Main entry:

Moore, Sarah J., 1956-

Title & Author:

Empire on display : San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 / Sarah J. Moore.

Publication:

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2013]
©2013

Description:

xii, 240 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-232) and index.
Introduction. "Stern men with empire in their brains" -- Redefining the frontier in post-Turnerian America : turn-of-the-century World's Fairs and the War of 1898 -- Realizing the centuries-old imperial fantasy : a manly nation builds the Panama Canal -- Rebuilding the City of Dreams : from calamity to the World's Greatest Exposition -- Naturalizing progress and territorial expansion at the Golden Gate : an overview of the Exposition -- From wilderness to tourist site : Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon as dress rehearsals for imperialism -- The thirteenth labor of Hercules : celebrating the erotic embrace of the seas -- Conclusion. Re-creating the world in gigantic miniature.
Dust jacket.

Summary:

The world's fair of 1915 celebrated both the completion of the Panama Canal and the rebuilding of San Francisco following the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire. The exposition spotlighted the canal and the city as gateways to the Pacific, where the American empire could now expand after its victory in the Spanish-American War. Empire on Display is the first book to examine the Panama-Pacific International Exposition through the lenses of art history and cultural studies, focusing on the event's expansionist and masculinist symbolism. The exposition displayed evidence visual, spatial, geographic, cartographic, and ideological of America's imperial ambitions and accomplishments. Representations of the Panama Canal play a central role in Moore's argument, much as they did at the fair itself. Embodying a manly empire of global dimensions, the canal was depicted in statues and a gigantic working replica, as well as on commemorative stamps, maps, murals, postcards, medals, and advertisements. Just as San Francisco's rebuilding symbolized America's will to overcome the forces of nature, the Panama Canal represented the triumph of U.S. technology and sheer determination to realize the centuries-old dream of opening a passage between the seas.

Resources:
Book review (H-Net)

ISBN:

9780806143484 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
0806143487 (hardcover ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
Panama Pacific International Exposition 1915 San Francisco, Calif.
Civil engineering United States History 20th century.
Civil engineering.
Politics and government
United States Politics and government 20th century.
États-Unis Politique et gouvernement 20e siècle.
United States.

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 287037
Call No.: BIB 227754
Status: Available