Month: October 2008

Lillian Copeland: Sesquicentennial Athletic Star

Post author By Mary
Post date October 28, 2008

Among the many events and activities at the Sesquicentennial were several athletic competitions held at the Municipal Stadium at the intersection of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue. These competitions included everything from track and field meets to the world heavy-weight boxing championship between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney to a lacrosse match between the Caughnawaga Indians of Canada and the Onondaga Tribe of Syracuse.^[1]

In early July 1926, National and Olympic caliber athletes traveled to Philadelphia to compete in the women’s, senior men’s, and junior men’s American Athletic Union (A.A.U.) National Track and Field Championships. During the competition, the athletes faced extreme heat mixed with rain, conditions which prevented many spectators from attending the meets. Despite the weather conditions, world, American, and meet records were broken by the athletes.^[2]

Lillian Copeland, one of the world record breakers, was a star of the 1926 Women’s National Track and Field Championships held at the Sesquicentennial. A member of the Pasadena (CA) Athletic Club, Copeland broke the world record in javelin with a throw of 112 feet 5.5 inches. On that same day, July 10, 1926, she also won both the discus and shot put competitions to become the only triple winner of the day.^[3]During her career, Copeland won a total of nine AAU National Championships- five in shot put, two in javelin, and two in discus. She is often considered to be one of the first great female American weight throwers.^[4] The 1926 competition in Philadelphia was the only championship in which she won all three weights events.

Copeland’s skill also made her competitive on an international level. At the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Copeland won a silver medal in discus with a throw of 121 feet 8 inches.^[5] In 1932 at the Los Angeles Olympics, she won gold in discus with a world-record setting throw of 133 feet 2 inches.^[6] Copeland was the only American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in discus until the 2008 Beijing Olympics when American Stephanie Brown-Trafton won gold with a throw of 212 feet 5 inches.^[7]

After her success in the 1932 Olympics, Copeland competed in the second Maccabiah Games in 1935, a competition for Jewish athletes, where she won gold. The next year Copeland joined several other Jewish athletes in a boycott of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, making the Maccabiah Games her last major competition.^[8] After her athletic career, Copeland worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a juvenile officer. She passed away on July 7, 1964 and was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994.

[1] Austin, E.L. and Odell Hauser, Editors. The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition: A Record Based on Official Data and Departmental Reports. Philadelphia: Current Publications, Inc., 1929, p. 424.

[2] Kelley, Robert F. “2 More Records Set in Women’s Meet.” The New York Times. July 11, 1926.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Lillian Copeland.” Hall of Fame- USA Track and Field. http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=34

[5] “Lillian Copeland.” International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. http://www.jewishsports.net/biopages/LillianCopeland.htm

[6] Shaffer, George. “U.S. Wins 2 Olympic Titles; Records Fall.” The New York Times. August 3, 1932.

[7] Crumpacker, John. “U.S. Women’s 1^st Discus Gold Since ’32.” The San Francisco Chronicle. August 19, 2008.

[8] “Lillian Copeland.” International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. http://www.jewishsports.net/biopages/LillianCopeland.htm

Events and People

USS Los Angeles: A Naval Dirigible

Post author By Mary
Post date October 20, 2008

With the Exposition grounds located adjacent to the Navy Yard at League Island, the U.S. Navy and the military in general were very involved in the Sesquicentennial Exposition. The Navy developed a Navy Historical Exhibit in one of the buildings in the yard, and several different types of ships were moored at the Reserve Basin near Navy Yard. Camp Anthony Wayne, a model Army camp, was created in League Island Park and Camp Samuel Nicholas, a model Marine camp, was located just outside the Navy Yard within the grounds of the Exposition.^[1]

The U.S. Navy’s contributions to the Sesquicentennial also included a visit from the Navy’s dirigible the Los Angeles. On Friday, September 10, the dirigible flew over Philadelphia, circled part of the Exposition several times, and then landed on the Exposition grounds with the help of a landing party of 200 sailors. Under the control of Commander Charles H. Rosendahl, the dirigible’s home port was located in Lakehurst, New Jersey. After the visit to the Sesquicentennial, the Los Angeles traveled to Stroudsburg, PA where the State American Legion was in session.^[2]

The golden age of dirigibles, also known as rigid airships and zeppelins, occurred from roughly 1900 until the 1930s. The first dirigible successfully lifted off on November 3, 1897 near Berlin, Germany. Although this dirigible crashed shortly after lift off, governments in several countries continued to investigate the use of dirigibles or rigid airships for military and transportation purposes. By the early twentieth century, the German company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin was the major manufacturer of rigid airships. These dirigibles would serve as both weapons and observational tools during World War I. Germany used dirigibles to drop bombs on Paris and London while both France and England used semi-rigid and non-rigid airships to patrol their coasts, provide convoy protection, and spot enemy submarines.^[3]

