History
The first Eastern States Exposition occurred in 1917. It was originally conceived by Joshua L. Brooks as a way to help bolster the region's farming industry. The Exposition featured displays of innovations in the industry, and held contests designed to encourage farmers to better themselves through competition. Since the first Exposition, only World War I and World War II, during which the military requisitioned the grounds as storage depots, have interrupted the annual tradition.
The fair was first titled "The Big E" in 1968 and remains true to its agricultural roots today, with more than 7,100 4-H and FFA participants, and 1,100 open show exhibitors, as well as educational displays and attractions.
Read more about this topic: The Big E
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of our era is the nauseating and repulsive history of the crucifixion of the procreative body for the glorification of the spirit.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Man watches his history on the screen with apathy and an occasional passing flicker of horror or indignation.”
—Conor Cruise O’Brien (b. 1917)