Sources

Period sources (1912–1921) (30)Later histories and studies (28)Archives and collections (13)Image collections (11)

Period sources (1912–1921) (30)

• 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.
• 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 catalog 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 catalog 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 catalog: 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
  Catalog 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.
• The Negro Trail Blazers of California, Delilah L. Beasley, 1919
  The first history of Black Californians, by a special feature writer for the Oakland Tribune (from 1923 its columnist). Chapter XXII, first published as a series in the Tribune, is a history of the Negro at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and records that the name Jewel City was first sent in to the Call-Post's competition by a schoolgirl, Virginia Stephens, whose photograph it prints.
• Problems Women Solved: Being the Story of the Woman's Board of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Anna Pratt Simpson, 1916
  Published by the Woman's Board itself. The Board's own account of what it did, written by one of its members, five years after California gave women the vote.
• Palaces and Courts of the Exposition: A Handbook of the Architecture, Sculpture and Mural Paintings, Juliet James, 1915
  A descriptive walk through the palaces and courts with notes on their architects and decoration; one of two handbooks James wrote on the fair's art in its own year.

Later histories and studies (28)

• 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
  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
  Short overview of the fair's Presidio section.
• Crissy Airfield, Presidio of San Francisco, National Park Service
  How the fair's racetrack became the Army's Crissy Field airfield.
• Palace of Fine Arts Restoration, San Francisco Public Works
  The city's summary of the seismic and lagoon restoration completed around 2009–10.
• Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (San Francisco landmark notes), NoeHill
  Architects, opening and 1992 renaming of the Exposition Auditorium.
• Pioneer Mother (San Francisco landmark notes), NoeHill
  The later history of Grafly's bronze and its 1940 installation in Golden Gate Park.
• The Marina District, San Francisco Heritage
  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
  How the Exposition fill liquefied in 1989, with building losses.
• Destruction of the Fair, Gray Brechin (FoundSF)
  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
  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
  How Fraser's 1915 plaster reached the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
• 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition Half Dollar, American Numismatic Association
  Designers and mintage of the commemorative half dollar.
• 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition Coins and Medals from the U.S. Mint, CoinWeek
  The five commemorative coins and Aitken's $50 designs.
• Panama-Pacific (commemorative issues, 1898–1925), Smithsonian National Postal Museum
  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
  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
  The suffrage petition carried east from the fair in September 1915.
• Historical Timeline of the National Woman's Party, 1915–1916, Library of Congress
  Dates for the Woman Voters Convention and the petition's delivery to Wilson.
• Edison and Ford: A Lasting Friendship, The Henry Ford
  Edison and Ford's 1915 trip to the Exposition.

Archives and collections (13)

• 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
  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)
  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, kept here as an archived copy because the Society itself is gone: its board voted to dissolve in 2024 and the closure was announced in January 2025. Its collection, more than 600,000 items, went to Stanford University Libraries and is now the California Historical Society Collection at Stanford, still being cataloged and brought online. The PPIE material it held, including what went into the 2015 centennial, is there.
• 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 catalog.
• Prelinger Archives, Rick Prelinger, accessed 2026
  The largest single source of moving film in the documentary: twenty-eight of its thirty-seven reels. Rick Prelinger's collection of ephemeral film, given to the Internet Archive and free to use. Some of the fair footage in it survives in no other print.
• Film footage of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (cubanc_00001), Exposition Players Corporation; Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1915
  A reel shot by the Exposition Players Corporation and held by the Bancroft, digitized through the Internet Archive. It survives in this print.
• California Revealed and the Pacific Film Archive, California Revealed; BAMPFA, University of California, Berkeley, 1915
  California Revealed digitizes film held by California libraries and archives. A Pacific Film Archive newsreel of the fair reached the documentary through them.
• Shaping San Francisco, Shaping San Francisco / FoundSF, accessed 2026
  A participatory archive of San Francisco history. Two of the film's reels came through their Internet Archive uploads.
• Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR), University of California, Santa Barbara Library, accessed 2026
  The catalog of American record company files, matrix by matrix. It is where the provenance of the film's thirty-three period recordings is established: performer, take and recording date, which is what shows each one was fixed before 1923 and is therefore in the public domain in the United States.
• California Historical Society Collection at Stanford, Stanford University Libraries, Department of Special Collections, accessed 2026
  Where the California Historical Society's collection went. The Society was California's official historical society from 1979, held the major PPIE collection and co-published Laura Ackley's San Francisco's Jewel City with Heyday. It dissolved in 2024 and Stanford took stewardship of more than 600,000 items in January 2025. The material is being cataloged and reuploaded on a rolling basis, so anything cited to the Society should now be traced here.

Image collections (11)

• 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
  About 89 photographs, mostly of the sculpture.
• Calisphere: Panama-Pacific International Exposition, University of California Libraries
  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
  Bain News Service, Harris & Ewing and other photographs and panoramas of the fair.
• OpenSFHistory: Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Western Neighborhoods Project
  Curated set of historic San Francisco photographs of the fair.
• San Francisco History Center digital collections, San Francisco Public Library
  Gateway to SFPL's San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, rich in PPIE images.
• Category:Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Wikimedia Commons
  Freely licensed images of the fair, many from the Library of Congress, Internet Archive and museum collections; source of this site's figures.
• The Blue Book: a comprehensive official souvenir view book of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, 1915, Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company (San Francisco: R. A. Reid), 1915
  The official souvenir view book, and the single most-used picture source in the film: a hundred and one plates come from it. Halftones of every palace, court and garden, most of them taken before the gates opened, which is why the grounds in them are empty. Digitized by the San Francisco Public Library.
• The Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, 1915, Panama-Pacific International Exposition Company (San Francisco: R. A. Reid), 1915
  A second Reid view book, smaller than the Blue Book and with a different selection. Twenty-three plates in the film come from it. Digitized by the University of California Libraries.