Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission

by Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission

Respectfully submitted.

FRANCES MARION HANGER,
Chairman.
JENNIE GILMORE KNOTT.
LAVINIA H. EGAN.
FANNIE LOWRY PORTER.
HELEN BOICE-HUNSICKER.

Madam PRESIDENT,
Board of Lady Managers.

The tenth meeting of the board was called on November 9, 1904. Many matters in connection with the closing of the work of the board in St. Louis were disposed of, and the following resolution passed concerning the preparation of its final report:

I move that the president of this board be requested to make a final report of the work of this board.

On December 2 the last session of the board was held in the building which it had occupied during all the months of the exposition, and it was with a feeling of genuine regret that the members separated, never to meet again in the house which had been the scene of many interesting gatherings.

On the day following the official closing of the exposition the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company sent their representative to make an inventory of the contents of the building, preparatory to the dismantling of the house which was thereafter to be known as the Physics Building and be occupied by students of the Washington University. On December 13 formal and final surrender was made by the president on behalf of the board of lady managers to the Exposition Company.

The following is the final report of the house committee for the exposition period:

On the 30th day of April, 1904, at the opening of the greatest exposition the world has ever known, and commemorating one of the most important events in the history of our country, the board of lady managers, created by act of Congress and appointed by the National Commission, designed by the wisdom and forethought of one of our most dearly beloved Chief Executives, to represent the women of America in setting forth to the world woman's part, not only in the making of the exposition but in the real expansion and development of our great nation, found itself, by a combination of circumstances fortuitous or otherwise, resolved into a committee on entertainment, with a commodious and elegantly appointed home to call its own and the appropriation of $100,000 to spend on furnishing, entertaining, and necessary expenses of the board. It is therefore the pleasure of this your house committee to report for the entire exposition period beginning April 30, 1904, and ending December 1, 1905, the house in order each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., for the reception of the public and for a series of entertainments, which, by reason of the number of distinguished men and women thus brought together, were international in character, and of a nature and brilliancy in the highest degree pleasing to the board itself. During this time some 25,000 guests were entertained by the board at the special functions and the informal afternoon teas, the latter having been made a most attractive and interesting feature, dispensing the board's hospitality toward the close of the Fair. For every month, save August, a number of formal affairs were given, including luncheons, receptions, and dinners.

It was particularly fitting that the initial feast spread by the board of lady managers in its exposition home should have been given in honor of the National Commission, the Government's representative in the great World's Fair. To this dinner, given on the evening of the 30th of April, under the trying circumstances attendant upon a day strenuous with opening exercises and the disadvantages of the rapid adjustment of household arrangements, 100 guests were bidden, among them Secretary Taft, who represented the President of the United States in the opening events, members of the Senate and House committees, and governors of States. President Carter of the National Commission was toastmaster on this occasion, and toasts were given by President David R. Francis, Senator Daniel, Congressman Tawney, and Hon. M.H. de Young.