wf/home.html|archive-date=August 24, 2016}}</ref>{{Fv|date=July 2024}} These developed into "isolettes" in modern [[Neonatal intensive care unit#Equipment|neonatal intensive care units]].

===Transportation contributions===
'''Electric streetcar''' '''–''' North American street railways from the early 19th century were being introduced to [[History of trams#Electric trams|electric street railcars]]. An electric streetcar on a {{convert|1400|feet}} track demonstrated its speed, acceleration, and braking outside the Palace of Electricity.<ref name=":0" /> Many downtown trams today are electric.<ref name=":5" />

'''Personal automobile''' – The Palace of Transportation displayed [[Car|automobiles]] and motor cars.<ref name=":0" />{{Pn|date=July 2024}} The private automobile was revealed here.<ref name=":3" /> The automobile display contained 140 models including [[History of the automobile|ones powered by gasoline, steam, and electricity]].<ref name=":5" /> Inventor [[Lee de Forest]] demonstrated a prototype [[Vehicle audio|car radio]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Erb |first=Ernst |title=First Car radios-history and development of early Car Radios |url=https://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/first_car_radios_history_and_development_of_early_car_radios.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913192315/http://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/first_car_radios_history_and_development_of_early_car_radios.html |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |access-date=February 16, 2018 |website=Radiomuseum.org}}</ref> Four years later, the [[Ford Motor Company]] began producing the affordable [[Ford Model T]].

'''Airplane''' – The 1904 World's Fair hosted the first "Airship Contest". Stationary air balloons demarcated a [[time trial]] with a minimum speed limit of {{convert|15|mph}}.<ref name=":5" />  Nobody won the $100,000 grand prize (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|100000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}}.<ref name=":5" /> The contest witnessed the first public [[Airship|dirigible]] flight in America. A [[History of St. Louis|history of aviation in St. Louis]] followed, leading to the nickname Flight City.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mohistory.org/exhibitions/audio/82?ctx=/exhibitions/online/82/|title=Flight City: St. Louis Takes to the Air|website=mohistory.org|publisher=Missouri History Museum|access-date=December 7, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220121621/http://mohistory.org/exhibitions/audio/82?ctx=%2Fexhibitions%2Fonline%2F82%2F|archive-date=December 20, 2016}}</ref>

==Legacy==
St. Louis' status as an up-and-coming city garnered interest from many reporters and photographers who attended the World's Fair and found its citizens constantly on the "go" and the streets "crowded with activity". One observer remarked that, at this time, St. Louis had more energy in its streets than any other northern city did.<ref name="St. Louis and the World's fair">{{cite book |title=St. Louis and the World's Fair |publisher=L.H. Nelson Company |location=[[Portland, ME]] |hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t5z60zx6h |year=1904}}</ref>

===Buildings===
[[File:Map or "Ground Plan" in 1904, from- The Piker and World's fair guide ... an accurate account of the exposition, preliminary programme, Olympic games and world's championship contests .. (IA pikerworldsfairg00elli) (page 4 crop).jpg|thumb|Map or "Ground Plan" in 1904]]

With more and more people interested in the city, St. Louis government and architects were primarily concerned with their ports and access to the city. The city originating as a trading post, transportation by water was important. It was becoming even more important that the port be open, but efficient for all visitors. It also needed to show off some of the city's flair and excitement, which is why in many photographs one sees photos of St. Louis' skyscrapers in the background. In addition to a functioning port, the [[Eads Bridge]] was constructed, which was considered one of St. Louis' "sights". At {{Convert|1,627|ft}} long, it connected Missouri and Illinois, and was the first large-scale application of steel as a structural material.<ref name="St. Louis and the World's fair"/> [[File:Louisiana Purchase Exposition East Lagoon.jpg|thumb|left|East Lagoon, statue of Saint Louis, Palaces of Education and Manufacture, and wireless telegraph tower.]]

As with the [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in [[Chicago]] in 1893, all but one of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition's grand, neo-Classical exhibition palaces were temporary structures, designed to last but a year or two. They were built with a material called "[[Staff (building material)|staff]]", a mixture of [[plaster|plaster of Paris]] and [[hemp]] fibers, on a wood frame. As at the Chicago World's Fair, buildings and statues deteriorated during the months of the Fair and had to be patched.{{Citation needed|date = April 2018}}

[[File:1904 World's Fair Administration Building (Brookings Hall, Washington University) seen from the southeast with the Italian Pavilion in the foreground.jpg|thumb|[[Brookings Hall]] (1902) [[Washington University in St. Louis]]]]

The Administration Building, designed by [[Cope & Stewardson]], is now [[Brookings Hall]], the defining landmark on the campus of [[Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University]]. A similar building was erected at [[Northwest Missouri State University]] founded in 1905 in [[Maryville, Missouri]]. The grounds' layout was also recreated in Maryville and now is designated as the official Missouri State Arboretum.{{Citation needed|date = April 2018}}

The Palace of Fine Art, designed by architect [[Cass Gilbert]], featured a grand interior sculpture court based on the Roman [[Baths of Caracalla]]. Standing at the top of Art Hill, it now serves as the home of the [[Saint Louis Art Museum|St. Louis Art Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Architecture |url=https://www.slam.org/architecture/ |access-date=November 28, 2022 |website=Saint Louis Art Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:1904 Flight Cage.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Flight Cage ([[Aviary]])]]

The huge bird cage at the [[Saint Louis Zoological Park]], dates to the fair. A [[St. Louis Jain temple|Jain temple]] carved out of teak stood within the Indian Pavilion near the [[Ferris Wheel (1893)|Ferris Wheel]]. It was dismantled after the exhibition and was reconstructed in Las Vegas at the [[Castaways (casino)|Castaways]] hotel. It has recently been reassembled and is now on display at the [[Jain Center of Southern California]] at Los Angeles. [[Birmingham, Alabama]]'s iconic [[cast iron]] [[Vulcan statue]] was first exhibited at the Fair in the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vulcan's Story |url=http://visitvulcan.com/about/vulcans-story/ |publisher=Vulcan Park & Museum: Birmingham, AL |access-date=August 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808203129/http://visitvulcan.com/about/vulcans-story/ |archive-date=August 8, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Additionally, a plaster reproduction of [[Alma Mater (New York sculpture)|''Alma Mater'']] at [[Columbia University]] by [[Daniel Chester French]] was displayed at the Grand Sculpture Court of the exhibition.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Statue Borrowed in '04 Uncovered at Columbia| work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/02/22/113142089.html?pageNumber=18 |access-date=December 20, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

