How were the Chinese represented at the fair in light of the Chinese Exclusion Act?
Cope: The Chinese government was extremely upset with the extension of the Chinese Exclusion Act, so they literally boycotted the fair. What you had at the fair were artifacts and buildings that were created by the Chinese Americans already living here. They were trying to build up a basis of support for themselves, trying to get away from this very prejudiced attitude that was created by the Chinese Exclusion Act. So the Chinese here in the United States raised the money to buy the concession for the Midway Plaissance. Q: Why did so many people come to the fair? Cope: Well, one thing was an adventure. Most people at the time had not been too far away from home. They were going twenty, thirty miles from home at the farthest. There was no concept of vacation at the time; people didn’t take off time from work. They worked year-round. And so, they saw this event as an opportunity to see something they had never seen before. The fair did a great job; they had a publicity department that wa
