Alabama State Fair Montgomery

Alabama State Fair Montgomery
Frequencyannually (with breaks)
Location(s)Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, U.S.
Years active1855–1861; c. 1906–?
EstablishedNovember 20–24, 1855[1]

The Alabama State Fair Montgomery is a state fair established in 1855 in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S..[1] The first event was named the Agricultural Fair and Cattle Show, and in later history the event went by the name, Alabama State Exposition.[2][3]

History

The Cotton Planters' Conventions and agricultural fairs were formed in Alabama, prior to the establishment of state fairs.[1] The first fair was held November 20–24, 1855 and named the "Agricultural Fair and Cattle Show".[1] Noah Bartlett Cloud, the editor of Cotton Planter magazine (later known as The American Cotton Planter and Soil of the South) publicized the first Alabama State Fair Montgomery.[1] The fair was held every year for 5 years, but in 1861 after the American Civil War began it paused the fair.

By the turn of the 20th-century, the Alabama State Fair was held at a fairground, just north of the city of Montgomery.[4]

1906 Alabama State Fair Montgomery

By the 1906 Alabama State Fair in Montgomery, the Alabama Agricultural Association started encouraging African American entries and invited "Negros of the state" to join.[4] They were encouraged to build a "Negro Building," focused on displaying the "educational, moral, and industrial life of Negros".[4] The "Negro Building" was an L-shaped structure designed by architect Walter Thomas Bailey of Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) under the direction of Booker T. Washington.[4] October 27, 1906, was designated as "Negro Day," with entertainment programing including a speech by Washington, a horse race, and a parade.[4] Some one thousand White people also visited the Negro Building, before the building was removed after the end of the fair.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Owen, Thomas McAdory (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. pp. 557, 567.
  2. ^ Economics, United States Office of Farm Management and Farm (1920). Directory of American Agricultural Organizations, 1920. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 17.
  3. ^ "List of Fairs and Expositions". Duroc Swine Breeders' Journal. Morris Printing Company. 1916. p. 177.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (March 2004). African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945 (Revised ed.). New York City, NY: Routledge. pp. 50–53. ISBN 978-1-135-95629-5.