The Missouri State building was the largest of the state buildings, as Missouri was the host state. Though it had sections with marble floors and heating and air conditioning, it was planned to be a temporary structure. However, it burned the night of November 18–19, just eleven days before the Fair was to end. Most interior contents were destroyed, but furniture and much of the Model Library were undamaged. The fair being almost over, the building was not rebuilt. In 1909–10, the current World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park was built on the site of the Missouri building with profits from the fair.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Francis |first1=David |title=The Universal Exposition of 1904 |year=1913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rpUhAQAAMAAJ}}</ref>

[[File:ConsoleOrgueWanamaker.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The organ's present six–[[manual (music)|manual]] console, installed in 1928.]]

Festival Hall, designed by [[Cass Gilbert]] and used for large-scale musical pageants, contained the largest [[organ (music)|organ]] in the world at the time, built by the [[Los Angeles Art Organ Company]] (which went bankrupt as a result). The great organ was debuted by the fair's official organist, [[Charles Henry Galloway]]. Though the opening concert was scheduled for the first day of the fair, complications related to its construction resulted in the opening concert being postponed until June 9. After the fair, the organ was placed into storage, and eventually purchased by [[John Wanamaker]] for his new [[Wanamaker's]] store in [[Philadelphia]] where it was tripled in size and became known as the [[Wanamaker Organ]]. The famous Bronze Eagle in the Wanamaker Store also came from the Fair. It features hundreds of hand-forged bronze feathers and was the centerpiece of one of the many German exhibits. [[Wanamaker's]] became a [[Lord & Taylor]] store and more recently, a [[Macy's]] store.<ref>https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/department-stores/ . Retrieved December 3, 2022.</ref>

[[File:04Creation.JPG|thumb|right|Entrance to the exhibit "Creation" on the Pike, a spectacle portraying the first six days in the [[Book of Genesis]]. This exhibit was dismantled and moved to [[Coney Island]]'s [[Dreamland (Coney Island, 1904)|Dreamland amusement park]] at the end of the fair.<ref>Michael Immerso, Coney Island: The People's Playground, Rutgers University Press, 2002, page 73</ref>]]

Completed in 1913, the Jefferson Memorial building was built near the main entrance to the Exposition, at Lindell and DeBalivere. It was built with proceeds from the fair, to commemorate [[Thomas Jefferson]], who initiated the Louisiana Purchase, as was the first memorial to the third President. It became the headquarters of the [[Missouri History Museum]], and stored the Exposition's records and archives when the Louisiana Purchase Exposition company completed its mission. The building is now home to the Missouri History Museum, and the museum was significantly expanded in 2002–3.{{Citation needed|date = April 2018}}

The [[Maine|State of Maine Building]], which was a rustic cabin, was transported to [[Point Lookout, Missouri]] where it overlooked the [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]] by sportsmen who formed the Maine Hunting and Fishing Club. In 1915, when the main building at the [[College of the Ozarks]] in [[Forsyth, Missouri]] burned, the school relocated to Point Lookout, where the Maine building was renamed the Dobyns Building in honor of a school president. The Dobyns Building burned in 1930 and the college's signature church was built in its place. In 2004, a replica of the Maine building was built on the campus. The Keeter Center is named for another school president.

The [[observation tower]] erected by the [[Lee de Forest#American De Forest Wireless Telegraph Company|American DeForest Wireless Telegraph Company]] was brought to the Fair when it became a hazard near Niagara Falls and needed to be removed because in the wintertime, ice from the fall's mist would form on the steel structure, and eventually fall onto the buildings below. It served as a communications platform for Lee DeForest's work in wireless telegraphy and a platform to view the fair. As Niagara Falls was near Buffalo New York, it was also called the Buffalo Tower<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://earlyradiohistory.us/1904df.htm|title=De Forest Wireless Telegraphy Tower: Bulletin #1 (1904)|website=earlyradiohistory.us|access-date=September 9, 2018}}</ref> After the World's Fair, it was moved to Creve Coeur Lake to be part of that park.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stlouisco.com/Portals/8/docs/Document%20Library/parks/PDFs/ParkHistory/CreveCoeurHistory.pdf|title=Creve Coeur Park History|last=Truax|first=Mike|date=2010|website=St. Louis County, MO|access-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604161444/https://www.stlouisco.com/Portals/8/docs/Document%20Library/parks/PDFs/ParkHistory/CreveCoeurHistory.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 4, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Swedish Pavilion - Lindsborg KS.jpg|thumb|The 1904 World's Fair Swedish Pavilion is located in Lindsborg, Kansas at the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum.]]

The [[Swedish Pavilion]] is still preserved in [[Lindsborg, Kansas]]. Designed by Swedish architect [[Ferdinand Boberg]], it is the only one of his international exposition buildings in existence today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exhibits – Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum |url=https://www.oldmillmuseum.org/exhibits/ |access-date=September 7, 2023}}</ref> After the fair, the Pavilion was moved to [[Bethany College (Kansas)|Bethany College]] in Lindsborg, where it was used for classroom, library, museum and department facilities for the art department. In 1969, it was moved to the [[Smoky Valley Roller Mills|Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum]] where it serves as a venue for community events. The Pavilion was added to the [[National Historic Register]] in 1973.

