The 1933 Chicago World's Fair : a century of progress / Cheryl R. Ganz.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 159-198) and index.

Sally Rand and the Midway -- Chicago boosters set the stage -- A new vision for a World's Fair -- The vision on display -- Women's spaces at the fair -- African Americans and the Du Sable legacy -- Ethnic identity and nationalistic representations of progress -- Aviation, nationalism, and progress.

"Chicago's 1933 world's fair set a new direction for international expositions. Earlier fairs had exhibited technological advances, but Chicago's fair organizers used the very idea of progress to buoy national optimism during the Depression's darkest years. Fair organizers, together with corporate leaders, believed that progress rides on the tide of technological innovation and consumerism." "But not all those who struggled for a voice at Chicago's 1933 exposition had abandoned the traditional notions of progress that entailed social justice and equality, recognition of ethnic and gender-related accomplishments, and personal freedom and expression." "In this engaging social and cultural history, Cheryl R. Ganz examines Chicago's second world's fair through the lenses of technology, ethnicity, and gender."--Jacket.