The Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, meant to herald the twentieth century, went tragically, spectacularly awry.
The Exposition opened with fanfare; its wonders, both strange and magnificent, dazzled the public. Then tragedy struck. In the early autumn of 1901, an assassin stalked the fairgrounds, waiting for President William McKinley. That was shocking enough, but there were more surprises in store.
In The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World's Fair, Margaret S. Creighton lifts the curtain on the assassination of McKinley as well as on the fair’s lesser-known battles, involving both notorious and forgotten figures.