[[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse Electric]] sponsored the Westinghouse Auditorium, where they showed films of Westinghouse factories and products.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9565/|title=Steam Hammer, Westinghouse Works, 1904|website=[[World Digital Library]] |date=May 1904|access-date=July 28, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014134512/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9565/|archive-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref>

Some mansions from the Exposition's era survive along Lindell Boulevard at the north border of Forest Park.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

===Introduction of new foods===
A number of foods are claimed to have been invented at the fair. The most popular claim is that of the waffle-style [[ice cream cone]]. However, its popularization, not invention, is widely believed to have taken place here.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stradley|first=Linda |url=http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamCone.htm |title=History of Ice Cream Cone |publisher=What's Cooking America |access-date=May 13, 2008 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509190148/http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamCone.htm |archive-date=May 9, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Weir |first=Robert |url=http://www.historicfood.com/Ice%20Cream%20Cone.htm |title=An 1807 Ice Cream Cone: Discovery and Evidence |publisher=Historic Food |access-date=May 13, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517100822/http://www.historicfood.com/Ice%20Cream%20Cone.htm|archive-date=May 17, 2008}}</ref> Dubious claims include the [[hamburger]] and [[hot dog]] (both traditional American and European foods of German origin), [[peanut butter]], [[iced tea]],<ref>Vaccaro, Pamela. 2004. Beyond the ice cream cone: the whole scoop on food at the 1904 World's Fair. St. Louis: Enid Press.</ref> and [[cotton candy]]. Again, popularization is more likely. [[Dr Pepper#Overview and history|Dr Pepper]] and [[Puffed Wheat]] cereal were introduced to a national audience. Freeborn [[Annie Fisher]] received a gold medal for her [[beaten biscuits]] famous in her hometown of [[Columbia, Missouri]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pubhtml5.com/fcrm/dgwq/basic |title=Columbia's Historic Sharp End 2015 |work=Columbia Daily Tribune |last=Keller |first=Rudi |date=May 19, 2015 |via=PubHTML5 |access-date=April 29, 2018}}</ref> President [[William Howard Taft]] enjoyed them on his 1911 visit to Missouri.

Though not the debut of as many foods as claimed, the fair offered what was essentially America's first food court. Visitors sampled a variety of fast foods, dined in dozens of restaurants, and strolled through the mile-long pike. As one historian said of the fair, "one could breakfast in France, take a mid-morning snack in the Philippines, lunch in Italy, and dine in Japan."<ref>{{cite web |title=Treat Me In St. Louis|website=The Attic|url=https://www.theattic.space/home-page-blogs/2018/11/23/treat-me-in-st-louis|access-date=December 4, 2018 |url-status=dead|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308192813/https://www.theattic.space/home-page-blogs/2018/11/23/treat-me-in-st-louis}}</ref>

===Influence on popular music and literature===
The fair inspired the song "[[Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis]]", which was recorded by many artists, including [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]]. Both the fair and the song are focal points of the 1944 feature film ''[[Meet Me in St. Louis]]'' starring [[Judy Garland]], which also inspired a [[Meet Me in St. Louis (musical)|Broadway musical version]]. [[Scott Joplin]] wrote the rag "Cascades" in honor of the elaborate waterfalls in front of Festival Hall.

A book entitled ''Wild Song'', by [[Candy Gourlay]], was inspired by the Louisiana Purchase.<ref>Wild Song, (David Fickling Books, 2013), reviewed on Book Trust. https://www.booktrust.org.uk/book/w/wild-song2/ accessed November 17, 2023.</ref>

===People on display===
[[File:Philippine Exposition at World's Fair St. Louis 1904.jpg|thumb|Advertisement for human exhibits from the Philippine Islands at the World's Fair, St. Louis, 1904]]
[[File:"Indian girls dressed for a ball game, U.S. Government Indian exhibit." (Fort Shaw Indian School basketball team) 1904 World's Fair.jpg|thumb|"Indian girls dressed for a ball game, U.S. Government Indian exhibit."]]
[[File:Igorrotes at Hagenbeck's.jpg|thumb|Image of the Igorot attraction at the 1904 World's Fair]]

Following the [[Spanish–American War]], the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|peace treaty]] granted the [[United States]] control over [[Guam]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Puerto Rico]]. Puerto Rico had had a quasi-autonomous government as an "overseas province" of Spain, and the Philippines, having declared independence after the 1896–1899 [[Philippine Revolution]], fought US annexation in the 1899–1902 [[Philippine–American War]]. These areas controversially became [[Territories of the United States#Incorporated vs. unincorporated territories|unincorporated territories of the United States]] in 1899, and people were brought from these territories to be on "display" at the 1904 fair.
[[File:"A Civilized Visayan." (Philippine Reservation in the Department of Anthropology exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair). - DPLA - 48f10dffdf340d3c9283922fcd44b179.jpg|left|thumb|'''"A Civilized Visayan." (Philippine Reservation in the Department of Anthropology exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair), 1904.'''|alt=From the Missouri Historical Society]]
The fair displayed 1,102 [[Filipinos]], 700 of them [[Philippine Scouts]] and [[Philippine Constabulary]], used for controlling conflict among Filipinos and between Filipinos and fair organizers. Displays included the [[Apache]] of the [[Southwestern United States|American Southwest]] and the [[Igorot people|Igorots]] of the Philippines, both of which peoples were noted as "primitive".<ref name="Zwick">{{cite web|title=Remembering St. Louis, 1904: A World on Display and Bontoc Eulogy|publisher=[[Syracuse University]]|author=Zwick, Jim|date=March 4, 1996|access-date=May 25, 2007|url-status=dead |url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Bontoc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610034510/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Bontoc.html|archive-date=June 10, 2007}}</ref> Within the Philippine reservation, was a school which was actively teaching Igorot students.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Love |first=Robertus |date=May 1904 |title=Filipino School at World's Fair |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BgZRAQAAMAAJ&q=Miss+Zamora+st+louis+filipino&pg=PA422 |magazine=The School News and Practical Educator |access-date=March 3, 2020 }}</ref> At least two [[Moro people|Moros]] were photographed while praying at the fair.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://mohistory.org/collections/item/N37098|title="WORSHIPPING MOHAMID (SIC)." (MUSLIMS AT PRAYER). (TAKEN DURING THE 1904 WORLD'S FAIR).|date=1904|publisher=Gerhard Sisters Studio|location=Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.)|id=N37098}}</ref> The Philippine reservation at the exposition cost $1.1 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|1100000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}} to create and operate.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kennedy |first=Richard |date=1998 |title=Rethinking the Philippine Exhibit at the 1904 St. Louis World's fair |url=https://folklife-media.si.edu/docs/festival/program-book-articles/FESTBK1998_14.pdf |magazine=Smithsonian Folklife Festival |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=March 3, 2020 }}</ref> The people had been trafficked under harsh conditions, and many did not survive. Burial plots in two St. Louis cemeteries were prepared in advance. However, traditional burial practices were not allowed.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 16, 2021|title=1904 World's Fair Revised: One Artist Memorializes Filipino And Indigenous People |website=St. Louis Public Radio |url=https://news.stlpublicradio.org/2021-05-16/1904-worlds-fair-revised-one-artist-memorializes-filipino-and-indigenous-people |access-date=May 18, 2021|language=en}}</ref> Some of the people to be exhibited died en route or at the fair and their bodies were immediately removed. Funeral rites had to be conducted without the bodies in front of an oblivious public audience of fair attendees. Organizers choreographed ethnographic displays, having customs which marked special occasions restaged day after day.<ref name="Zwick" />

