May 1, 1901, marked the opening day of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.
According to the Geneva Daily Times, the first Genevan to visit it was James R. Vance, president of the Vance Boiler Works. He was exclusively concerned with cost: “It will cost $100 to see all there is to see. … The shortest time required to see everything is at least 10 days. … A first-class room, including breakfast, can be had at Buffalo at a dollar a day.” He conceded that those who could not afford $100 for 10 days “may expend $25 to great advantage and get a fair idea of the exhibition.” He also advised that “the grounds are at present in a muddy condition and only a few of the midway places are open.”
For comparative purposes, $100 in 1901 would today have a purchasing power of $3,884.86.
Vance sounds like he would be as much fun as contracting tetanus.
Eight million visitors wondered at the marvels of the exposition between May and November. The Lehigh Railroad offered special excursion rates, promising to deliver Genevans to Buffalo in 2½ hours.
The Exposition was the first of its kind to have a theme and design elements intended to symbolize it. Conceptually, the vision was one of harmony among the nations of Canada, the United States, and Central and South America. To symbolize this, the architects invented the Free Renaissance style, blending the Spanish Renaissance architecture of the former Spanish colonies with elements of the Italian Renaissance.
The design of the main Court of the Fountains invoked a vision of the Renaissance (past) and the promise of a new Renaissance of arts and commerce. At the heart of the Exposition was the 375-foot-tall Electric Tower, lit with thousands of electric light bulbs. As the central feature of the Exposition, it celebrated the harnessing of Niagara Falls to provide energy for the promising future. At night, it glowed with changing colors and the adjacent buildings were outlined in tiny light bulbs.
The Electric Tower was at the far end of the Court of the Fountain, flanked by buildings exhibiting the progress of Electricity, Machinery and Transportation, Agriculture, Manufactures, and the Liberal Arts. This courtyard was surrounded by a canal, where visitors could ride in a Venetian gondola. The Electric Tower, Renaissance-style bridges, domed buildings, sculptures, and ornamentation were intended to amaze the visitor in a pleasurable way. The same can be said of the decision to paint the exteriors of the exhibit halls in a variety of harmonious colors, something which had not been done at other expositions — hence the name Rainbow City.
The contributions of African Americans to American progress and culture would have been missing had it not been for the campaign by the African American community in Buffalo for an exhibit representing their history since the Civil War. Located in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building, it presented the talents, abilities, and persistence of African Americans through photographs, statistical charts, literature, and descriptions of patents.
While the “American Negro Exhibit” challenged racist stereotypes, other exhibits reinforced them.
The Court of the Fountains included two Midways, which were paid concessions and were not part of the official exhibits. The “Plantation” concession included small slave cabins, and hired actors performing outdoor work, or music and dance associated with the odd, white American nostalgia for the Southern plantations as conceived in the popular imagination.
The “Dahomey Village,” also on the Midway, was a typical “African” village, where the paid reenactors from West Africa performed traditional music and dancing, demonstrations of craft, and daily tasks. Promoters invited paid customers to witness “Savage” or “Primitive” Africa, rather than fostering an understanding of the oppression of colonial rule.
In a similar vein, the “Indian Village,” which also was a Midway concession, consisted of tipis, cooking fires and daily activity, costumed participants from the Plains tribes, and staged battles reminiscent of the Wild West shows.
By way of contrast, the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) long house was included in official exhibits representing the Native people of New York State. Visitors could walk through the long house, see demonstrations of craftwork and domestic life, and learn from Seneca docents who provided historical context.
The most popular Midway attraction was the “Trip to the Moon.” Voyagers were seated in a small theatre. Outside the portholes, scenery on large drums rolled past, and the spaceship the Luna felt as if it were moving.
An April 11 advanced notice in the Times promised that the Luna would travel at a “terrific velocity” as the wind blows on the passengers’ faces. The craft arrives and, as voyagers disembark, they are greeted by the King, the Man in the Moon. Moon People show their visitors shops and fantastical buildings in Moon City, and dance for their guests, who then take their seats in the Luna for the return trip “made with complete safety.”
Who wouldn’t pay to go on that ride? It must have been no less of a giggle than watching a jar of Nutella float past the Artemis II astronauts 125 years later.
Dear reader, I know you are aware that tragedy struck at the Pan-American Exposition when President McKinley was shot by an anarchist. That was on Sept. 6. We shall return to the Exposition at that time to learn how the Geneva Daily Times reported the terrible events of that day and the days following as McKinley clung to life.
For now, I hope you have enjoyed imagining how a Genevan in 1901 would have experienced the Exposition.
Linda Robertson is a retired faculty member from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where she started the Media and Society Program. She has made several documentaries about the history of abolition in upstate New York, including Geneva. Her new historical novel, “The Lusitania Code: A Lady Butterschloss Mystery” (Level Best Books, 2026), is now available at all major online booksellers.