Event: Visualizing History: Mapping the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair

Join Bancroft Library in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 1915 San Francisco Panama-Pacific International Exhibition by digitally mapping rarely seen photographs of the world’s fair onto a historic map of the fairgrounds using the Historypin platform.

The event will kick off with a gallery tour by Curator Theresa Salazar of the Bancroft Library’s PPIE exhibit: The Grandeur of a Great Labor: The Building of the Panama Canal and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, followed by a reception and brief talk in the beautiful Morrison Library.

Participants will then work together to explore archival images of the world’s fair and try to pinpoint the exact locations where the photos were taken. Using maps and guides as you would have 100 years ago, you’ll virtually find your way through “The Zone” and its sometimes-fatal carnival rides, wander through the massive exhibit halls, and marvel at the architecture of the state and country pavilions. History “pinners” will see their results live on the Historypin PPIE site at the event. We guarantee you’ll never see SF’s Marina neighborhood the same way again!

Thursday, November 19, 2015

4:00-4:30 pm – Location: Bancroft Library Gallery
Bancroft Library Gallery Tour with Curator Theresa Salazar – meet in the Bancroft Library lobby (following the gallery tour, participants will be escorted to the Morrison Library for the remainder of the event)

4:30-7:00 pm – Location: Morrison Library
Welcome Reception and Talk by Laura Ackley, author of San Francisco’s Jewel City: The Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915.
Demonstration and Pinathon
After a quick tour of the virtual fairgrounds, you’ll have a chance to get hands-on working in groups to help us pin historic images from Bancroft’s collections onto the 1915 fairground map, using clues, fair guides, maps, and more.

Live sharing on Historypin PPIE Site
We will have groups share some of the just-pinned materials Live on the Historypin PPIE site—Tell us what you discovered in your time travels!