Similarly, members of the Southeast Alaskan [[Tlingit]] tribe accompanied fourteen [[totem pole]]s, two Native houses, and a canoe displayed at the Alaska Exhibit.<ref name="Patrick">{{cite book| title=The Most Striking of Objects: The Totem Poles of Sitka National Historical Park|publisher=United States Department of Interior|author=Patrick, Andrew| year=2009|pages=75–93}}</ref><ref name="Harris" /> [[Mary Knight Benson]], a noted [[Pomo]] basket weaver whose work is curated at the Smithsonian Institution and [[National Museum of the American Indian]], attended to demonstrate her basket making skills which are described as astounding.<ref>{{cite book| last = Bibby| first = Brian| year = 2012| title = Essential Art: Native Basketry from the California Indian Heritage Center| publisher = Heydey Books| location = Berkeley| isbn = 978-0-930588-80-9}}</ref> Athletic events such as a basketball tournament were held to demonstrate the success of the [[American Indian boarding schools|Indian Boarding Schools]] and other assimilation programs.<ref>Parezo, Nancy J. "A "Special Olympics": Testing Racial Strength and Endurance at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition". In Brownell, Susan (ed.). ''The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games''.</ref> These efforts were confirmed with the [[Fort Shaw Indian School Girls Basketball Team|Fort Shaw Indian School girls basketball team]] who were declared "World Champions" after beating every team who faced them in these denominational games.<ref>Peavy, Linda; Smith, Ursula (2008). ""Leav[ing] the White[s] ... Far Behind Them": The Girls from Fort Shaw (Montana) Indian School, Basketball Champions of the 1904 World's Fair". In Brownell, Susan (ed.). ''The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games: Sport, Race, and American Imperialism''. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN|9780803210981}}.</ref>

It has been argued that the "overriding purpose of the fair really centered on an effort to promote America's new role as an overseas imperial power", and that "While the juxtaposition of "modern" and "primitive" buttressed assumptions of racial superiority, representations of Native American and Filipino life created an impression of continuity between westward expansion across the continent and the new overseas empire."<ref name="Zwick"/> [[Racializing]] concepts and epithets used domestically were extended to the people of the overseas territories.<ref name="Empire">{{cite web|title=Savage Acts: Wars, Fairs and Empire|publisher=[[Syracuse University]]|author=Zwick, Jim|date=November 7, 1995|url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Bontoc.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610034510/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Bontoc.html|archive-date=June 10, 2007|access-date=May 25, 2007}}</ref><ref name="Zwick"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/09/the-1904-st-louis-worlds-fair-photos/597658/|title=The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair: Photos – The Atlantic|last=Taylor|first=Alan|website=theatlantic.com|language=en|access-date=December 27, 2019}}</ref>

[[Ota Benga]], a Congolese Pygmy, was featured at the fair. Later he was held captive at the [[Bronx Zoo]] in New York, then featured in an exhibit on evolution alongside an [[orangutan]] in 1906, but public protest ended that.

In contrast, the [[Japan]] pavilion advanced the idea of a [[Japanese Culture|modern yet exotic culture]] unfamiliar to the turn-of-the-century Western world,<ref name="Zwick" /> much as it had during the earlier [[World's Columbian Exposition|Chicago World's Fair]].<ref name="Harris">{{cite journal |last=Harris |first=Neil |title=All the World a Melting Pot? Japan at American Fairs, 1876–1904 |journal=Mutual Images: Essays in American Japanese Relations |year=1975 |pages=24–54 |editor1-first=Akira |editor1-last=Iriye |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |quote=Japanese exhibit, staged during the Russo-Japanese War, ... presented a modern country that had fundamentally different traditions and concepts than the Western (and Christian) countries fair-goers identified with modernity. |url=http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Bontoc.html |access-date=May 25, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610034510/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Bontoc.html |archive-date=June 10, 2007}}</ref> The Japanese government spent lavishly: $400,000, plus $50,000 from the Japanese colonial government of [[Republic of Formosa|Formosa]], with an additional $250,000 coming from Japanese commercial interests and regional governments; all told, this totaled $700,000 (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|700000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}}. A {{convert|150,000|ft2|adj=on}} garden, set on the hillside south of the Machinery Hall and Engine House, featured a replica of Kyoto's famous [[Kinkakuji]], showing Japan's ancient sophistication, and a [[Formosa]] Mansion and Tea House, showing her modern colonial efforts.<ref>Hajime Hoshi, ''Handbook of Japan and Japanese Exhibits at World's Fair'' (St. Louis: Hajime Hoshi, 1904), 112.[https://archive.org/details/handbookjapanan00unkngoog/page/n118/mode/2up]</ref> A second exhibition, "Fair Japan on the 'Pike'", organized by [[Kushibiki Yumindo|Kushibiki and Arai]], welcomed the public through a large [[Niōmon]]-style gate into a realm of geisha-staffed exotic Japanese consumerism.<ref>Hoshi, ''Handbook of Japan and Japanese Exhibits at World's Fair'', 125.[https://archive.org/details/handbookjapanan00unkngoog/page/n130/mode/2up] Hoshi also claimed the original gate had been "erected about 300 years ago ... in the Province of [[Hitachi, Ibaraki|Hidachi]] by Lord [[Satake clan|Satake]] Giobu-Tayu in memory of his father."</ref>

