Editing Centennial Exposition (section)

== Planning==
The idea of the Centennial Exposition is credited to John L. Campbell, a professor of mathematics, [[natural philosophy]], and astronomy at [[Wabash College]] in [[Crawfordsville, Indiana]].<ref name="images7">{{cite book |last=Gross |first=Linda P. |author2=Theresa R. Snyder |title=Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition |year=2005 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |page=7 |isbn=0-7385-3888-4}}</ref> In December 1866, Campbell suggested to [[Philadelphia]] Mayor [[Morton McMichael]] that the United States Centennial be celebrated with an exposition in Philadelphia. Naysayers argued that the project would not be able to find funding, other nations might not attend, and domestic exhibits might compare poorly to foreign ones.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=460}}

The [[Franklin Institute]] became an early supporter of the exposition and asked the [[Philadelphia City Council]] for use of [[Fairmount Park]]. With reference to the numerous events of national importance that were held in the past and related to the city of Philadelphia, the City Council resolved in January 1870 to hold the Centennial Exposition in the city in 1876.{{Citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The Philadelphia City Council and the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]] created a committee to study the project and seek support of the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]]. Congressman [[William D. Kelley]] spoke for the city and state, and [[Daniel Johnson Morrell]] introduced a [[Bill (proposed law)|bill]] to create a United States Centennial Commission. The bill, which passed on March 3, 1871, provided that the U.S. government would not be liable for any expenses.

The United States Centennial Commission organized on March 3, 1872, with [[Joseph Roswell Hawley|Joseph R. Hawley]] of [[Connecticut]] as president. The Centennial Commission's commissioners included one representative from each state and territory in the United States.<ref name="images7" /> On June 1, 1872, Congress created a Centennial Board of Finance to help raise money. The board's president was [[John Welsh (diplomat)|John Welsh]], brother of philanthropist William Welsh, who had raised funds for the Great Sanitary Fair in 1864.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=460}} The board was authorized to sell up to $10 million in stock via $10 shares. The board sold $1,784,320 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1784320|1873|r=0}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation-fn|US}}) worth of shares by February 22, 1873. Philadelphia contributed $1.5 million and Pennsylvania gave $1 million. On February 11, 1876, Congress appropriated $1.5 million in a loan.

The board initially thought it was a [[subsidy]]. (And in fact, after the exposition ended, the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] sued to have the money returned, and the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] ultimately forced repayment.) John Welsh therefore enlisted help from the women of Philadelphia who had helped him in the Great Sanitary Fair. A Women's Centennial Executive Committee was formed with Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, a great-granddaughter of [[Benjamin Franklin]], as president. In its first few months, the group raised $40,000. When the group learned the planning commission was not doing much to display the work of women, it raised an additional $30,000 for a women's exhibition building.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=461}}

In 1873, the Centennial Commission named [[Alfred T. Goshorn]] as the director general of the Exposition. The Fairmount Park Commission set aside {{convert|450|acre|km2}} of West Fairmount Park for the exposition, which was dedicated on July 4, 1873,{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=460}} by [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] [[George M. Robeson]]. The Commission decided to classify the exhibits into seven departments: agriculture, art, education and science, horticulture, machinery, manufactures, and mining and metallurgy. Newspaper publisher [[John W. Forney]] agreed to head and pay for a Philadelphia commission sent to Europe to invite nations to exhibit at the exposition. Despite fears of a European boycott and [[Tariffs in United States history|high American tariff]]s making foreign goods not worthwhile, no European country declined the invitation.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=462}}

To accommodate out-of-town visitors, temporary [[hotel]]s were constructed near the exposition's grounds. A Centennial Lodging-House Agency made a list of rooms in hotels, [[boarding house]]s, and private homes and then sold tickets for the available rooms in cities promoting the Centennial or on trains heading for Philadelphia. [[Philadelphia streetcars]] increased service, and the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] ran special trains from Philadelphia's [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]], [[New York City]], [[Baltimore]], and [[Pittsburgh]]. The [[Reading Company|Philadelphia and Reading Railroad]] ran special trains from the [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]] part of Philadelphia. A small hospital was built on the exposition's grounds by the Centennial's Medical Bureau, but despite a [[heat wave]] during the summer, no mass health crises occurred.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|pp=467–468}}

