Sources

Period sources (1912–1921)

• Official Guide of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915, Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1915
  The visitor's guide sold at the gates: layout, gates and streetcar lines, every palace and court, the color scheme, the Zone, and the official lists of architects, sculptors and participating states and nations.
• The Story of the Exposition, vol. 1, Frank Morton Todd, 1921
  Official history, vol. 1: Balboa and the canal, Hale's 1904 letter, the fundraising, the fight with New Orleans, site selection, the Architectural Commission, color and sculpture departments, and events through 1912.
• The Story of the Exposition, vol. 2, Frank Morton Todd, 1921
  Construction costs and structures, the war and the Jason, concessions and the Zone, opening day, a walk through the courts, the illumination, music.
• The Story of the Exposition, vol. 3, Frank Morton Todd, 1921
  The 1915 season month by month (Beachey, the races, the Liberty Bell, Roosevelt, Edison Day), and the dedications of every foreign pavilion and state building.
• The Story of the Exposition, vol. 4, Frank Morton Todd, 1921
  The exhibits palace by palace, including the Fine Arts exhibition, the Ford assembly line and the telephone exhibits; the award juries.
• The Story of the Exposition, vol. 5, Frank Morton Todd, 1921
  Congresses, administration, attendance and revenue tables, the final accounts, closing day, demolition, salvage and the dissolution of the company.
• The City of Domes: A Walk with an Architect about the Courts and Palaces of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, John D. Barry, 1915
  A lively 1915 tour in the form of conversations with an unnamed architect; frank criticism of the Tower, colors and sculpture, and good background on the planning.
• The Art of the Exposition, Eugen Neuhaus, 1915
  A Berkeley painter's personal impressions of the architecture, sculpture, murals and color scheme; the standard contemporary critical guide.
• The Galleries of the Exposition, Eugen Neuhaus, 1915
  Neuhaus's companion guide to the paintings in the Palace of Fine Arts.
• The Jewel City: Its Planning and Achievement, Ben Macomber, 1915
  A 1915 overview by a San Francisco journalist, useful for the fair as described to the public during its run.
• The Sculpture and Murals of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition: The Official Handbook, Stella G. S. Perry, 1915
  The official handbook to every sculpture group and mural, with titles, artists and locations; the best single source for attributions.
• The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition: A Pictorial Survey, Stella G. S. Perry, with an introduction by A. Stirling Calder, 1915
  Illustrated survey of the sculpture and murals; Calder's introduction explains the program and the working methods.
• Sculpture of the Exposition Palaces and Courts, Juliet James, 1915
  A descriptive guide to the sculpture, court by court.
• Palaces and Courts of the Exposition, Juliet James, 1915
  A descriptive walk through the palaces and courts with notes on their architects and decoration.
• The Architecture and Landscape Gardening of the Exposition, Louis Christian Mullgardt, 1915
  A pictorial survey by the architect of the Court of Abundance, with his account of the Architectural Commission and the plan.
• Palace of Fine Arts and Lagoon, Bernard R. Maybeck, 1915
  Maybeck's own short book explaining the mood he intended for the Palace of Fine Arts.
• The Exposition Fact Book (3rd edition), Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1914
  Pre-opening publicity facts and figures: dimensions, costs, the Zone, congresses. Figures are projections and sometimes differ from Todd's final accounts.
• Condensed Facts Concerning the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1915
  Pre-opening fact sheet (several issues bound together): acreage, building sizes and costs, participation counts.
• Official Catalogue of Exhibitors, Division of Exhibits, Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1915
  The exhibitor catalogue presented on opening day; finds any exhibit by palace and group.
• Official Catalogue of the Department of Fine Arts (with Awards), Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1915
  Complete list of the 11,000-plus works in the art exhibition by gallery, with jurors and awards.
• Catalogue de Luxe of the Department of Fine Arts, vol. 1, John E. D. Trask and J. Nilsen Laurvik, eds., 1915
  Illustrated catalogue with essays by the organizers and national commissioners, including Trask's account of assembling the show and Boccioni on Futurism.
• Catalogue de Luxe of the Department of Fine Arts, vol. 2, John E. D. Trask and J. Nilsen Laurvik, eds., 1915
  Second volume of the illustrated catalogue: gallery-by-gallery listings with artist biographies and awards.
• Impressions of the Art at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, Christian Brinton, 1916
  A critic's survey of the foreign and American sections, including the Scandinavian and modern rooms.
• A Brief Guide to the Department of Fine Arts, Michael Williams, 1915
  A pocket guide to the galleries: which artists had rooms, where the Futurists and Kokoschka hung, notable awards.
• Illustrated Catalogue of the Post-Exposition Exhibition in the Department of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art Association, 1916
  Catalogue of the January–May 1916 exhibition that kept the Palace of Fine Arts open after the fair.
• Illumination of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (General Electric Review, vol. 18), W. D'A. Ryan, 1915
  Ryan's own illustrated account of the lighting scheme, the Tower of Jewels and the Scintillator (pp. 579ff.).
• Transactions of the Illuminating Engineering Society, vol. 11, Illuminating Engineering Society (paper by W. D'A. Ryan), 1916
  Ryan's revised technical paper on the Exposition lighting, with power loads, lamp types and intensities (pp. 629–639).
• General Electric Review, vol. 19, General Electric Company, 1916
  Review of 1915 crediting the Exposition with introducing the floodlighting of buildings.