In 2025, a historical marker was placed in the [[Wydown/Skinker, St. Louis|Wydown-Skinker]] neighborhood to commemorate the location of the Philippine Village, following years of advocacy by [[Filipino Americans|Filipino American]] artist Janna Añonuevo Langholz.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahmad |first=Hiba |date=2025-04-18 |title=A new historical marker in Clayton remembers the tragic history of the Philippine Village |url=https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2025-04-18/historical-marker-clayton-philippine-village-worlds-fair |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=STLPR |language=en}}</ref>

===Exhibits===
After the fair was completed, many of the international exhibits were not returned to their country of origin, but were dispersed to museums in the United States. For example, the Philippine exhibits were acquired by the [[Iowa Museum of Natural History|Museum of Natural History]] at the [[University of Iowa]]. The [[Vulcan statue]] is today a prominent feature of the Vulcan Park and Museum in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], where it was originally cast.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vulcan Statue and Vulcan Park |url=http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1557 |access-date=November 5, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Natural History exhibit with a blue whale skeleton and model Wellcome V0038342.jpg|alt=Natural History exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis, featuring a blue whale model and a dinosaur skeleton|thumb|Natural History exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis.]]

The [[Smithsonian Institution]] coordinated the US government exhibits. It featured a blue whale, the first full-cast of a [[blue whale]] ever created.<ref>[http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/profiles/Whales_SI.html "History of Smithsonian Whale Exhibits"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924092743/http://www.mnh.si.edu/onehundredyears/profiles/Whales_SI.html|date=September 24, 2011}}, National Museum of Natural History</ref>

The Fair also featured the original "Floatopia". Visitors floated on rafts of all sorts in the tiny Forest Park Lake. Many Floatopias have occurred since, including the infamous San Diego Floatopia of '83 and the Santa Barbara Floatopia that has been happening for years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-10 |title=Deltopia in full-throttle with record-level citations, massive crowds {{!}} The Daily Nexus |url=https://dailynexus.com/2024-04-10/deltopia-in-full-throttle-with-record-level-citations-and-massive-crowds/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=The Daily Nexus {{!}} The University of California, Santa Barbara's independent, student-run newspaper. |language=en}}</ref>

One exhibit of note was [[Beautiful Jim Key]], the "educated" Arabian-Hambletonian cross horse in his Silver Horseshoe Pavilion. He was owned by Dr. William Key, an African-American/Native American former slave, who became a respected self-taught veterinarian, and promoted by Albert R. Rogers, who had Jim and Dr. Key on tour for years around the US, helping to establish a humane movement that encouraged people to think of animals as having feelings and thoughts, and not just "brutes". Jim and Dr. Key became national celebrities along the way. Rogers invented highly successful marketing strategies still in use today. Jim Key could add, subtract, use a cash register, spell with blocks, tell time and give opinions on the politics of the day by shaking his head yes or no. Jim thoroughly enjoyed his "act"—he performed more than just tricks and appeared to clearly understand what was going on. Dr. Key's motto was that Jim "was taught by kindness" instead of the whip, which he was indeed.<ref>Rivas, Mim Eichler, "Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of a Horse and a Man Who Changed the World," 1st ed, HarperCollins, 2006</ref>

[[Daisy E. Nirdlinger]]'s book, ''Althea, or, the children of Rosemont plantation'' (illustrated by Egbert Cadmus (1868–1939)) was adopted by the Commissioners of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition as the official souvenir for young people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Anne |title=Notable women of St. Louis, 1914 |date=1914 |publisher=St. Louis, Woodward |page=[https://archive.org/details/notablewomenofst00john/page/169 169] |url=https://archive.org/details/notablewomenofst00john}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

==Olympics==
{{Main|1904 Summer Olympics}}

The Fair hosted the [[1904 Summer Olympics|1904 Summer Olympic Games]], the first Olympics to be held in the United States: the Games had originally been awarded to Chicago, but after St. Louis threatened to hold a rival international competition in the same timeframe,<ref>Robert K. Barney, "Born from Dilemma: America Awakens to the Modern Olympic Games, 1901–1903," ''Olympika'' 1 (1992): 92–135</ref> the Games were relocated.

Nonetheless, the sporting events, spread out over several months, were overshadowed by the Fair. Due to high travel costs and European tensions arising from the Russo-Japanese War, many European athletes did not attend the Games, nor did the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron [[Pierre de Coubertin]].

