1,200 Lives and Deaths at the World’s Fair, 2021-ongoing

I created this resource to honor and remember the lives of the individuals from the Philippines who participated in the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis who have often gone unnamed, unrecognized, or forgotten over time. While searching for those who died during the fair, I came across many other names and stories in the process, including several of my relatives. I hope that this also can serve as a genealogical resource to others and be helpful in the process of locating descendants.

I compiled this most of this list as I read the newspaper from 1904 on the corresponding day in 2021. This page would also not be possible without the research of Filipino and Indigenous scholars who began this work before me. Notes and sources are listed below. If you would like to contribute to this resource, have a family member who participated in the 1904 World’s Fair, would like to request additional information, or suggest a correction, please contact me. Contributions will be properly credited. All text is my own unless otherwise noted and will be updated frequently.

Thumbnail images were sourced from local newspapers and archives. In presenting these photographs it’s important to acknowledge that although these come from colonial representations of the Philippine people, they are individuals with their own names and stories that must be treated with respect. I am strongly against appropriation or commercial use of these images with respect to those depicted and their living descendants without the proper context, especially desecrating and selling them as artwork.

Click on the entries below and hover over the images for more information about each person. Names are listed alphabetically. Carpenters, soldiers, pensionados, and exhibit contributors are listed on separate pages since they often weren’t photographed individually.

🐚 Denotes individuals who were born in St. Louis during the World’s Fair.

🌿 Denotes individuals who died in St. Louis during the World’s Fair.

✔ Denotes individuals who have known descendants.

Currently listing 1,204 of 1,200 names

This page was last updated on 4/30/24. See a record of changes.

Sort by: A-Z / Aeta / Bagobo / Bontoc / Kankanaey / Mangyan / Meranao / Tagalog / Tingguian / Samal / Visayan / Unknown

Go to: Carpenters / Philippine Constabulary / Philippine Scouts / Pensionados

Tagalog

A number of Tagalogs traveled to St. Louis from the capital of Manila, including 17 Tagalog women who were performers. They lived in the Visayan Village in the Philippine Reservation and may be listed as Visayans. There were also two teachers in the group. One died from pneumonia prior to the opening of the fair.

Consuelo Asuncion 🐚

Dionicio Asuncion

Antonio Estudillo 🌿

Carmen Mendoza

Francisco Mendoza

Pilar Zamora

Notes

Name spellings may be inaccurate and vary across different sources. Oftentimes last names were not given. Some individuals also chose to assume an alias during the trip.

Ages also may be inaccurate. At the time, some tribes did not keep track of ages by the Western calendar. Oftentimes individuals were estimated to be younger than they actually were by American officials or reporters.

Sources

Afable, Patricia O. “Journeys from Bontoc to the Western Fairs, 1904-1915: The "Nikimalika" and their Interpreters.” Philippine Studies vol. 52, no. 4 (2004): 445-473.

Buangan, Antonio S. “The Suyoc People Who Went to St. Louis 100 Years Ago: The Search for my Ancestors.” Philippine Studies vol. 52, no. 4 (2004): 474-498.

Fermin, Jose D. 1904 World’s Fair: The Filipino Experience. West Conshohocken, PA, Infinity Publishing, 2004.

Palad, Susan. “The Bagobos of yesteryears.” Mindanao Times, January 18, 2020. https://mindanaotimes.com.ph/2020/01/18/the-bagobos-of-yester-years/

Parezo, Nancy J. and Don D. Fowler. Anthropology Goes to the Fair: The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. University of Nebraska, 2007.

Philippine Exposition Board. Report of the Philippine Exposition Board to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and Official List of Awards Granted by the Philippine International Jury at the Philippine Government Exposition World's Fair, St. Louis, MO. St. Louis, Greeley Printery, 1904.

Postma, Antoon. “The First Mangyans in America: Their Aborted Bamboo Mail.” 2004.

Newspapers: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis Republic

Libraries: St. Louis Public Library, Missouri Historical Society Library, Library of Congress