Philadelphia passed an ordinance that authorized Mayor William S. Stokley to appoint 500 men as Centennial Guards for the exposition. Among soldiers and local men hired by the city was [[Frank Geyer]], best known for investigating one of America's first serial killers, [[H. H. Holmes]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Pennsylvania and the Centennial Exposition: Comprising the Preliminary and Final Reports of the Pennsylvania Board of Centennial Managers Made to the Legislature at the Sessions of 1877–8 |last=Pennsylvania Board of Centennial Managers |publisher=Gillan & Nagle |year=1878 |location=Pennsylvania |pages=97–99}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Detective in the White City: The Real Story of Frank Geyer |last=Crighton |first=JD |publisher=RW Publishing House |year=2017 |isbn=9781946100023 |location=Murrieta, CA |pages=28–29}}</ref> Centennial Guards policed exhibits, kept the peace, reunited lost children, and received, recorded, and when possible, returned lost items, the most unusual of which were front hair pieces and false teeth.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Pennsylvania and the Centennial Exposition: Comprising the Preliminary and Final Reports of the Pennsylvania Board of Centennial Managers Made to the Legislature at the Sessions of 1877–8 |last=Pennsylvania Board of Centennial Managers |publisher=Gillan & Nagle |year=1878 |location=Pennsylvania |pages=98}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Detective in the White City: The Real Story of Frank Geyer |last=Crighton |first=JD |publisher=RW Publishing House |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-946100-02-3 |location=Murrieta, CA |pages=29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Memorial of the International Exhibition |last=Burr |first=Samuel |publisher=L. Stebbins |year=1877 |location=Hartford, CT |pages=757–59}}</ref>

Guards were required to live onsite and were housed at six police stations strategically located throughout the Exposition. A magistrate's office and courtroom were located at the only two-story police station located on the grounds and was used to conduct prisoner hearings. Officers slept in cramped quarters, which fostered health issues. Eight guards died while working the Exposition, six from [[typhoid fever]], one from [[smallpox]], and one from organic disease of the heart.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Illustrated History of the Centennial Exposition Held in Commemoration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of American Independence |last=McCabe |first=James D. |publisher=The National Publishing Company |year=1876 |location=Philadelphia, PA |pages=620}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Detective in the White City: The Real Story of Frank Geyer |last=Crighton |first=JD |publisher=RW Publishing House |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-946100-02-3 |location=Murrieta, CA |pages=29–30}}</ref>

The [[Centennial National Bank]] was chartered on January 19, 1876, to be the "financial agent of the board at the Centennial Exhibition, receiving and accounting for daily receipts, changing foreign moneys into current funds, etc.," according to an article three days later in ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]''. Its main branch, designed by [[Frank Furness]], was opened that April on the southeast corner of [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]] and 32nd Street. A branch office operated during the exposition on the fairgrounds.<ref name="brynmawr2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/uphp/AABN/centbank/centbank.html |title=Centennial National Bank |access-date=2010-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606200738/http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/uphp/AABN/centbank/centbank.html |archive-date=2010-06-06 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Centennial Commission ran out of funds for printing and other expenses.

Philadelphia city officials appropriated $50,000 to make up for the shortfall.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Pennsylvania and the Centennial Exposition: Comprising the Preliminary and Final Reports of the Pennsylvania Board of Centennial Managers Made to the Legislature at the Sessions of 1877–8 |last=Pennsylvania Board of Centennial Managers |publisher=Gillan & Nagle |year=1878 |location=Pennsylvania |pages=93, 244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Detective in the White City: The Real Story of Frank Geyer |last=Crighton |first=JD |publisher=RW Publishing House |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-946100-02-3 |location=Murrieta, CA |pages=30}}</ref>