Friday, July 4, 1919

Very hot beautiful day. Up 10 A.M. Cleaned up etc. To exposition grounds until 10:30 P.M. Visited buildings etc. Great display at night of fireworks, pictures, and music. Fine. To bed 11:45 P.M.

**********
This event was obviously a very big deal for Methodists. Below is some more information about it.
Over one million visitors are estimated to have attended to hear speakers such as World War I war heroes General John J. Pershing and Alvin York, and well-known politicians such as William Jennings Bryan, former President William Taft, and Alice Paul, a national advocate for women’s right to vote. In addition, there was a Ferris wheel, live animals, a Wild West show, and fireworks to entertain the visitors. Over 500 “native” Christian converts were brought from 37 countries in Africa, Asia, and South America, along with parts of their homes and villages and their material culture. Eight international pavilions exhibited a recreated Hindu temple, a miniature desert, along with elephants, camels, and water buffalo, leading one writer at the time to say this was an “opportunity for enjoying what was the best in a circus, a county fair, a picnic, grand opera, drama and the Church--all at one time.”
The above description is taken from a recent issue of The Asbury Journal, a publication of the Asbury Theological Seminary, a Wesleyan seminary located in Wilmore, KY, outside of Lexington.

Below is a picture of the grounds taken from a postcard sent during the event:


This image is taken from the Columbus Metropolitan Library's website called Columbus Memory.

No comments:

Post a Comment