Imperialism (and
Humans) on Display: The 1904
WorldÕs Fair
By Matt Goerss
Summer Fellowship 2010
Lesson #2: Meet Me in St. Louis, Meet Me at the
Place of Nations
To download this lesson in PDF format, click here.
Abstract: In this lesson, students will explore
various international exhibits by Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern
countries at the 1904 WorldÕs Fair.
Students will analyze primary source descriptions and photographs of the
exhibits, and they will determine the purpose and message of the exhibits. Students will also be encouraged to
experience the exhibits as though they were attending the 1904 WorldÕs Fair to
understand how people would have viewed the exhibits at that time.
Essential Questions:
Assessment:
Students will be assessed
based on their ability to analyze the readings and photographs related to the
foreign exhibits at the 1904 WorldÕs Fair. Students will also be assessed on the diary entries that
they created after viewing the Place of Nations exhibit, as well as their
understanding of these exhibits as an example of imperialism.
Procedures:
1)
Setting the Purpose: In
order to understand the purpose and setting of the international exhibits at
the 1904 WorldÕs Fair, the students will begin this lesson by analyzing sources
related to the Place of Nations.
The teacher should begin by handing out the ÒSocial EconomyÓ reading to
the students. When students finish
reading the document, the teacher should then discuss with the class the
purpose of including exhibits from other countries at the WorldÕs Fair. It would also be helpful for the
students to think about the amount of information on foreign countries that
would have been available to the average American who attended the Fair. After this discussion, the teacher
should project the photograph of the Place of Nations. Students should analyze the photograph,
and in particular they should pay attention to the ways that the countries
presented themselves in their exhibits.
Students should also compare this photograph to the photographs they
viewed yesterday of the fairgrounds as a whole.
2)
The teacher
should then divide the students into 6 groups and explain to the students that
they will be going on a tour of the foreign exhibits at the 1904 WorldÕs
Fair. Each of the 6 stations
around the classroom should include artifacts and
readings from the Place of Nations.
As students tour the exhibit, they should view the artifacts as though
they were visitors at the WorldÕs Fair in 1904, and they should think about the
impression of each country that a 1904 visitor would have taken from the
exhibit. As students walk around
the Place of Nations exhibit, they should document the sources that they view
on the Place of Nations Analysis Sheet.
The
6 stations should be set up as follows:
Station
#1: China Exhibit Reading
(background information about the China
Station #2: Photographs from the China exhibit
Station
#3: Photographs from the
Japanese and ÒMysterious AsiaÓ (India,
Station
#4: Photographs from the
Middle East exhibits (Jerusalem, Damascus,
Station
#5: Reading and photographs
from the Brazil exhibit
Station
#6: Photographs from the
Mexico exhibit
3)
When students
finish their tour of the Place of Nations exhibit, the teacher may want to
discuss as a class the various impressions to the exhibits. Possible discussion questions include:
á
Why might these
countries have presented themselves in this way?
á
Why would Fair
organizers have wanted to put these countries on display?
á
How might
American visitors have viewed the artifacts and displays at the exhibits?
á
How might visitors
have compared these exhibits to American displays at the Fair?
á
How do these
exhibits illustrate the growing importance of American imperialism in the
early-20th century?
4)
After viewing
the Place of Nations exhibit, students should complete a diary entry in which
they reflect on their impressions of the exhibit. The teacher should explain to the students that they should
write this entry as though they were viewing the Fair in 1904, and they should
include their impressions on the artifacts and people that they saw. They should also use their knowledge of
early-20th century American society to compare the ÒprogressÓ of the
countries they have seen to American ÒprogressÓ at the time. This diary entry should be at least 1
page (single-spaced) in length and must include a discussion of the artifacts
viewed in the exhibit.
Analysis of Local Primary Sources: During
this lesson, students will analyze numerous photographs of exhibits and
artifacts from the 1904 WorldÕs Fair.
These artifacts will help to recreate some of the exhibits that were on
display at the Fair.
Ties to National Primary Sources: During
this lesson, students will read excerpts from national publications about the
1904 WorldÕs Fair in St. Louis.
These publications were written during and shortly after the Fair and
will give context to the images that students view in the Place of Nations
exhibit.
List of Materials and Resources:
ÒSocial EconomyÓ reading
from The Universal Exposition of 1904
ÒThe Place of Nations from
AboveÓ Photograph
China Exhibit Reading from History of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
ÒMysterious AsiaÓ Exhibit
photographs
Middle East Exhibit
photographs
Brazil Exhibit Reading from History of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
