1800s
20th century
A01=James Gilbert
academic
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
america
american
archival
archivist
artifact
Author_James Gilbert
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBJK
Category=HBLW
Category=HBTB
Category=NHK
Category=NHTB
city
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
entertainment
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
fairgoer
Format=BB
Format_Hardback
guidebook
historical
history
Language_English
memories
memory
midwest
missouri
PA=To order
photographs
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
publication
remembering
research
resident
scholarly
softlaunch
st louis
tourism
tourist
united states
urban
usa
victorian
visitor
worlds fair
Product details
- ISBN 9780226293103
- Format: Hardback
- Weight: 709g
- Dimensions: 16 x 24mm
- Publication Date: 01 Dec 2009
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair was a major event in early twentieth-century America. Attracting millions of tourists, it exemplified the Victorian predilection for public spectacle. The Fair has long served as a touchstone for historians interested in American culture prior to World War I and has endured in the memories of generations of St. Louis residents and visitors. In "Whose Fair?" James Gilbert asks: what can we learn about the lived experience of fairgoers when we compare historical accounts, individual and collective memories, and artifacts from the event? Exploring these differing, at times competing, versions of history and memory prompts Gilbert to dig through a rich trove of archival material. He examines the papers of David Francis, the Fair's president and subsequent chief archivist; guidebooks and other official publications; the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis"; diaries, oral histories, and other personal accounts; and a collection of striking photographs. From this dazzling array of sources, Gilbert paints a lively picture of how fairgoers spent their time, while also probing the ways history and memory can complement each other.
James Gilbert is professor of history at the University of Maryland. He is the author of ten books, including Perfect Cities: Chicago's Utopias of 1893 and Men in the Middle: Searching for Masculinity in the 1950s, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
