Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Abstract:
- Balboa Park, originally known as City Park, was established in 1869 as an open natural space dedicated to public use and recreation. The park as we know it today was developed in the early 20th century in preparation for the Panama-California International Exposition. At the time, San Diego was a small city with a population under 40,000, and it sought to raise its profile by hosting the exposition. The event was designed to celebrate San Diego's role as the first port of call northwest of the Panama Canal. Although San Diego competed with the much larger San Francisco for state and federal funding to host the "official" Panama fair, San Francisco ultimately won the bid and hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. Undeterred, San Diego decided to move forward with plans for its own fair. Two local entrepreneurs, Ulysses S. Grant Jr. and John D. Spreckels, founded the Panama-California Exposition Company to help raise funds for the event. By 1910, the company had raised over a million dollars, and the City of San Diego contributed an additional million from its Parks Fund to support the development of the fair. The Panama-California International Exposition was held in Balboa Park from 1915 to 1917 and was such a resounding success that San Diego chose to keep many of the fair's buildings, integrating them into permanent museums and structures within the park. In 1935, the city hosted a second exposition, the Pacific-California International Exposition, aimed at boosting the local economy during the Great Depression. Additional information about the 1935 exposition can be found in a separate collection at the San Diego Public Library.
- Extent:
- 12 boxes, 8.7 cu. ft.
- Language:
- Preferred citation:
-
Panama California Exposition Collection. San Diego Public Library
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection consists of records maintained by the San Diego Park Department regarding the Panama-California Exposition, primarily spanning the years 1913 to 1919. The materials document various aspects of the planning, construction, and execution of the exposition. The bulk of the collection focuses on the operational and logistical details of organizing the event. Included are legal agreements with concessions and exhibitors, correspondence, and annual reports. The provenance of the collection is unverified, as the materials were previously sorted in 1972.
- Acquisition information:
- San Diego Parks Department
- Processing information:
-
April Mettler, 2015 and Kayla Beard, 2024
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
San Diego Public Library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claims of the copyright holder. Permission to copy or publish any portion of San Diego Public Library's collection must be given by the San Diego Public Library.
- Preferred citation:
-
Panama California Exposition Collection. San Diego Public Library
- Location of this collection:
-
330 Park Blvd.San Diego, CA 92101, US
- Contact:
- (619) 238-6668