SESQUI EXPO TURNS OUT TO BE A SHARED CELEBRATION BETWEEN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA & STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On October 6, 1926, the District of Columbia "was forced to share honors...with the State of South Carolina at the Sesquicentennial Exposition*" held here in Philadelphia.
The Evening Star reports that this turn of events was "much to the amazement" of hundreds of Washingtonians who came on special trains "to take part in the ceremonies."
They did not learn about the shared celebration until after they "marched through the exposition gates" and "discovered the banners of South Carolina flying beside those of the District."
The Star reports that the South Carolina day program "did not interfere with the District day ceremonies."
JFK+50 NOTE
The fair attracted only 4.6 million paid visitors when 30 million were expected. One of the problems was the weather. It rained on 107 of the 184 days the fair was open.
According to Ghosts of D.C., "Philadelphia got the world's fair. Washington got something better...a party the city built for itself, block by block, from Petworth to Takoma Park."
*Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition (May 31-Nov 30 1926) was a world's fair which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
Variety magazine called the PSE "America's Greatest Flop." The fair had lost $20 million by August 1926.
SOURCES
"July 4, 1926: How Washington Celebrated America's 150th Birthday," Ghosts of D.C., www.ghostsofdc.org/
"Washingtonians Find South Carolina Shares District Day Honor at Sesqui," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., October 6, 1926, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