Later histories and studies

• San Francisco's Jewel City: The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, Laura A. Ackley, 2014
  The standard modern history (Heyday with the California Historical Society; retailer listings give 2014, some records 2015). The URL is the author's research site; a library copy is at archive.org/details/sanfranciscosjew0000ackl.
• The Anthropology of World's Fairs: San Francisco's Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, Burton Benedict et al., 1983
  Scholarly essays on the fair's meanings, ethnographic villages and exhibits (borrowable copy).
• San Francisco Invites the World: The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, Donna Ewald and Peter Clute, 1991
  Illustrated popular history (Chronicle Books); catalog record.
• California Historical Landmark nomination: Palace of Fine Arts, California Office of Historic Preservation, 2021
  Detailed, footnoted history of the Palace from 1915 through the 1960s rebuilding, the Exploratorium and designations.
• Legacy of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, National Park Service, Golden Gate NRA, None
  What survives on the grounds today: the Palace, Marina Green, the harbor, Crissy Field.
• The 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, National Park Service, Presidio of San Francisco, None
  Short overview of the fair's Presidio section.
• Crissy Airfield, Presidio of San Francisco, National Park Service, None
  How the fair's racetrack became the Army's Crissy Field airfield.
• Palace of Fine Arts Restoration, San Francisco Public Works, None
  The city's summary of the seismic and lagoon restoration completed around 2009–10.
• Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (San Francisco landmark notes), NoeHill, None
  Architects, opening and 1992 renaming of the Exposition Auditorium.
• Pioneer Mother (San Francisco landmark notes), NoeHill, None
  The later history of Grafly's bronze and its 1940 installation in Golden Gate Park.
• The Marina District, San Francisco Heritage, None
  How the fairground became the Marina District in the 1920s.
• Loma Prieta, California, earthquake of October 17, 1989 · Marina District (Professional Paper 1551-F), U.S. Geological Survey, 1992
  Scientific study of damage and liquefaction on the Marina's fill.
• The Marina District (poster), California Geological Survey, None
  How the Exposition fill liquefied in 1989, with building losses.
• Destruction of the Fair, Gray Brechin (FoundSF), None
  Essay on the wrecking of the fair and what survived, including the Column of Progress site.
• Sailing to Byzantium: 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, FoundSF, None
  Interpretive essay on the fair's architecture and meaning.
• Panama-Pacific International Expo: Tracking down the artifacts, Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 2015
  Centennial survey of surviving objects and where they are now.
• The stately Ohio Building met an inglorious end, Joan Levy, San Mateo Daily Journal, 2006
  The fate of the Ohio Building after it was floated to San Mateo County.
• End of the Trail, Oklahoma Historical Society, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, None
  How Fraser's 1915 plaster reached the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
• 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition Half Dollar, American Numismatic Association, None
  Designers and mintage of the commemorative half dollar.
• 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition Coins and Medals from the U.S. Mint, CoinWeek, None
  The five commemorative coins and Aitken's $50 designs.
• Panama-Pacific (commemorative issues, 1898–1925), Smithsonian National Postal Museum, None
  The four 1913 Panama-Pacific stamps, their designs and printing changes.
• Exploratorium's Last Day at the Palace of Fine Arts – January 2, 2013, Exploratorium, 2012
  The Exploratorium's 43 years in the Palace and the other uses of the building.
• Futurism in New York, Jaap Harskamp, New York Almanack, 2022
  Modern context for the Futurist gallery as the first American showing of Italian Futurism.
• Art Smith, Flying at Night, and the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair, Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art, None
  Modern study of Art Smith's night flights and their dates.
• Lincoln Beachey, stunt pilot, KQED, 2020
  Modern account of Beachey's fatal flight of March 14, 1915.
• Suffrage Envoy Sara Bard Field, National Park Service, None
  The suffrage petition carried east from the fair in September 1915.
• Historical Timeline of the National Woman's Party, 1915–1916, Library of Congress, None
  Dates for the Woman Voters Convention and the petition's delivery to Wilson.
• Edison and Ford: A Lasting Friendship, The Henry Ford, None
  Edison and Ford's 1915 trip to the Exposition.

