September 19 Assignment - Economics at the Paris Expo 1900

Discussion of the economic factors that drove the Paris Universelle Exposition of 1900.

The monograph, The Social Economy Exhibit at the Paris Exposition 1900, by Richard Waterman, Jr. (of the then U.S. Department of Education and Social Economy), provides a game plan for the specific economic opportunities that the 1900 expo would provide the U.S. towards its advancement of its various industries.

Waterman indicates that he wishes to further elaborate on the mission of the “social economy” group as set out by Alfred M. Picard:

“(the social economy group) represents the resultant and at the same time states the philosophy, of the great forces of production.” Waterman further delineates the categories that the U.S. pavilion will display as the following: 1) the country; 2) the people; 3) industrial institutions; 4) commercial institutions: 5) economic institutions: 6) social institutions: and 7) movements for improving social and industrial conditions.

With the victory over Spain in the Spanish-
American War of 1898 in which the United States gained control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, American imperial power had taken center stage. In combination with the enthusiastic support of the U.S. Commissioner General, Waterman’s plans towards the “social economy” exhibit, sought to position the U.S. as a leader of industry and technological advancement and asserted that the Paris expo would be the perfect place to take advantage of this global platform.

Waterman forecasts the industrial possibilities that the 1900 expo provides by using examples of how John Daniel Runkle, then president of MIT, was so previously impressed by the technical skills that were presented by Russia at the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. The impact of which is that Runkle replicates this model in Boston and charts the course for the technical instruction of woodworking, forging, casting, and metal work within the American educational system.

A compelling depiction of this technical training as it relates to an African American community that was just a few generations removed from slavery can be seen in the enclosed images that were part of the Exposition des Nègres d’Amérique spearheaded by Thomas Calloway, a former Tuskegee University employee, and noted sociologist, W. E. B. Du Bois.