World Expo 1939

World Expo 1939
Name	1939 New York World's Fair
Caption	The Trylon and Perisphere, symbols of the 1939 New York World's Fair
Location	New York City
Country	United States
Area	1,216 acres
Opening	April 30, 1939
Closing	October 27, 1940
Visitors	~44 million

World Expo 1939

The 1939 New York World's Fair opened in New York City on April 30, 1939, and sought to present a vision of a technocratic future to visitors from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Soviet Union, Japan, Italy, Germany, and many other nations. The fair's central features, the Trylon and Perisphere by architects Raymond Hood and Wallace Harrison, embodied the fair's theme, "The World of Tomorrow", while pavilions from corporations such as General Motors, Westinghouse, Ford Motor Company, and Bell Telephone Laboratories offered advances in industrial design, transportation, and communications. The event intersected with contemporary geopolitical tensions including the aftermath of the Great Depression and the lead-up to World War II, drawing participation from sovereign states, colonial administrations, and private firms.

Background and Site

Site selection focused on the Queens borough of New York City, on land reclaimed from marsh and tidal wetlands adjacent to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The fair organizers, led by figures associated with the New York World's Fair Corporation and civic leaders linked to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and Governor Herbert H. Lehman, chose the former 1930s World's Fair-era ash landfill and meadows to create an expansive exhibition ground. The choice reflected tensions between urban planners influenced by Le Corbusier-era modernism, developers allied to Robert Moses, and preservationists connected to the New York Historical Society and local community organizations.

Planning and Construction

Planning involved architects and planners such as Raymond Hood, Gilbert Stanley Underwood, and Wallace Harrison collaborating with landscape architects influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted traditions and modernist aesthetics promoted by Bauhaus émigrés. Construction mobilized contractors with ties to Bethlehem Steel, Carnegie, and municipal public works programs echoing policies instituted during the New Deal under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Engineering challenges required coordination with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and private utilities including Consolidated Edison and American Telephone and Telegraph Company to deliver infrastructure for exhibits, rail access from the Long Island Rail Road, and temporary housing for staff.

Exhibits and Attractions

Flagship attractions included the Trylon and Perisphere with the diorama "Democracity" by urban planners influenced by Ebenezer Howard and Daniel Burnham. Corporate exhibits showcased the futuristic visions of General Motors' Futurama, designed by Norman Bel Geddes, and the Westinghouse and General Electric pavilions that demonstrated progress in electricity, radio, and household appliances pioneered by innovators associated with Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla's successors at Bell Labs. Entertainment offerings featured performances by artists linked to the Metropolitan Opera, film premieres involving studios such as RKO Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and demonstrations of aviation technology from companies like Boeing and Lockheed. The fair also hosted scientific displays tied to institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and universities such as Columbia University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Participation and National Pavilions

National participation included pavilions from France, Belgium, China, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Union of South Africa, alongside controversial representations from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Colonial exhibits featured administrative entities from the British Empire, the French Colonial Empire, and the Dutch East Indies. Prominent architects and artists—some affiliated with Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Piet Mondrian—contributed to national displays, while diplomats from the League of Nations era and officials associated with the State Department negotiated participation amid changing international relations.

Cultural and Technological Impact

The fair accelerated diffusion of consumer technologies and shaped design discourse through exposure to industrial design exemplars by Norman Bel Geddes, Raymond Loewy, and Henry Dreyfuss. It influenced postwar urban planning debates that involved actors from Regional Plan Association and policymakers inspired by Harvard Graduate School of Design scholarship. Cultural cross-pollination occurred via film and music ties to George Gershwin-era popular culture, modern art dialogues linked to the Museum of Modern Art, and international dialogues involving delegates from the Pan American Union and cultural institutions such as the British Council.

Controversies and Criticism

Critics challenged the fair on grounds raised by labor leaders in the orbit of the American Federation of Labor and political voices associated with the Communist Party USA, who protested corporate dominance and exclusions of certain workers. The presence of pavilions from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan provoked condemnations from anti-fascist groups and refugees connected to World Jewish Congress networks. Urbanists contested the fair's relationship to redevelopment plans championed by Robert Moses and the displacement effects tied to land use decisions, which drew scrutiny from organizations like the American Institute of Architects and civil rights advocates aligned with NAACP activists.

Legacy and Preservation

After closure, many structures were dismantled, but the fair's imprint persisted in cultural memory and urban form: the site later hosted the United Nations temporary headquarters discussions and eventually the 1964 New York World's Fair. Preservationists associated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and local historians from the Queens Historical Society documented remnants including mosaics, sculptures, and remnants of the Perisphere. Artifacts entered collections at the Museum of the City of New York, the New-York Historical Society, and university archives at Columbia University. Scholarship by historians affiliated with Columbia University, New York University, and the Brookings Institution continues to examine the fair's role in shaping mid-20th-century transatlantic cultural and technological trajectories.

Category:World's fairs