Remembering the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904

Humans - the First Exhibit at the Zoo

By: Lin Ferguson

I was born and raised in Saint Louis; I’ve lived here most of my life. One thing I’ve said since I was in elementary school is that Saint Louis is very diverse, but the diversity is segregated; you know where the N.E. Asians live, the Arabs, and the Black people of the city. White people live in their particular areas as well having much more of a selection in the Lou depending upon their monetary means. Honestly, my opinion of Saint Louis has consistently changed over the years, but for the longest, I’d refer to it as a ‘shitty city’, plagued with racism, discrimination, anti-L.G.B.T.Q.I. sentiments, and much more. When I first started studying for my J.D. at S.L.U., I learned of the role the university played in slavery and was not surprised by the realization. What has surprised me, though, is that despite going to the History Museum all of my life (and loving it), the Art Museum, and many others in Saint Louis—despite being told about the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904 by countless teachers within/outside (of) S.L.U., I did not know one of the main attractions was a human zoo as it was never mentioned. You have to understand, St. Louisans are so conscious of the World’s Fair history, we compare knowledge of different inventions and highlights of the event from over 100 years ago because all of us have grown-up with some kind of education regarding it. Though, I had no idea human zoos were incorporated and one of the biggest pulls drawing people to the fair.

Thousands to millions of people gathered to see the spectacle that was the human zoo in St. Louis, MO. Black people, like the people from the Pygmy tribe were put on display with signs on their enclosures that dubbed them ‘the missing link’. Too often, Black and Native peoples of the Globe were/are compared to monkeys and stationed at the bottom of the human hierarchy of evolution. Now, I have known of human zoos’ existences since I was a child; but I had no idea the same World’s fair that I’ve been bragging about knowing so much regarding—all of my life knowing that corn dogs, cotton candy, and even st. pauls were invented there—sponsored so-dubbed zoological exhibits that demeaned, devalued, and degraded Black people, Asian people, and Native tribes all over the World.

To think that this all took place in Forest Park and helped to further legitimize eugenics. One of the men involved when the spectacle was moved to New York, Madison Grant, went on to write the Passing of the Great Race, a book Hitler later praised in his day as his bible. Regarding literature and written opinion, the New York Times even supported what was at this point becoming a major study among ivy-league colleges and prestigious universities & institutions: these eugenics.

It just shows me we have a lot more work to do as the new Black generations because we’re still learning about things to this day that are totally ignored – the history of how we have been treated throughout this country… throughout time. This is what makes it easier for white people to claim certain things that definitely happened to us don’t exist in history. This is why Arab Egyptians (‘Egypt’ being a Greek word) who resettled Egypt in 641A.D. believe that they can claim Cleopatra and every piece of culture in ancient Egypt while also dismissing it as Pagan and not in-step with Islam.

The World's Fair in Saint Louis is a 'mixed bag' of atrocious and discoveries. It was recently discovered that over 255 brains exist in a collection owned by Ales Hrdlicka. These brains include Black Americans from the 'early-' to mid-1900s.