From Old South to modern West: Fort Worth's celebration of the Texas State Centennial and the shaping of an urban identity and image

Abstract

Using Fort Worth's 1936 celebration of the Texas State Centennial as a case study, this dissertation analyzes the way civic leaders and city boosters used the celebration as an opportunity to reinforce the city's western identity while proclaiming an image of modernity to fairgoers. Chapter one describes the origin of Fort Worth's bid to host a memorial celebration to the livestock industry as part of Texas's centennial festivities in 1936 and the efforts of city boosters to use the celebration to repackage the city's western identity and simultaneously promulgate its images as a modern metropolis. The second chapter describes the gradual disenchantment of West Texans with the eastern focus of state's centennial plans and their support for and participation in Fort Worth's celebration. Chapter three describes the early efforts of Frontier Centennial planners to develop "authentic" western attractions while omitting references to the city's southern heritage and the prominent role played by Fort Worth's club women in refining the celebration's commemorative message. The fourth chapter analyzes the circumstances which ultimately brought Rose to Fort Worth and his pitch to revamp Frontier Centennial plans. Chapter five describes Rose's sexualization of the celebration and explores the paradoxical role played by women during the Frontier Centennial. Finally, the sixth chapter demonstrates Rose's use of prevailing symbols of the mythic West in the creation of a "themed space" in the physical layout of the Frontier Centennial fair grounds.