Editing Jamestown Exposition (section)

==Exhibitions==

In time, things improved, and portions of the event became spectacular. Planners asked each US state to contribute a building to the Exposition. While some of these buildings offered exhibits on the states' history and industry, others primarily served as quasi-embassies for visitors from the state, providing sitting rooms and guest services. Lack of interest or funds prevented participation by all, but 21 states funded houses, which bore their names: for example, Pennsylvania House, Virginia House, New Hampshire House, etc. During the exposition, days were set aside to honor the states individually. The governor of each state usually appeared to greet visitors to the state's house on these days. On June 10, 1907, "Georgia Day," [[Theodore Roosevelt]] returned to the Exposition, delivering a speech on the steps of the Georgia Building, which had been modeled after his mother's family's home. [[Emily Nelson Ritchie McLean]], the President General of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]], was also in attendance.

The {{cvt|340|acre|adj=on}} site included a {{convert|122|by|60|ft|m|abbr=on}} relief model of the [[Panama Canal]], a wild animal show, a Wild West show, and a re-creation of the then-recent [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|San Francisco earthquake]]. Possibly the most popular attraction was a re-creation of the [[Battle of Hampton Roads]], the first battle between two [[ironclad]] warships, the [[USS Monitor|USS ''Monitor'']] and the [[Confederate States Navy|CSS]] [[CSS Virginia|''Virginia'']], which had taken place within sight of Sewell's Point 40 years earlier during the [[US Civil War|Civil War]]. The exterior of the Merrimac-Monitor Building looked somewhat like a battleship, while the interior held a large, circular exhibit describing the battle.

===International Naval Review===
[[File:Sailors on ship deck salute at ship passing by LCCN2010645470 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|US Navy officers saluting President Roosevelt onboard [[USS Mayflower (PY-1)|USS ''Mayflower'']]]]
[[File:Tsukuba (1907) 1.jpg|thumb|right|Japanese battlecruiser ''Tsukuba'']]
Source:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/mp76000258/|title=International naval review, Hampton Roads, Virginia, 1907|website=[[Library of Congress]] }}</ref>

The event included the naval review of warship fleets on June 10 by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], who arrived on the presidential yacht [[USS Mayflower (PY-1)|''Mayflower'']]. As the news coverage of [[Battle of Tsushima]], [[Treaty of Portsmouth]], and President Roosevelt winning the 1906 [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for hosting the peace treaty conference at [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard|Portsmouth]] were fresh in the mind of people, display of naval and military technology was an important theme that distinguished this exposition from the [[World's fair|World Fairs]] in the past.<ref>{{cite web|title=Roosevelt fought hard for 1907 Jamestown Expo|first=Devon Hubbard|last=Sorlie|year=2007|publisher=Military Newspapers of Virginia|url=https://www.militarynews.com/norfolk-navy-flagship/news/navy_history/roosevelt-fought-hard-for-1907-jamestown-expo/article_0618e401-6a52-5f13-b884-4d10deb9e077.html}}</ref> The review included the sixteen [[battleship]]s of the US Navy Atlantic Fleet including [[USS Georgia (BB-15)|USS Georgia]] and many warships from foreign countries. One such example was the Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser [[Japanese cruiser Tsukuba|''Tsukuba'']], displaying the newest naval concept of a '[[Battlecruiser]]' that had the speed of a cruiser with the firepower and protective armor of a battleship.<ref>The term 'battlecruiser' in the English language was first used by [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|First Sea Lord John Fisher]] later in 1908.</ref>

[[Mark Twain]] and [[Henry H. Rogers]] also paid a visit, arriving in the latter's yacht ''Kanawha''. Ships of two squadrons commanded by Admiral [[Robley D. Evans (admiral)|Robley D. Evans]] stood off in the bay from Sewell's Point. On opening day, an international fleet of fifty-one ships was on display. The assembly included 16 battleships, five cruisers, and six destroyers. The US Navy warships remained in [[Hampton Roads]] after the exposition closed and became President Theodore Roosevelt's [[Great White Fleet]] under Admiral Evans, which toured the globe as evidence of the nation's military might.

