"Planning and Preparing For the World"
John M. Brinker first proposed the idea of holding a Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1895. Brinker, a railroad speculator, presented his suggestion to the American Exhibitors Association during the 1895 Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition. In support of his idea, Brinker showed the Exhibitors Association that 40 million people lived within a twelve-hour train ride of Buffalo. Further, Buffalo's proximity to Canada and Niagara Falls, a major tourist attraction, made it an ideal location to host an exposition celebrating the unity between the nations of the Americas. At the turn of the century, Buffalo was a booming industrial town with enormous wealth and resources. Located on the shores of Lake Erie and at the terminus of the Erie Canal, Buffalo was a major port. Raw materials from the West came through Buffalo as did finished goods from the industrial centers on the East Coast. Buffalo also benefited from the electricity that was beginning to be produced by harnessing the hydroelectric power of nearby Niagara Falls. To the citizens of Buffalo, an exposition seemed a way to showcase Buffalo's attributes to the world.
The world's fair concept began with the Crystal Palace Exhibition, held in London in 1851, and quickly became popular in Europe, spreading to the United States after the Civil War. World's fairs and expositions served to promote the unique qualities of the host city and celebrate the technological and artistic accomplishments of the times. Each fair also had a theme around which the festivities were planned. For example, Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition (1876) celebrated the 100th anniversary of the nation's founding, and the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago celebrated Christopher Columbus's discovery of the New World. Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition was designed to recognize the independence and growth of the nations of the Western Hemisphere and celebrate the advances that had been made during the 19th century. To a certain extent, the Exposition also tried to assure the other nations of the Western Hemisphere that the United States would continue to be a friendly neighbor and ease their concerns about the United States' expanding sphere of influence immediately following the Spanish-American War in 1898.
It took approximately a year and a half to construct the buildings that would make up the Exposition. During the construction of the exposition structures, plans were changed and modified. At the left is a drawing of the proposed, but never implemented, Exposition grounds published by Harper's Weekly as well as a bird's eye view of the actual Exposition grounds. Most of the buildings were made of wood and plaster and were not meant to be permanent structures. Of the buildings built for the Exposition only the New York State Building (now the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is still standing. (The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, financed by a gift from a local businessman, John J. Albright, was intended to serve as the Fine Arts Pavilion for the Exposition, but due to construction delays, the building wasn't completed until 1905. There are however a number of souvenirs from the Exposition featuring the image of the Albright Art Gallery.)
The Story of the Pan-American
Exposition continues in