March 2009 - July 2009
World's fairs, or expositions, have been watersheds of economic, technological, and cultural progress dating back to the eighteenth century. In 1915, San Francisco hosted the Panama Pacific International Exposition celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal and the city's recovery from the devastation of the 1906 Great Earthquake and Fire. A great success, it helped inspire another fair to celebrate the openings of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge while promoting Pacific trade and prosperity as the nation struggled to recover from the Great Depression.
Planning began as early as 1933 for what would officially be named the Golden Gate International Exposition. The site chosen, however, was on land that did not yet exist. Before fair construction could begin, an island would have to be built in the middle of San Francisco Bay. With dual purposes in mind, San Francisco acquired rights to the shoals adjacent to Yerba Buena Island from the State of California and funds from the federal government for a reclamation project to create a 400-acre island rising thirteen feet above the Bay. By combining the desire for a world's fair with a long-term need for an international airport, this ambitious project was realized.
Thirty-six nations participated and seventeen million visitors attended the exposition, which was also called the San Francisco World's Fair. It was open from February 19 to October 29, 1939, and reopened for a second season from May 25 to September 29, 1940. Concurrent themes included the bridges celebration and the promotion of goodwill throughout the Pacific Rim. Advertised as a Pageant of the Pacific, the fair embraced the maturing of an aviation industry that could now provide efficient transcontinental and transoceanic air service. Air travel's exciting new status was presented in multiple forms. This exhibition revisits this focus on aviation at the Golden Gate International Exposition as it commemorates its seventieth anniversary.
This exhibition was made possible through the collaboration of the Treasure Island Redevelopment Authority, the Navy BRAC Program Management Office, and the Naval History and Heritage Command.