Colonialism on Display at the 1904 World's Fair

TW: human trafficking, racism, colonialism

https://lccn.loc.gov/2019634238 The Carl Hagenbeck greater shows. The East Indian colony in ceremonial pomp [graphic]. Buffalo : Courier Litho. Co., c1906. 1 print (poster) : col. photo lithograph ; sheet 28 x 36 cm (poster format) POS - CIRCUS - Hagenbeck, 1906 no. 3

Prior to World War II it was not unusual for colonized people to be exhibited in traveling shows, circuses, even zoos throughout Europe and the United States. In theory, such exhibitions were considered educational and provided Western audiences the opportunity to engage with people and cultures from all over the world. But despite the prohibition of slavery throughout much of Europe and the in United States via the 13th Amendment, colonized people exhibited in the West during the 19th and 20th century were vulnerable to forced labor, disease, as well as physical and sexual abuse. However, even with willing participants and paid performers, these events were often dehumanizing, objectifying, and exploitative.

https://lccn.loc.gov/2018696787 "St. Louis exposition medallion design" [graphic]. St. Louis : [publisher not transcribed], 1904. Copyright 1904 May 3 1 print : chromolithograph ; sheet 92 x 122 cm. or less. PAGA 7, no. 2768

Notable examples include Saartjie Baartman, Ota Benga, and the hundreds of Congolese people held captive in King Leopold II of Belgium’s human zoo. These exhibitions embody the intersection of imperialism and white supremacy, particularly around the turn of the century. The most ostentatious representation of these themes was not only on display but was the highlight of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

Visitors marveled at new technologies like the x-ray machine, infant incubator, and the private automobile. Consumer products like hot dogs, the electric typewriter, and the ice cream cone also debuted to the masses. There were lighthearted curiosities as well, like Beautiful Jim Key, “the most wonderfully educated horse in the world”. Fair goers were immersed in an atmosphere of culture, technology, exoticism, and modernity with the United States at the center of it all.

https://lccn.loc.gov/99471922 Geronimo and Apaches at the St. Louis Fair [graphic]. [1904] 1 photographic print. LOT 12980 [item]

Officially titled the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the 1904 Fair was a celebration of American expansionism both on the North American continent and around the world. American conquests on view included the legendary Apache leader Geronimo who was displayed at the Fair by the United States government while a prisoner of war. In his autobiography Geronimo recounts his six month stay at the fair during which time he sold photos and autographs for as much as twenty-five cents and he was permitted to keep ten. He mentions receiving invitations to visit at people’s homes but his “keeper always refused”

The United States had acquired Alaska though the 1867 Treaty with Russia and subsequent gold strikes would capture the interest and imagination of the American public. A mock village complete with indigenous people was erected at the Fair and drew considerable attention.

https://lccn.loc.gov/92511655 Underwood & Underwood. Play-fellows from the frozen Arctic--Eskimo youngsters and their tame bear, World's Fair, St. Louis, U.S.A. [graphic]. New York : Underwood & Underwood, publishers, c1904. 1 photographic print on stereo card : stereograph. LOT 11043-9 <item>

While the purpose of these ethnographic exhibitions was to demonstrate American progress in its territories, the dioramas often reinforced racial and ethnic stereotypes and exaggerated caricatures of these cultures. A booklet published as a companion to the Fair describes the “Esquimaux Village” performance as more informative than “a whole library of books”.

The largest exhibit was a representation of the United States’ recent acquisition, the Philippines. The terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris state for the sum of twenty million dollars Spain would cede control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the United States and also relinquish its claim to Cuba. The Philippine-American war followed, and military rule ended in 1902. Displaying indigenous Filipino people at the Fair was a demonstration of the United States as an imperial power.

Over one thousand Filipinos representing thirty tribes were brought to the Fair and displayed in four “villages”. Newspapers and Fair programs focused heavily on the Igorot village and sensationalized and exaggerated their ceremonial customs. A descendant of an Igorot man displayed at the Fair describes his experience in a brief PBS video here.

https://lccn.loc.gov/04017691 The complete portfolio of photographs of the World's fair, St. Louis, 1904; the sights, scenes and wonders of the fair photographed.

These exhibits provided ample opportunity to reinforce the "necessity" of white supremacy over the colonized Other. The juxtaposition of the “primitive” vs the “enlightened” at the Fair is unavoidable. By misrepresenting colonized people as so-called savages, the beneficiaries of imperialist policies hoped to convince the public of the need for U.S. rule and influence around the world. The 1904 World’s Fair was the perfect venue to disseminate these ideas.

The enmeshment of entertainment, education, commodification, and technological wonders with racism, pseudoscience, and human trafficking make the Fair a sort of Trojan horse of colonial thought. Such exhibitions aided in embedding white supremacist concepts throughout the West and we are still reckoning with the consequences today.

Note: This essay is one of 3 produced during my internship last year at the Law Library of Congress. I used Library resources to conduct research on a topic of my choosing in hopes of eventual publication on the Law Library's blog, In Custodia Legis. The goal was to create engaging content for diverse audiences that would highlight the Library's collections as well as make complex legal topics more accessible to the public.