REPORT OF THE SECRETARY, THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. Celebration, An Act of Congress, approved March 3, 1871, directed that the Centennial Centennial Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence should be celebrated by holding at Philadelphia an International Exhibition International of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine.* The Exhibition. Exhibition was opened in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, on May 10, and closed on November 10, 1876. CREATION OF THE CENTENNIAL COMMISSION. movements, Your Secretary believes that the first suggestion that the Centen- Initial nial Celebration ought to involve an International Exhibition, held at 1866. Philadelphia, was made in a letter written by him in :866 to Mr. Morton McMichael, then Mayor of Philadelphia. Subsequently, I again called Mayor McMichael's attention to the subject, and he con- 1863. ferred upon it with a number of influential citizens of Philadelphia, most of them members of the Franklin Institute. This led to the formation of a committee of citizens, who invited Mr. Daniel J. April, 1869. Morrell, then member of Congress from Pennsylvania, to join them in the consideration of measures to promote an International Exhibition. The first legislative action in the matter began with Mr. John L. Shoemaker's presentation to the Select Council of Philadelphia of a Jan. 20 1870. communication from a committee of the Franklin Institute, which recited the propriety of commemorating the anniversary by an Inter *The full text of the Act is printed in Appendix C, page 101. Initial movements. national Exhibition at Fairmount Park, and requested Councils to memorialize Congress to extend suitable aid.* Mr. Shoemaker then offered resolutions embodying the recommendations of the communication. These were immediately and unanimously adopted by the Jan. 27, 1870. Select Council, as they were a week later by the Common Council, and a joint committee from both chambers was appointed to present the resolutions to Congress and solicit its requisite legislation.† Soon after, the Legislature of Pennsylvania took similar action and appointed a similar committee. These two committees united with one named by the Franklin Institute; and the joint committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. J. L. Shoemaker, and accompanied by Mr. Feb. 24, 1870. Daniel M. Fox, Mayor of Philadelphia, waited upon Congress and presented their memorial to the Committee on Manufactures, to whom it was referred.‡ The definite proposal to hold an International Exhibition instantly elicited the emulation of different sections of the country; and the representatives of many cities, ignoring the historical claim put forward by Philadelphia, sought its location with themselves. For a long time this opposition prevented the legislation desired of Congress. During the interval thus occasioned much work was done in Philadelphia by those interested in the celebration, and the Mayor addressed April 6, 1870. to the chairman of the Congressional Committee on Manufactures an invitation to visit Philadelphia, examine its manufacturing industries, and consider its advantages as the site of an International Exhibition. May 12, 1870. This invitation was accepted, and the Committee on Manufactures, accompanied by many members of the Senate and House of RepreJune 16, 1870. sentatives, visited Philadelphia and inspected Fairmount Park, as well as representative manufacturing establishments of the city. The result of their examination was to secure their recommendation of Philadelphia as the site of the Exhibition; but the opposition from rival cities was still sufficient to delay legislative action, and ultimately to couple with the Act an amendment prohibiting the appropriation which was deemed essential to the success of the Exhibition. Centennial March 3, 1871. The Act, however, was duly passed and approved, declaring that the Exhibition should be held in Philadelphia in 1876, under the direction of a Centennial Commission, whose members should be *The full text of the communication of the Franklin Institute is printed in Appendix D, page 197. The full text of the resolutions of the Philadelphia City Councils is printed in Appendix D, page 197. The full text of the memorial of the joint committee is printed in Appendix E, page 237. nominated by the Governors of the several States and Territories and Centennial confirmed by the President.* Commission. 1871. In accordance with these provisions, the Secretary of State invited the Governors of all the States and Territories to nominate Commissioners, to be confirmed by the President. The terms of the Act, however, prevented the Commission from meeting in less than a year from the date of its approval.† On the earliest day possible the March 4, 1372 Commissioners met at Philadelphia, in Independence Hall, twentynine Commissioners being present, representing twenty-seven States and Territories,-and the Commission was duly organized. Before the close of the session, which lasted for eight days, three other Com- March 4-11, missioners presented themselves, making a total representation of thirty-two Commissioners from twenty-eight States and Territories.‡ The list of Commissioners officially accredited at this time was as follows, those whose names are prefixed by parallels (||) having been present at the first session of the Commission:§ * For the full text of the Act, see Appendix C, page 101. See Section 3 of the Act, Appendix C, page 101. Alternates. JAS. L. COOPER. WM. PHIPPS BLAKE. For an abstract of the proceedings of this and subsequent sessions of the Commission, see Appendix A, page 1. The names of the Commissioners appointed were communicated, from the records of the Department of State at Washington, with the following letter from the Secretary of State: "JOHN L. SHOEMAKER, ESQ., "DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, March 1, 1872. "Chairman of the Philadelphia Centennial Committee, 611 Vine Street, Philadelphia "SIR,-In compliance with the request contained in your letter of the twenty-ninth ultimo, I enclose herewith a list of all the Commissioners appointed to date to represent the States and Territories at the Centennial Anniversary of American Independence, to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1876, with their residences, so far as the Department has been informed. 1872 "I am, sir, "Your obedient servant, "HAMILTON FISH." Commissioners. G. A. BATCHELDER, WM. T. READ, ||JAS. E. DEXTER, J. S. ADAMS, T. HARDEMAN, JR., THOS. DONALDSON, ||J. L. CAMPBELL, || ROBT. LOWRY, Alternates. SOLOMON L. SPINK. LEWIS WALN SMITH, H. L. WARREN. R. W. FURNAS. ASA P. CATE. JOHN G. STEVENS. CHAS. H. MARSHALL. WM. H. PITTS. HENRY CHASE. ALEX. S. ABERNETHY. ANDREW J. SWEENEY. E. D. HOLTON. ROBT. H. LAMBORN. NOTE. Ultimately all the States and Territories were represented in the Centennial Commissioners, the names of members at the time of the Exhibition being printed in |