==Bullfight riot==
{{Main|St. Louis bullfight riot}}

On June 5, 1904, a bullfight scheduled for an arena just north of the fairgrounds, in conjunction with the fair, turned violent when Missouri governor [[Alexander Monroe Dockery]] ordered police to halt the fight in light of Missouri's anti-bullfighting laws. Disgruntled spectators demanded refunds, and when they were turned away, they began throwing stones through the windows of the arena office. While police protected the office, they did not have sufficient numbers to protect the arena, which was burned to the ground by the mob. The exposition fire department responded to the fire, but disruption to the fair was minimal, as the riot took place on a Sunday, when the fair was closed.{{Citation needed|date = April 2018}}

==Anglo-Boer War Concession==
[[File:1904 worlds fair boer war program.jpg|thumb|right|Anglo-Boer War program sold at the exhibition]]

Frank E. Fillis produced what was supposedly "the greatest and most realistic military spectacle known in the history of the world".<ref>{{cite web|title="Anglo-Boer War : historical libretto" – Yale University Library|url=https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2029073|access-date=June 28, 2021|website=collections.library.yale.edu|language=en}}</ref> Different portions of the concession featured a [[British Army]] encampment, several South African native villages (including [[Zulu people|Zulu]], [[San people|San]], [[Swazi people|Swazi]], and [[Southern Ndebele people|Ndebele]]) and a {{convert|15|acre|m2|adj=on}} arena in which soldiers paraded, sporting events and horse races were held and major battles from the [[Second Boer War]] were re-enacted twice a day. Battle recreations took 2–3 hours and included several generals and 600 veteran soldiers from both sides of the war. At the conclusion of the show, the [[Boers|Boer]] general [[Christiaan de Wet]] would escape on horseback by leaping from a height of {{convert|35|ft|m}} into a pool of water.

Admission ranged from 25 cents ({{Inflation|US|.25|1904|r=2|fmt=eq}}){{inflation/fn|US}} for bleacher seats to one dollar ({{Inflation|US|1|1904|r=2|fmt=eq}}){{inflation/fn|US}} for box seats, and admission to the villages was another 25 cents. The concession cost $48,000 (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|48000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}} to construct, grossed over $630,000 (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|630000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}),{{inflation/fn|US}} and netted about $113,000 (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|113000|1904}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}} to the fair—the highest-grossing military concession of the fair.

==Notable attendees==
[[File:Wrau-geronimo-1904-worlds-fair-cropped.jpg|thumb|right|[[Geronimo]], photographed by the fair's official photographer, [[William H. Rau]]]]

The Louisiana World's Fair was opened by President, [[Theodore Roosevelt]], by telegraph, but he did not attend personally until after his reelection in November 1904, as he stated he did not wish to use the fair for political purposes. Attendees included [[John Philip Sousa]], a musician, composer and conductor whose band performed on opening day and several times during the fair. [[Thomas Edison]] is claimed to have attended.

[[Ragtime]] music was popularly featured at the Fair. [[Scott Joplin]] wrote "The Cascades" specifically for the fair, inspired by the waterfalls at the Grand Basin, and presumably attended the fair.

[[Helen Keller]], who was 24 and graduated from [[Radcliffe College]], gave a lecture in the main auditorium.<ref>{{cite book |first=Conrad |last=Hilton |author-link=Conrad Hilton |year=1957 |title=Be My Guest |publisher=[[Prentice Hall Press]]}}</ref>

[[J. T. Stinson]], a well-regarded fruit specialist, introduced the phrase "[[An apple a day keeps the doctor away]]" (at a lecture during the exhibition).<ref>{{cite web |first=George W. |last=Baltzell |url=http://stlplaces.com/stl_foods/ |title=Foods of Saint Louis MO |website=Stlplaces.com |access-date=January 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106173521/http://stlplaces.com/stl_foods/ |archive-date=January 6, 2014 }}</ref>

The French organist [[Alexandre Guilmant]] played a series of 40 recitals from memory on the great organ in Festival Hall, then the largest [[pipe organ]] in the world, including ''Toccata in D minor'' (Op. 108, No. 1) by [[Albert Renaud (organist)|Albert Renaud]], which Renaud had dedicated to Guilmant.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjwlKtmSGEIC&dq=albert+renaud+toccata+guilmant&pg=PR5 ''Toccatas, Carillons and Scherzos for Organ: 27 Works for Church or Concert Performance''] ed. Rollin Smith (Dover Publications Inc., 2002), p. v. Retrieved January 7, 2022.</ref>

[[Geronimo]], the former [[Tribal chief|war chief]] of the [[Apache]], was "on display" in a teepee in the Ethnology Exhibit.

[[Grover Cleveland]], the 22nd and 24th president, attended the opening ceremony on April 30 and "overshadowed President Roosevelt in popular applause, when both stood on the same platform."<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=McElroy |author-link=Robert McNutt McElroy |title=Grover Cleveland: The Man and the Statesman: An Authorized Biography |volume=II |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Harper & Brothers Publishers]] |year=1923 |pages=317–318 |url=https://archive.org/details/groverclevelandt007102mbp/page/n333/ |access-date=February 22, 2022 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

[[Henri Poincaré]] gave a keynote address on [[mathematical physics]], including an outline for what would eventually become known as [[special relativity]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/miller-01einstein.html |title=Einstein, Picasso – Space, Time, and the Beauty That Causes Havoc By ARTHUR I. MILLER |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417013823/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/miller-01einstein.html |archive-date=April 17, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Course in Mathematics for Students of Physics: 1 |last1=Bamberg |first1=Paul |last2=Sternberg |first2=Shlomo |author-link2=Shlomo Sternberg |year=1998 |orig-year=First published in 1988 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=[[Cambridge, UK]] |page=160 |isbn=9780521406499}}</ref>

[[Jelly Roll Morton]] did not visit, stating in his later [[Library of Congress]] interview and recordings that he expected jazz pianist [[Tony Jackson (jazz musician)|Tony Jackson]] would attend and win a jazz piano competition at the Exposition. Morton said he was "quite disgusted" to later learn that Jackson had not attended either, and that the competition had been won instead by Alfred Wilson; Morton considered himself a better pianist than Wilson.

