Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition

The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was a regional world's fair held in Seattle in 1909, publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest.

It was originally planned for 1907, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush, but the organizers found out about the Jamestown Exposition being held that year, and rescheduled.

Planning

The fair was evolved from an idea of Godfrey Chealander's. Chealander, then Grand Secretary of the Arctic Brotherhood, was involved in the Alaska Territory exhibit at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon. Originally, he pitched William Sheffield of the Alaska Club and James A. Wood, city editor of the "Seattle Times" on the idea of a permanent exhibit in Seattle about Alaska. This merged with Wood's desire for an exposition to rival Portland's. They soon gained the backing of "Times" publisher Alden Blethen—remarkably, for the time, without gaining the opposition of the rival "Seattle Post-Intelligencer". [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=305–306]

Edmond S. Meany proposed that the exposition be held on the then largely forested campus of the University of Washington, which in 1905 had exactly three buildings and little deliberate landscaping. At the time, this was considered rather far from the center of town, but Meany eventually sold the others involved on the idea that the forested campus could, itself, be an attraction for out-of-town visitors and that the trolley ride from downtown would not be an obstacle to attendance. Of course, he was also highly aware of what the landscaping and structures could do for the campus. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=306–307]

The state legislature endorsed the fair, with the proviso that it would produce at least four permanent buildings, and that any state monetary contribution would be focused mainly on those buildings. King County (the county in which Seattle is located) stepped up with US$300,000 for a forestry exhibit—the largest log cabin ever built—and $78,000 for other exhibits. Because the original Klondike gold strikes had been in Canada, the concept soon evolved to an "Alaska-Yukon Exposition"; later, at the behest of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the "Pacific" theme was also added to emphasize the Oriental trade. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=307]

Although the fair almost certainly could have been ready for 1907, it was postponed so as not to conflict with the Jamestown Exposition. This turned out to be good fortune for Seattle, because 1907 proved to be a bad year for the economy. If the exposition had been held that year it almost certainly would have been a financial failure, rather than the success it was in 1909. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=309–310, 314]

Design and construction

The Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts, were selected to plan the Exposition; the firm was already involved in planning parks and parkways for the City of Seattle. John C. Olmsted visited Seattle in October 1906 and saw the dominant form of Mount Rainier toward the southeast. He selected the mountain as the focus of the primary axis of the AYPE. This axis later became the Rainier Vista of the University of Washington campus.

The principal landscape architect for the fair was the Olmsted firm's James Frederick Dawson. His design centered on a long pool with a series of short waterfalls along Rainier Vista. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=310] John Galen Howard's firm, Howard and Galloway, based in San Francisco, was chosen as supervising architects for the AYPE buildings. They designed several buildings and supervised construction of those designed by other architects.

The fairgrounds were entirely ready for the June 1 1909 opening. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=311]

Exhibits

The only foreign countries to erect entire buildings at the fair were Japan and Canada, but their presence was enough to validate the "Pacific" theme. Other foreign countries were represented on a smaller scale. The very popular King County exhibit included a scale model of the coal mine at nearby Newcastle, Washington and dioramas of several Seattle scenes, the originals of which were only a trolley ride away. the Woman's Building emphasized the role of women in pioneering the American West and in current charity work. The Pay Streak was Seattle's answer to Chicago's Midway and featured games of chance and amusements. There was also a reenactment of the American Civil War naval Battle of Hampton Roads (the Battle of "Monitor" and "Merrimack") [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=311–312]

Attendance

Opening Day, June 1, was declared a city holiday, and 80,000 people attended. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=312] Attendance was even higher—117,013—on "Seattle Day". [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=313] Other big draws were days dedicated to various ethnic groups, fraternal organizations, and U.S. states. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=313–314] By the time the fair closed on October 16, over 3,700,000 had visited.

Publicity

The United States Post Office Department issued a 2-cent postage stamp for the Exposition, depicting a profile of William Seward and inscribed "ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC-1909". At the request of several private vending machine companies, the stamp was also issued imperforate; these were sold at the show by the companies as a promotion. In addition, two machine cancellations were devised: one a flag cancellation including the words "ALASKA-YUKON-PACIFIC / EXPOSITION", and the other, a straight-line design reading "WORLD'S FAIR / SEATTLE / 1909".

Legacies

The primary physical legacy of the AYPE is the planning framework from the fair which continues to shape the University of Washington campus. The Rainier Vista and Drumheller Fountain, the focus of the AYPE, are today the central focus of the Science Quadrangle of the university's overall plan.

Although most of the AYPE buildings were designed as temporary structures, intended to last only for the duration of the AYPE, some were more permanent. The Fine Arts Palace was designed by Howard and Galloway as a chemistry building. It was used during the AYPE for the exhibit of art. After the AYPE was over, chemistry lab tables and other furnishings were moved in and it became the University's primary facility for teaching chemistry. The building was named "Bagley Hall" (after Daniel Bagley) and retained that name until 1937, when a new chemistry building named "Bagley Hall" opened. The older building then became the home of Architecture and Physiology. The building survives today and is known as Architecture Hall.

The AYPE Women's Building also survives. During the AYPE it housed exhibits related to women. Today the building is named Cunningham Hall (after Imogen Cunningham), one of only a few buildings on the University of Washington campus named for women. During the AYPE the building was clad in stucco; today it is faced in wood siding. The building now houses various educational and other programs related to women.

Other buildings from the AYPE survived for a time, but were subsequently demolished as the university grew. An example is the Hoo-Hoo-House, designed by architect Ellsworth Storey, a clubhouse with reception spaces constructed for the Hoo-Hoos, a lumbermen's faternity. After the AYPE, this building served as the faculty club until it was replaced in 1958-60 by the current faculty club.

Another legacy of the fair was the enhanced status of exposition president J. E. Chilberg. Although a respected banker, Chilberg was had never really been one of the city's elite. He was drafted into his position with the fair simply as a man who was known to be good at getting things done, but without consideration by the city's elite that they had just made an outsider into something tantamount to royalty for the duration of a social season. Suddenly, any party at their First Hill home became a major event in the social calendar. He and his wife found themselves dining with a close relative of the emperor of Japan and hosting a French ambassador. [Harvnb|Jones|1972|p=315–316]

A statue of William H. Seward, originally erected for the fair, now stands in Volunteer Park (Seattle).

Anniversary

The year 2009 will be the centennial of the AYPE. The City and University are planning activities to celebrate this anniversary.

Notes

References

* Max Johl, "The United States Postage Stamps of the Twentieth Century" (Lindquist, 1937), vol. 1, pp. 315-319.
* Citation
last =Jones
first =Nard
author-link =Nard Jones
year = 1972
title =Seattle
place =Garden City, New York
publisher =Doubleday
isbn =0385018754

External links

* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/aypweb/index.html University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Photographs] 660 photographs of buildings, grounds, entertainment and exotic attractions.
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/mtfgc.11029 Glimpses of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition] (1909); Digitized page images & text from the Library of Congress.
* — published for the exposition.
* [http://www.AYPE.com AYPE.com] ; An evolving, non-commercial project of image display and text.
* [http://bach.nau.edu/UWDigital/Alaska.html "Alaska, Land of the Midnight Sun"] (Sheet Music written for the AYP) interactive hypermedia at the [http://bach.nau.edu/ BinAural Collaborative Hypertext]
* [http://www.us1909.com us1909.com] ; A comprehensive exhibition of postage stamps issued in 1909, including the Scott 370 & 371, Alaska-Seward issue.