It was 1904 and the World's Fair in St Louis, Missouri buzzed with excitement. The World's Fair was to be the Centennial celebration of the 1804 Louisiana Purchase from France. It was going to be the event of the century. In the words of David Francis who was the chief executive of the Louisiana Purchase, it was to "demonstrate to visitors that human history has reached its "apotheosis" in Forest Park," the venue for the World's Fair. The $15 million that was spent to create such an extravaganza showed that no expense was spared. The Fairgrounds covered 1,000 acres ( 405 hectares).
It was a pivotal and contentious moment in American history, when in the midst of a new industrial era, the United States of America celebrated itself as a growing imperial force. The World's Fair of 1904 was designed to showcase American glory, American democracy, American economy. On display were the greatest technological innovations of the time: outdoor electric lighting, an X-ray machine, a wireless telephone, the private automobile. The United States of America was ready to announce that it had "arrived." It was now a world power. It had reached the pinnacle of achievement. "And all this was on display, " wrote History Prof. Kastor of the Washington University in St. Louis.
Just a few years earlier, the United States took control over Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico when it prevailed in the Spanish-American War. Prof. Kastor further remarked that the country celebrated this military conquests at the Fair with "living anthropology" exhibits, putting indigenous peoples from around the world on display. To the 20 million attendees, it was a thrilling spectacle.
Forty-seven acres ( approximately 20 hectares) were dedicated to showcase America's newly acquired colony, the Philippines. Indeed, a novel idea and a grandiose one. Each American state built a pavilion, including the State of Louisiana. Somehow, the Philippine allotment was the largest of all. The U.S. Congress appropriated US$1.5 million—a hefty sum in those days. But no amount would be spared to build more than 130 buildings of which five of them would show off the natural resources of the new colony and all its commercial possibilities: a Forestry Building; a Mining Building; an Agricultural Building; a Commercial Building. Actually these "buildings" were called "palaces" for they were indeed palatial. The Forestry building was a massive wooden structure made of 100 different kinds of wood indigenous to the islands. Its roof and sides were thatched, made from nipa palms. The Forestry brochure boasted of 50,000,000 acres of virgin timberland, ready for cutting. The Fisheries building displayed the largest collection of seashells in the world and a thousand mounted specimens of different fishes from the waters of the islands. The Ethnological Museum housed the most extensive exhibit of crafts, clothing, pottery and implements of the various tribes.
Reproductions of ancient structures like the Manila Cathedral and the Ayuntamiento ( the seat of Spanish colonial power) were on display as well as entire villages of the Visayans, Bagobos, Samals, "Moros" ( as they were called back then), Igorots, Tingguianes, Negritos and 30 other tribes. These replicas were actually "stocked " with over a thousand men, women, and children as living exhibits. Over 70,000 exhibits from the finest ethnographic, church, provincial and private collections all over the island were crated and travelled the 12,000 miles to St. Louis, Missouri.
The "Philippine Reservation" as it was called, had its own lake that was linked to the exposition grounds by three bridges. On the lake were an assortment of native boats: vintas, paros, bancas, cascos, and different types of fishing vessels. What a colorful sight that must have been ! A huge parade ground-encampment housed the 700 Philippine Scouts, Constabulary soldiers and military band members that marched each day carrying the Stars and Stripes to the delight of the Fair attendees. The Exposition had three restaurants, its own power plant, and a hospital.
One wonders what America's intention was with this mind-boggling logistics and spectacular display. Where in those exhibits were the likes of the accomplished Christian Filipinos; the celebrated ophthalmologist Dr. Jose Rizal who authored several novels in Spanish that triggered the Spanish-Philippine Revolution, the painter Juan Luna from the Ilocos region who was once the toast of the European art scene, and whose "Spoliarium" garnered the first gold medal in the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1884 ? A more accurate image of the newly-acquired colony would have been a display of a town's plaza which consisted of a church, a La Alcaldia, an escuela de la Iglesia, in addition to showcasing the Filipinos' religious customs - the altar in every home, the town fiestas whose dates revolved around the birthdays of the patron saints, regional cuisines and costumed dances which were the pride and hallmark of every locality.
What did these exhibits imply about America's objectives toward her newly-acquired colony? The portrayal of the Igorots as dog-eaters and headhunters spoke volumes. It is as if America was saying "we need to tame these savages, we need to Christianize these dog-eaters and headhunters and the only way is to place them under our control." That the Philippine Reservation was called a "reservation" in the first place reflected an important fact about the racial imagination of the Fair organizers. Furthermore, the American Governor General of the new colony, William Howard Taft argued, "the Fair would exert a very great influence on completing the pacification of the Philippines by creating a cadre of Filipinos who would be informed about the wonders of modern civilization and overawed by its inexorability." In light of that remark, one could argue that the Philippine Reservation was a "civilizationist psy-op"—an act of psychological warfare. And what about the Agricultural, Forestry, and Fisheries palaces? what were they trying to portray ? That there was an abundance of natural resources: metals such as gold and silver to be mined, timber to be cut, exotic woods to be had... the commercial possibilities were definitely endless.
Whatever America's designs were, it appeared that America wanted a lofty justification for having acquired a whole nation whose people have been under colonial rule for over 300 years, a people who just tried six years earlier to throw off the yoke of domination from another colonial master, a people who have been "yearning" to breathe free." Surely, the "cradle of liberty" felt a need to exhibit its benevolence.
The World's Fair of 1904 was supposed to be the Centennial celebration for the State of Louisiana. Somehow America's newly-acquired colony "stole" the show. A stunning visual extravaganza it certainly was. But it distorted images of the Philippines and its people. The St. Louis "Potemkin village" is gone, for it was dismantled after the Fair. However, the work of dismantling the intellectual foundations that the Fair left behind endures.
Noralyn Onto Dudt is a history buff who lives in North Bethesda, Maryland. She writes historical narratives when she needs a break from writing about the Corona vaccines.