Address of Hon. Geo. B. Loring, Commissioner of Agriculture, and Other Proceedings of the Cotton Convention Held in Atlanta, Ga., November 2, 1881

Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1881. Wraps. Fair. Stapled wraps. 35 pages. Paper is toned, chipped on the edges and very brittle. Staples are rusted.


From the New Georgia Encyclopedia:

...Atlanta held its first exposition, named the International Cotton Exposition, in Oglethorpe Park in 1881. The city then had fewer than 40,000 residents, and the primary sense in which the first exposition was “international” was the display of cotton plants from around the world. Nevertheless, Atlantans were eager to host the 1881 exposition to promote investment and to help the city toward its goal of becoming an industrial (truncated) center, which was a primary component of Grady’s “New South” concept. Although attendance was lower than expected (fewer than 200,000 in paid attendance during its two-and-a-half-month run), city leaders demonstrated that they could work together to host a major event and that Atlanta was serious about its role in textile production at a time when the North was beginning to grow dissatisfied with the efficiency of southern cotton processing. The exposition displayed new crop planters and cotton seed cleaners, along with a model of Eli Whitney’s original cotton gin, and speakers addressed the crowds about agricultural technology and political reforms.

1881 International Cotton Exposition
Courtesy of Atlanta History Center. (Inventory #: 32630)