Discovering A-Y-P: A Community Research Project

In 2009, the Seattle community will be celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Discovering A-Y-P will be offering two-hour workshops in cooperation with The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) to teach citizens how to research historical evidence connected with Seattle’s first world’s fair. One of these workshops will be held at the Redmond Library.

Date: Jan 17, 2009
Time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm
More information: Click here to register for the workshop.

About the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition
The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was a regional world's fair held in Seattle in 1909, publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest.It was originally planned for 1907, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush, but the organizers found out about the Jamestown Exposition being held that year, and rescheduled.

The Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts, were selected to plan the Exposition; the firm was already involved in planning parks and parkways for the City of Seattle. John C. Olmsted visited Seattle in October 1906 and saw the dominant form of Mount Rainier toward the southeast. He selected the mountain as the focus of the primary axis of the A-Y-P Exposition. This axis later became the Rainier Vista of the University of Washington campus.

Opening Day, June 1, 1909 was declared a city holiday, and 80,000 people attended. Attendance was even higher—117,013—on "Seattle Day". Other big draws were days dedicated to various ethnic groups, fraternal organizations, and U.S. states. By the time the fair closed on October 16, over 3,700,000 had visited.