In addition to the ships anchored at Hampton Roads, the exposition provided a campground sufficient to house five thousand troops. Military and "semi-military" men in uniform were admitted for fifty cents for a day's admission. They were permitted to come and go after that as long as they were encamped at the exposition grounds and drilled regularly on the parade ground. This accounts for many of the 43% of people tallied entering the fair daily who did not pay admission. The organizers felt the troops provided informal entertainment and were an attraction to the exposition.

===Other technologies===
[[File:PostcardJamestownPennaRailroadSystemAtJamestownExpo1907.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pennsylvania Railroad]] exhibit|alt=Pennsylvania Railroad exhibit]]
The railroads put on elaborate displays. The [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] (C&O) displayed its entire F.F.V. passenger train. The [[New York Central]] (NYC) electric engine on display was part of its [[Grand Central Terminal#Grand Central Station|Grand Central Station]] modernization project in [[New York, New York|New York City]]. The [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (PRR) brought a {{convert|23|ft|m|adj=on}}-diameter section of its new East River Tunnel. The same section was later installed underwater as part of the link to the new [[Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963)|Penn Station]] in [[New York City]], with an inscription that it had been displayed at the Jamestown Exposition.

Other technology included late-model automobiles, auto-boats, and electric and steam traction engines, each in its highest stage of development.

===Negro Building===
[[File:Negro Building Jamestown Exposition.jpeg|thumb|right|248px|Negro Building, Jamestown Exposition]]
[[File:1907 Negro Building at the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition.png|thumb|A working branch of ''[[Grand United Order of True Reformers|The True Reformers Savings Bank]]'' at the 1907 Negro Building at the Jamestown Exposition|alt=A working branch of The True Reformers Savings Bank at the 1907 Negro Building at the Jamestown Exposition]]
A controversial feature of the exposition was its "Negro Building," designed by [[W. Sydney Pittman]], which displays showed the progress of [[African American]]s. Richmond lawyer and businessman [[Giles Beecher Jackson]] was a leader in the formation of the Negro Department at the Jamestown Exposition and had worked hard to raise funds for the exhibition.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Lauranett L. |author-link=Lauranett L. Lee |title=Giles B. Jackson (1853–1924) |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/jackson-giles-b-1853-1924/ |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=[[Encyclopedia Virginia]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Washington |first=Booker T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKQFIz6d1b4C |title=Booker T. Washington Papers Volume 5: 1899-1900. Assistant Editor, Barbara S. Kraft |last2=Harlan |first2=Louis R. |date=March 1977 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-00627-2 |pages=555 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ruiter |first=Brian de |title=Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition of 1907 |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/jamestown-ter-centennial-exposition-of-1907/ |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Negro Building exhibit was charged with being a "[[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow]] affair" and criticized by prominent figures like [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] who voiced his complaint in ''[[Appeal to Reason (newspaper)|Appeal to Reason]]''. However, other Black Americans saw the Negro Building as an achievement. The organizer, Giles B. Jackson, felt that having the exhibition in a separate Negro Hall allowed for a greater variety and completeness of presentation and that it could better highlight the achievements of African Americans. He said a separate building demonstrated black "capacity as a producer and the maker of anything and everything that has been made by other races."<ref name=":0" /> For fairgoers sharing his opinion, many of whom were Black middle-class Southerners, the Negro Building represented an achievement that few white Southerners would have thought possible: the building was architecturally elegant, designed and built by blacks, with funds raised by blacks. A series of dioramas by [[Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller]], a black woman artist from Philadelphia, comprised the first artwork done by an African American with federal funds.<ref name=":0" />

Exhibits from both occupational and classical black educational institutions were represented. While the Exposition was a money-loser and derided by many in the press, the Negro Hall achieved nearly universal praise. It was the only exhibit visited by President Roosevelt in either of his visits. Although most commercial ventures lost money, the branch bank in the Negro Hall, affiliated with a local African-American institution, recorded one of the Exposition's only profits, doing $75,731.87 in business in the course of the fair.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Jackson|first=Giles B.|title=The Industrial History of the Negro Race of the United States|publisher=[[Negro Educational Association]]|year=1911|isbn=978-1011191642|location=}}</ref>