Archives and collections

• Palace of Fine Arts (National Register of Historic Places, NRIS 04000659), National Park Service, 2005
  National Register listing record for the Palace of Fine Arts.
• Map of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Museum of the City of San Francisco, None
  Annotated fair map with modern street references; used for the walking guide.
• Panama-Pacific International Exposition records (BANC MSS C-A 190), The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (Online Archive of California), None
  Finding aid to the Exposition company's own records, 1893–1929.
• City Rising: San Francisco and the 1915 World's Fair, California Historical Society, 2015
  The Society's centennial exhibition page (archived copy).
• Jewel City: Art from San Francisco's Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2015
  The de Young's 2015–16 centennial exhibition reassembling the fair's art.
• PPIE100, PPIE100 centennial consortium, 2015
  Hub of the 2015 centennial programs.
• Official Catalogue of the Department of Fine Arts (Smithsonian Libraries digital copy), Smithsonian Libraries, 1915
  An alternative digitized copy of the Fine Arts catalogue.

Image collections

• The Red Book of Views of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1915
  The official souvenir book of photographs, useful for identifying buildings and views.
• The Exposition in Colors, Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company, 1915
  Official souvenir of color views; shows Guérin's color scheme as it was reproduced in 1915.
• Illumination, Panama-Pacific International Exposition (photograph album), General Electric Company, 1915
  GE's album of night photographs of the fair, inscribed by Ryan.
• Panama-Pacific International Exposition photographs, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, None
  About 89 photographs, mostly of the sculpture.
• Calisphere: Panama-Pacific International Exposition, University of California Libraries, None
  Thousands of digitized photographs and documents from California libraries, including the Bancroft and SFPL.
• Library of Congress photographs: Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Library of Congress, None
  Bain News Service, Harris & Ewing and other photographs and panoramas of the fair.
• OpenSFHistory: Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Western Neighborhoods Project, None
  Curated set of historic San Francisco photographs of the fair.
• San Francisco History Center digital collections, San Francisco Public Library, None
  Gateway to SFPL's San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, rich in PPIE images.
• Category:Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Wikimedia Commons, None
  Freely licensed images of the fair, many from the Library of Congress, Internet Archive and museum collections; source of this site's figures.