The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.
Michael R. Pender (1926-2014) was the Deputy Executive Vice President for the New York World's Fair Corporation, and was responsible for overseeing the various state exhibits. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Pender earned his Master's in Engineering from Dartmouth in 1950. He began his career as a project manager for Madigan-Highland Engineers in New York before joining the administrative staff of the New York World's Fair Corporation. After organizing several other influential projects in New York, Pender moved to Sarasota, Florida in 1986, where he continued to work as a senior consulting engineer with Boyle Engineering until 2006.
In 1981, a delegation of private citizens formed the 1992 Florida Columbus Exposition, Inc., a non-profit corporation headquartered in Miami, Florida with the singular purpose of compiling a formal proposal for the 1992 World's Fair to take place in Miami, specifically on Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay.
Corporations representing several cities in the United States created similar proposals to compete for site selection as determined by the United States Department of Commerce, which would select the candidate city to represent the U.S., and then the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) in Paris would make the final decision from proposals representing countries all over the world. In December 1981, Chicago became the U.S. candidate as a site for the fair, defeating Miami, Columbus, New York, Houston, Oklahoma City, and Sacramento. Ultimately, however, planning efforts failed due to lack of support and funding. In December 1987, the BIE formally withdrew its sanction and cancelled the 1992 fair. The 1992 Florida Columbus Exposition, Inc. dissolved in 1984.
Summary:
This collection contains the proposal to host the 1992 World's Fair in Miami, Florida that the 1992 Florida Columbus Exposition Incorporated compiled for submission to the United States Department of Commerce. The proposal argues for Miami's historical and worldly significance in relation to Columbus as well as its status as an international hub. It details such logistics as transportation, economic and environmental impacts, and publicity, and includes supporting documentation such as maps and site plan drawings, charts and tables, and copies of related correspondence.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
For more materials relating to Florida's participation in World's Fairs, see Collection N2003-12, Century of Progress International Exposition's Florida Exhibit Photographs, 1934 (52 photographs); Collection N2020-12, Comer J. Kimball World's Fair Florida Exhibit Scrapbook, 1964-1965 (.25 cubic foot); and Collection N2022-2, Michael Pender New York World's Fair Florida Pavilion Papers, 1961-1968 (1 cubic foot).
for detailed listing.