Space Needle, science, skyrides, showgirls. Many nations, monorail stations, Elvis gyrations. The 1962 Seattle World's Fair -- Century 21 Exposition -- had it all, optimistically looking ahead to theorize and imagine what the future might hold.
Century 21 Exposition drew 10 million visitors -- remarkable for a fair staged in a lesser-known city far from the public eye -- and captured America at the peak of Cold War tensions, on the cusp of cultural revolution.
Behind the glitter and diplomacy was a larger vision: Business leaders, elected officials, and residents who built the fair's success vowed that when the lights went out and the tourists went home, Seattle would be left with a much-needed civic center. In the half-century since the fair, Seattle Center has become the artistic and cultural hub of the city -- the brilliant and remarkable legacy of a fondly remembered six months in 1962.
About the Author Paula Becker is a staff historian at HistoryLink.org, where her essays document the dance marathon craze of the 1920s and 1930s, war-effort knitting on the home front during World Wars I and II, and the career of The Egg And I author Betty MacDonald, among numerous other subjects. She cowrote (with Alan J. Stein) the book Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: Washington's First World's Fair.
Alan J. Stein is a HistoryLink.org staff historian and award-winning author of Safe Passage: The Birth of Washington State Ferries; Bellevue Timeline; The Olympic: The Story of Seattle's Landmark Hotel; and (with Paula Becker) Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition: Washington's First World's Fair.
