[PW] exhibition of national artifacts

[Kevin O'Kelly]

I am sorry, I should have been clearer about what I was asking. I have all the information on the Liberty Bell's frequent travels. I am curious about the general phenomenon of public exhibition of national artifacts during the Victorian era and its cultural meaning. Pre-WW1 America was a much more communal culture than  it is now and I'm wondering if any historians or anthropologists have commented on what it meant for citizens of a newish nation to go out together and look at things like the Constitution or the Liberty Bell or Benjamin Franklin's chamber pot or (name artifact of your choice).

Mary Lou White <whitem at speakeasy.net> wrote: Kevin,
Here's something that tells about its visit to several places, including
pictures.
http://www.nps.gov/history/nR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/36liberty/36liberty.htm
There is a 1904 World's Fair Society, http://www.1904worldsfairsociety.org/,
if you'd like to know more about the bell at the fair.  I don't know what
other historic items might have been shown, as I don't find a list.
The Liberty Bell was also display at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in
1893.  http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/WCE/tour2.html

The aluminum cap of the Washington Monument was on display at Tiffany's in
1884, before it was put in place.
http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html
      Mary Lou White

> > From: Kevin O'Kelly 
> > To: 

> > Date: 3/1/2008 11:34:34 AM
> > Subject: Re: [PW] exhibition of national artifacts
> >
> >  I am working on the next installment of a feature of my library's local
> history webpage--an image of an item in our special collections plus a
> little text about it. The item in question is a photo of the Liberty Bell
> during its June 1903 visit to the Boston area. I would like to comment on
> the public tours and exhibitions of national artifacts pre-World War I. As
> insane as it seems to us now, I am getting the impression that it was a
> quite common practice, especially in the nation's earliest days, and I
> would like to know a little bit more about it.
> >
> >   Unfortunately, I can't get into JSTOR or America: History and Life at
> the moment.
> >
> >   Thanks in advance,
> >
> >   Kevin
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------
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