[Photo Album]: Liberty Bell's Trip to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition

1915. Hardcover. Good. Oblong folio. Measuring 13" x 12". Brown leather over stiff paper boards with "David W. Harris" stamped in gilt on the front board. Contains 630 sepia-toned or black and white gelatin silver photographs measuring between 3.25" x 4.25" and 8" x 10", some with captions. Good only with front cover detached but present, rubbing, chips, and tears, with near fine photographs.

An extensive photo album detailing the two-year cross country journey of the Liberty Bell in 1915. The Bell was on its way to and returning from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco which was held to celebrate the recently finished Panama Canal. Additionally laid in is a pamphlet from the fair with the history of the Bell printed on it, an opinion piece from the *Rock Island Argus and Daily Union* in Illinois weighing in on the debate over whether San Francisco should have access to the bell: "let San Francisco have the bell. Its pilgrimage to the Pacific coast will bring out some of the most impressive demonstrations of American patriotism the country has ever seen." The decision to send it out was mostly due to a petition signed by 500,000 school children which convinced Pennsylvania officials to lend the bell to the Exposition: a picture of the petition is seen here. This photo album was compiled by David W. Harris, a Philadelphia Councilman, who was part of the Bell's "councilmanic escort" on its journey to and from the exposition.

The bell was sent on a cross country "whistle stop tour" of the United States while making its way to the West Coast. According to Laura Ackley, author of *San Francisco's Jewel City: The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915*: "after a reverent sendoff from Philadelphia on July 5, the bell headed across the country on an open gondola car cushioned by special shock absorbers and enclosed by an iron railing. At night, the brightly illuminated bell was visible from a mile away as it moved at a sedate pace through the darkened countryside. In daylight, veterans of the Civil War donned their military caps and stood at the doors of their homes waving flags at the passing train." From there the bell traveled to over 70 cities while en route to the Exposition. The album details these stops, which show throngs of people waiting to see, touch, and even kiss the American relic. Some of the photos show the landscape viewed by the travelers including mountains, valleys, and waterways. One section of photos from Oregon shows Native Americans standing with the Bell; a later photo shows Thomas Edison with the Bell in California.

The Bell finally made it to San Francisco in the middle of the night on July 17th where people stayed up to cheer its arrival. Once there it was loaded on an ornately decorated flatbed truck covered in flowers that where arranged to look like the American flag. That morning the Liberty Bell was escorted by the military in a procession through the city to the site of the Expo. Thousands of people lined the streets to watch the Bell pass. When they arrived at the fairground 48 little girls dressed to represent each state filed in to put a wreath around the bell (some of whom are photographed here) and House Speaker Champ Clark spoke to the crowd. Throughout the album every element of the production can be seen from the parade to the speeches in this elaborate and carefully constructed remembrance of the event. The Bell spent four months on display in the Pennsylvania Building at the Exposition before being returned home on November 11th. The trip home is also detailed here with more stops and photographs of admirers waiting to see the bell. Two maps show the route taken from Pennsylvania (Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California) and the route back from California (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia.)

A voluminous compilation of the Liberty Bell's last tour of the United States depicting its entire two year cross country adventure.