Content deleted Content added
Some details and a reference to the content of the German exhibition |
m Dating maintenance tags: {{When}} |
||
| (One intermediate revision by one other user not shown) | |||
Line 63:
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.<ref name="history460" /> 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}}}} today{{when|date=July 2024}}{{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]]. But 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 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.<ref name="history461">''Philadelphia: A 300-Year History'', p. 461</ref>
| |||