<strong><p align="center">Organizing an Exposition</strong><p>

<i><p align="center">"The Exposition will be a grand show, a great and profitable school of knowledge for all.”</i></p>

_{<p align="center"><i>The Tennessean</i>, May 3, 1895</p>}

Tennessee newspapers encouraged citizens to support a celebration of the state's upcoming centennial. The event's greatest supporters formed the Tennessee Centennial Exposition Commission. Although the event was scheduled to open on June 1, 1896, ongoing planning issues delayed the event by a year. The commission did not secure much funding from Congress or state government, but organizers were determined to make the event successful.

The Centennial Executive Committee provided a list of reasons why they thought it was necessary to delay the 1896 celebration for one year. After the committee agreed, they passed a resolution to open the exposition on the first day of May in 1897.

<p align="right"><strong>_{<a href=https://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/digital/teva/transcripts/52695.pdf>Click Here</a href> to read the full transcription.}</strong></p>
<br>

The commission sold private stock subscriptions to raise money. When Nashville's city government agreed to appropriate funds, organizers chose to host the exposition in Nashville.

The Tennessee Centennial Exposition Commission passed another resolution declaring that the event “will increase knowledge, break down prejudices, develop resources, establish industries and exert an influence which will advance this section of our country along the road of prosperity.”

<p align="left"><strong>_{<a href=https://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/digital/teva/transcripts/52690.pdf>Click Here</a href> to read the full transcription.}</strong></p>

Prior to the exposition, an 1896 Supreme Court decision declared that Black and white citizens must use "separate but equal" facilities, effectively legalizing segregation. Christine S. Smith, president of Nashville’s Phyllis Wheatley Club, wrote to Exposition President John W. Thomas about the “Jim Crow Car Law.” She described the “feeling of humiliation” Black visitors would be “called upon to endure” if “forced to ride” in separate coaches. Thomas replied that the Nashville, Chattanooga, & St. Louis Railway furnished separate but equal accommodations for Black and white passengers.

<p align="right"><strong>_{<a href=https://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/digital/teva/transcripts/52935.pdf>Click Here</a href> to read the full transcription.}</strong></p>

On the 100th anniversary of statehood in 1896, 125,000 visitors attended Tennessee's "birthday party." The celebration premiered the exposition’s completed buildings: the Parthenon, the Woman’s Building, and the Auditorium.

On May 1, 1897, the Tennessee Centennial Exposition officially opened to the public. President William McKinley launched the event by sending a telegram from his desk in the White House to the Machinery Building in the new “Centennial City.” It was a symbolic gesture that demonstrated the progress and industrialism of the time.