The poet [[T. S. Eliot]], who was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, visited the Igorot Village held in the Philippine Exposition section of the St. Louis World's Fair. Several months after the closing of the World's Fair, he published a short story entitled "The Man Who Was King" in the school magazine of Smith Academy, St. Louis, Missouri, where he was a student. Inspired by the ganza dance that the Igorot people presented regularly in the Village and their reaction to "civilization", the poet explored the interaction of a white man with the island culture. All this predates the poet's delving into the anthropological studies during his Harvard graduate years.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Narita |first=Tatsushi |title=Fiction and Fact in T. S. Eliot's 'The Man Who Was King' |journal=[[Notes and Queries]] |volume=237 |issue=2 |pages=191–192}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Narita |first=Tatsushi |title=T. S. Eliot and His Youth as 'A Literary Columbus' |location=[[Nagoya]] |publisher=Kougaku Shuppan |year=2011 |pages=15–20, 29–33}}</ref>

[[Max Weber]] visited upon first coming to the United States in hopes of using some of his findings for a case study on capitalism.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ludwig M. |last=Lachmann |author-link=Ludwig Lachmann |year=1970 |title=The Legacy of Max Weber |publisher=[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]] |page=143 |isbn=978-1-61016-072-8 }}</ref>

[[Jack Daniel]], the American distiller and the founder of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery, entered his Tennessee whiskey into the World's Fair whiskey competition. After four hours of deliberation, the eight judges awarded [[Jack Daniel's|Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey]] the Gold Medal for the finest whiskey in the world. The award was a boon for the Jack Daniel's distillery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.jackdaniels.com/TennesseeWhiskey/TheBottle.aspx |title=The Bottle |access-date=February 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214084236/http://www2.jackdaniels.com/TennesseeWhiskey/TheBottle.aspx |archive-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jackdaniels.com/en-us/whiskey/limited/1904-gold-medal-series |title=1904 Gold Medal Series |website=[[Jack Daniel's]] |date=April 23, 2016 |access-date=October 25, 2020}}</ref>

Novelist [[Kate Chopin]] lived nearby and purchased a season ticket to the fair. After her visit on the hot day of August 20, she suffered a [[brain hemorrhage]] and died two days later, on August 22, 1904.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.katechopin.org/biography.shtml |title=Biography, Kate Chopin, The Awakening, The Storm, stories |website=katechopin.org |access-date=April 29, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221143631/http://www.katechopin.org/biography.shtml |archive-date=December 21, 2013}}</ref>

Philadelphia mercantilist, [[John Wanamaker]], visited the exposition in November 1904 and purchased an entire collection of German furniture which included the giant ''jugendstil'' brass sculpture of an eagle that he would display in the rotunda of his Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia. In 1909 Wanamaker also purchased the organ from the fair, which at the time was the biggest pipe organ in the world. It is still featured today, much enlarged, as the [[Wanamaker Organ]] in the Grand Court of his Philadelphia retail palace. Wanamaker purchased and donated an ancient Egyptian tomb, a mummy and other relics to the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.

Benedictine monk, artist and museum founder, Fr. [[Gregory Gerrer]], OSB, exhibited his recent portrait of [[Pope Pius X]] at the fair. Following the fair, Gerrer brought the painting to [[Shawnee, Oklahoma]], where it is now on display at the [[Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Ast|first=Nicholas|title=Gregory Gerrer|url=http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GE011|publisher=[[Oklahoma Historical Society]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622020731/http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GE011|archive-date=June 22, 2015|access-date=June 21, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[John McCormack (tenor)|John McCormack]], Irish [[tenor]], was brought to the fair by James A. Reardon, who was in charge of the Irish exhibit.<ref>{{cite news|author=Chicago Tribune|date=August 19, 2021|title=Tenor of All Time|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/03/12/tenor-of-all-time/|work=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, IL|access-date=October 8, 2024}}</ref>

The [[Sundance Kid]] visited the exposition, accompanied by [[Etta Place]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Haile|first=Bartee|year=2017|title=Unforgettable Texans|publisher=[[The History Press]]|isbn=978-1467137737}}</ref>

==Commemoration==
In conjunction with the Exposition the US Post Office issued a series of five commemorative stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. The 1-cent value portrays [[Robert R. Livingston (chancellor)|Robert Livingston]], the ambassador who negotiated the purchase with France; the 2-cent value depicts [[Thomas Jefferson]], who executed the purchase; the 3-cent honors [[James Monroe]], who participated in negotiations with the French; the 5-cent memorializes [[William McKinley]], who was involved with early plans for the Exposition; and the 10-cent presents a map of the Louisiana Purchase.

<gallery class="center" caption="Louisiana Purchase Commemoratives" widths="165px">
File:Robert Livingston33 1904 Issue-1c.jpg|Robert Livingston
File:Thomas Jefferson22 Issue of 1904-4c.jpg|Thomas Jefferson
File:Monroe 1904 Issue-3c.jpg|James Monroe
File:McKinley1904-7.jpg|William McKinley
File:Louisiana Purchase7 1903 Issue-10c-crop.jpg|Map of the Louisiana Purchase
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Commons|Louisiana Purchase Exposition}}
* [[Swedish Pavilion]] from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
* [[1904 Summer Olympics]]
* [[Central West End, St. Louis]]
* [[Forest Park (St. Louis)|Forest Park]]
* ''[[Meet Me in St. Louis]]''
* [[Saint Louis Exposition (1884)]]
* [[St. Louis, Missouri]]
* [[University City, Missouri]]
* [[Washington University in St. Louis]]
* [[World's Largest Cedar Bucket]]
* [[List of world expositions]]
* [[List of world's fairs]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation|last=Everdell|first=William R.|year=1997|title=The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth Century Thought|location= Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}
* Afable, Patricia O. 'The Exhibition of Cordillerans in the United States during the Early 1900s'. ''The Igorot Quarterly'', vol.6, no. 2, 1997,pg.19–22.
* Bennitt, Mark and Frank Parker Stockbridge, eds. ''History of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition'', St. Louis, MO: Universal Exposition Publishing Company, 1905.
* Boeger, Astrid. 'St. Louis 1904.' In ''Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions'', ed. John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle. Jefferson, NC and London:McFarland, 2008.
* Brownell, Susan, ''The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games''. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2008.
* {{cite journal|last=Brush|first=Edward Hale|date=January 1904|title=The Main Plan of the Fair|journal=[[World's Work|The World's Work: A History of Our Time]]|volume=VII|pages=4355–4362|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FoXNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA4355|access-date=July 10, 2009}}
* 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.
* Gilbert, James. ''Whose Fair?: Experience, Memory, and the History of the Great St. Louis Exposition'' (2009)
* Narita, Tatsushi, 'The Young T. S. Eliot and Alien Cultures: His Philippine Interactions.' ''The Review of English Studies'', New Series, vol. 45, no. 180, 1994.
* Narita, Tatsushi. ''T. S. Eliot, The World Fair of St. Louis and 'Autonomy'''. Published for NCCF-Japan. Nagoya: Kougaku Shuppan, 2013.
* Narita, Tatsushi, ''T. S. Eliot and his Youth as 'A Literary Columbus''', Nagoya: Kougaku Shuppan, 2011.
* Parezo, Nancy J. and Don D. Fowler, ''Anthropology Goes to the Fair: The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition''. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
* Redman, Samuel. J. ''Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 2016.
* Rydell, Robert W., ''All the World's a Fair''. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1984.

