Meet Me in St. Louis at the Fair and
see
The Palace of
Education and Social Economy
by Jack Corbett
 Like
many of the huge palaces at the 1904 Saint Louis World's Fair, the Palace
of Education and Social Economy was bathed at night with electrical lighting.
to dramatize Edison's crowning achievement just twenty-fvie years before.
Here the story of the Louisiana Purchase and the settlement of the West was
of primary importance. Inside the palace education as practiced both in the U.S.and in many other countries was on display. Much of it was divided up
into four major categories, Primary, Secondary, Higher and Special Education
for the blind and the deaf and dumb. |
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| With the world of the twentieth century rapidly changing from an agrarian based to an Industrial Economy, the Architects of the World's Fair stressed working hard at learning new skills deemed necessary for survivial in the new economy. Outside the palace were the buildings occupying Model Street which depicted a Utopian vison of how future generations could live in an increasingly urbanized society. Implicit was American leadership as the frontrunner of twentieth century nations moving rapidly towards better methods of educating their citizens. Ironically, in the dawn of the twenty-first century the United States would be positioned in the second ten out of the developed industrial nations of the world. | |