After World War I, mandates prevented Germany from building dirigibles. The United States government, however, allowed the Zeppelin company to build one airship that would be given to the United States by Germany as partial war reparations.^[4] As part of the agreement between the nations, the ship was to be used only for “civil” purposes. Built in Friedrichshafen, Germany, the rigid airship was 2,472,000 cubic feet and completed in August 1924.^[5] Known initially as the ZR-3, the ship flew across the Atlantic in mid-October 1924 and docked at its home port of Lakehurst, New Jersey. The airship flew to Washington D.C. on November 25 where it was christened the Los Angeles by Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, the wife of the president, and then placed into naval commission by Rear Admiral B.F. Hutchinson.^[6] During its career in the U.S. Navy, the Los Angeles performed flights to explore the use of rigid airships in the military. The airship also made several trips across the US and took part in research into the possibility of basing airplanes on board airships. In late 1932, the Los Angeles was decommissioned and put into storage at Lakehurst, New Jersey. From 1934 to 1937, the airship participated in non-flying experiments before finally being dismantled beginning in October 1939.^[7]

While little is known about the visit of the Los Angeles to the Sesquicentennial, its appearance at the Exposition provides an illustration of the growth of airship manufacturing in the early decades of the twentieth century. Along with the Los Angeles, the U.S. Navy operated other rigid airships including the Shenandoah (destroyed on September 3, 1925 in a storm over Ohio) and two ships built by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company- the Akron (lost in a storm over the Atlantic Ocean on April 4, 1933) and the Macon (crashed in the Pacific Ocean on February 12, 1935).^[8] After the 1930s and the Hindenburg disaster on May 9, 1937, interest in rigid airships declined in favor of further investigation into a variety of airplanes and aircraft carriers.

[2] Ibid., p. 303.

[3] Rumerman, Judy. “The Era of the Dirigible.” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/dirigibles/LTA9.htm

[4] Ibid.

[5] “USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), Airship 1924-1939.” Department of the Navy- Naval Historical Center. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zr3.htm

[6] The Washington Post. “ZR-3 is Christened ‘Los Angeles’ and Dedicated to Peace.” November 26, 1924.

[7] “USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), Airship 1924-1939.” Department of the Navy- Naval Historical Center. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zr3.htm

[8] Rumerman, Judy. “The Era of the Dirigible.” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/dirigibles/LTA9.htm

Events and People

A Royal Visit to the Sesquicentennial

Post author By Mary
Post date October 13, 2008

In an effort to draw additional visitors to the Sesquicentennial Exposition, special days were set aside to celebrate and honor various countries, states, cities, and groups. These celebration days included Missouri Day, Finnish Day, National Puzzlers’ Day, Pittsburgh Day, and University of Michigan Alumni Day. Activities on each day often included special programs, luncheons, banquets, and visits from dignitaries and honorees.^[1]

Swedish Day on June 6 was one of the first celebration days to occur during the Sesquicentennial, taking place even before all of the landscaping and building on the grounds was completed. As part of the festivities, Crown Prince Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and his wife princess Louise had visited the Exposition four days earlier on June 2, 1926. During their visit, the Crown Prince and Princess took part in two ceremonies- the dedication of the reproduction of the Wicaco Block House and the laying of the cornerstone for the John Morton Memorial Building.^[2] They also reviewed an infantry battalion and visited the Navy Yard.

Now known as the American Swedish Historical Museum, the John Morton Memorial Building is one of the few structures remaining from the Sesquicentennial. Although the cornerstone for the building was laid on June 2, 1926 and construction was almost completed by October 1927, the Great Depression and subsequent lack of funding prevented the exhibit halls from being completed until the mid-1930s. On June 28, 1938, an exhibition in honor of the tercentenary of the arrival of Swedes in the area was opened by Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, who had also laid the cornerstone for the building back in 1926. This event effectively served as the public dedication of the building.^[3] Located at 1900 Pattison Avenue in FDR Park in the original building, the Museum remains open to the public and provides exhibits and educational programs that focus on Swedish heritage and the contributions of Swedish-Americans to the United States.

A stop at the Sesquicentennial to lay the cornerstone for the Morton Memorial Building was just one of many excursions planned for the Crown Prince and Princess during their trip to America. The Prince and Princess, along with a large entourage, arrived in New York City on Thursday, May 27, 1926. After greeting Mayor Walker at City Hall and providing reporters with an interview, the group traveled to Washington D.C. where they met with President Calvin Coolidge. During their time in Washington, the Crown Prince spoke at the unveiling of a monument to John Ericsson, the designer of the Union warship Monitor; attended Memorial Day services at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; and toured sights in the city.^[4] From Washington D.C., the group travelled back to New York and then to Philadelphia where they took part in the Sesquicentennial celebrations. After their visit to Philadelphia, the royal couple toured America until August 1, including visits to Boston, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Minneapolis, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and San Francisco. The trip through the United States was just part of a world tour; from San Francisco, the Crown Prince and Princess set sail for Asia.^[5]

While the Sesquicentennial did not have as much international participation as previous world’s fairs in Chicago and St. Louis, foreign dignitaries such as the delegation from Sweden did take part in activities on specific celebration days. Often, though, these dignitaries were the ministers or ambassadors from their country to the United States rather than the actual foreign leader. For example, Polish Day on September 5 included a visit from Jan Ciechanowski, Minister of Poland, and Peruvian Day on July 28 saw a visit from Dr. Hernan Velarde, the Peruvian Ambassador to the United States.^[6] Despite their efforts to encourage attendance, the Sesquicentennial Exposition did not attract foreign leaders in large numbers.

[2] Ibid., 193.

[3] American Swedish Historical Museum. “History of the Museum.” http://www.americanswedish.org/frames.htm

[4]New York Times. “Swedish Royalty Due Here Thursday.” May 25, 1926.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Austin and Hauser. The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, p. 382-388.