Participation of Poles in the 1876 Philadelphia exhibition as reflected by correspondence in Warsaw press

In 1876 an exhibition was organized in Philadelphia to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of gaining of independence by the United States. Countries from all over the world were invited to participate. Polish correspondents (Sygurd Wiśniowski, Jan Karłowicz, Feliks Fryze, Jordan Delikowski, J. F. Krajewski) went to Philadelphia to report on their impressions of visiting the exhibition halls. They were also to find and evaluate objects brought form the Polish territories presented in the sectors reserved for the partition zones countries. The aim of this article is to find out how the Warsaw press correspondents characterized exhibits coming from the Polish territories and which objects evoked the greatest interest. The correspondents wrote primarily about: the display of Żyrardów factory and sugar factories form the Kingdom of Poland, the harvester from Lilpop, Rau and Loewenstein factory, the Krall and Seidler piano, Jakub Pik’s scientific tools and paintings by Polish artists. About 70 exhibitors from the Kingdom of Poland participated in the Philadelphia exhibition (450 from the whole territory of the Tsardom of Russia). Although only some of potential exhibitors came to Philadelphia, those who ma- naged to present their goods were noticed and highly appreciated. It is worth mentioning that 35 medals were awarded to exhibitors of goods from Polish territories.Uniwersytet w Białymstoku. Wydział Historyczno-Socjologiczn