At the heart of the 1939-1940 World s Fair, inside the Perisphere itself, lay the Democracity exhibit and its key element, Centerton, a futuristic city modeled in miniature. In planning this creation, famed industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss took several cues from Le Corbusier s proposed Ville Radieuse (Radiant City). Like Le Corbusier, Dreyfuss envisioned an urban environment in which the different land uses—government, business, shopping, and housing—were located in separate districts. Pedestrian-free, high-speed roadways linked these districts, while also whisking people into the countryside beyond. To a remarkable extent, this vision describes the United States that we now inhabit. The Democracity exhibit featured two rotating spectator platforms, providing a panoramic view of the Centerton model and its surroundings. Visitors watched a roughly six-minute show featuring a spoken program, narrated by radio commentator H. V. Kaltenborn, special lighting effects, and a musical score by the African American composer William Grant Still. The show was to have ended with a Polaroid light display, but Grover Whalen, the Fair s President, deemed that finale too costly. This video, part of the Biblion World s Fair app available for download from iTunes, represents a story made from items available in The New York Public Library s collections. In attempting to recreate the Democracity show, researchers from the Library uncovered draft versions of Kaltenborn s narration as well as lighting and music cues. Then, a team of animators blended photographs of the Perisphere s interior and early Centerton models—taken from the Library s online Digital Gallery—and re-mixed these images with new 3D animations, giving a sense of how the Fair s visitors might have experienced Tomorrow s World in Miniature. As a small chorus sings Still s Rising Tide theme, Paul LeClerc, the tenth head of The New York Public Library, gives voice to the narration. Unlike the actual show in 1939, this new version ends with a fanciful display of lights.
