Fergus Bordewich on Centennial and the Great Fair of 1876
Summary
Host Tom Donnelly interviews historian Fergus Bordewich about his book on the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. They discuss how the fair reflected America’s industrial rise, featuring the Corliss engine and Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone debut. The conversation also covers the era’s social tensions, including labor unrest, the rollback of Reconstruction, and the activism of Edmonia Lewis and Susan B. Anthony.
Topics discussed
Introduction to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876
The scale and complexity of the Great Fair
Opening ceremony, the Corliss Engine, and public reaction
Economic hardship, labor strikes, and industrial paternalism
Tom Scott, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the 1877 strike
Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone
African Americans, Reconstruction, and exclusion from the Fair
Edmonia Lewis and her sculpture 'The Death of Cleopatra'
Susan B. Anthony and the Declaration of Sentiments
Custer's Last Stand and the Native American perspective
The disputed 1876 presidential election between Hayes and Tilden
Reflections on 1876 and the legacy of the Centennial
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