===Primary sources===
* Francis, David Rowland. ''The universal exposition of 1904''. (Louisiana purchase exposition Company, 1913). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=lang_en|lang_fr&id=rpUhAQAAMAAJ online], by the governor of Missouri.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/1904-saint-louis Official website of the BIE]
* [http://www.1904worldsfairsociety.org/wfs/ 1904 World's Fair Society]
* [https://cdm17210.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/lpe Louisiana Purchase Exposition Glass Plate Negatives Collection] in [https://cdm17210.contentdm.oclc.org/digital Digital Collections] at [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
* [https://cdm17210.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/fair Louisiana Purchase Exposition Miscellaneous Digital Collection] of publications, tickets, programs, invitations, and fliers at St. Louis Public Library
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071114023956/http://mohistory.org/Fair/WF/HTML/index_flash.html Online Exhibition by the Missouri Historical Society]
* [http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/fairs/louis.htm Louisiana Purchase Exposition collection at the University of Delaware Library]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/awal.0659 An Edison company film of the Asia pavilion], at the [[Library of Congress]]
* [http://previous.slpl.org/libsrc/bennita.htm History of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition]
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13266 ''Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission'' at gutenberg]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716014936/http://www.scientificamericanpast.com/Scientific%20American%201900%20to%201909/4/lg/sci571904.htm 5/7/1904;The Opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100603053854/http://magazine.wustl.edu/Summer04/AGloriousWorld%27sFair-np.htm The effect of the fair on Washington University]
* [https://digital.library.louisville.edu/?f%5Bmember_of_collections_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Arthur+Younger+Ford+%281861-1926%29+Photograph+Albums&f%5Bsubject_sim%5D%5B%5D=Louisiana+Purchase+Exposition+%281904+%3A+Saint+Louis%2C+Mo.%29&locale=en Arthur Younger Ford (1861–1926) Photograph Albums (University of Louisville Photographic Archives)] – includes 69 photos taken at the fair.
* [http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=lex;cc=lex;sid=8849264c45570e24ed20224cdef04038;rgn=full%20text;tpl=home.tpl The Louisiana Purchase Exposition: The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair from the University of Missouri Digital Library] – scanned copies of nearly 50 books, pamphlets, and other related material from and about the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair) including issues of the World's Fair Bulletin from June 1901 through the close of the Fair in December 1904.
* [http://www.studylove.org/worldsfairs8.html#1904 1904 St. Louis (BIE World Expo)] – approximately 380 links
* [http://archive.org/details/worldsfair00louia/page/1 The World's Fair: Comprising the Official Photographic Views of the Universal Exposition Held in Saint Louis, 1904]
* [http://archive.org/details/cu31924015340114/page/n8 Official Guide to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition]
* [http://archive.org/details/officialcatalogu00loui Official Catalogue of Exhibits, Universal Exposition St. Louis 1904]
* [http://digital.hagley.org/08199001_kiralfys Kiralfy's Louisiana Purchase Spectacle]
* [http://archive.org/details/openingceremoni00park The Opening: Universal Exposition, 1904]
* [http://digital.hagley.org/08199001_kiralfys On The Pike]
* [http://www.loc.gov/collections/films-of-westinghouse-works-1904/about-this-collection/#overview Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8PI3QZCJSY Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis, sung by S.H. Dudley in 1904]
* [http://lpe.slpl.org/#exhibit Celebrating the Louisiana Purchase] online exhibit by St. Louis Public Library
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180831104137/https://sosri.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/digitalFile_58d665f1-49e9-469c-b47d-847c6d72b960/ The Rhode Island Building: Louisiana Purchase Exposition St. Louis] from the Rhode Island State Archives
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181009052844/https://catalog.sos.ri.gov/repositories/2/digital_objects/164 World's Fair St. Louis Official Ground Plan] from the Rhode Island State Archives
* {{cite NSRW|wstitle=Louisiana Purchase Exposition|short=x}}
* [http://atthefair.homestead.com At The Fair: The Grandness of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/lpecollection.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition Collection] finding aid at [[St. Louis Public Library]]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/lpesheetmusic.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition Sheet Music Collection] finding aid at [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/lpelanternslides.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition Lantern Slides Finding Aid] at the [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/OfficialPhotos.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition Official Photographer Photos Finding Aid] at the [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/albums.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition Photo Albums Finding Aid] at the [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/Postcards.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition: Postcard Collection Finding Aid] at the [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/stereographcoll.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition: Stereograph Cards Collection Finding Aid] at the [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
* [http://rbsc.slpl.org/Ingersollstereographs.pdf Louisiana Purchase Exposition: Truman Ward Ingersoll Stereograph Cards Collection Finding Aid] at the [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]

{{List of world's fairs in the United States}}
{{List of world exhibitions}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Louisiana Purchase Exposition|*]]
[[Category:1900s in St. Louis]]
[[Category:1904 in Missouri]]
[[Category:Festivals established in 1904]]
[[Category:Human zoos]]
[[Category:Louisiana Purchase|Exposition]]
[[Category:Saint Louis Zoo]]
[[Category:United States historical anniversaries]]
[[Category:Washington University in St. Louis]]