The Seattle World's Fair, UMM's participation

The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle
And the hills the greenest green in Seattle
Like a beautiful child growing up free and wild
Full of hopes an' full of fears
Full of laughter full of tears
Full of dreams to last the years in Seattle
 
The UMM men's chorus got to appreciate Seattle's attributes firsthand in 1962. Perry Como sang the lyrics to "Seattle" that start off this post. It became the theme for the ABC television show "Here Come the Brides." Como vaulted this song into Billboard's Top 40 in the spring of 1969.

The University of Minnesota-Morris men's chorus sang with style in the Seattle World's Fair, also known as the Century 21 Exposition. UMM had not yet had a graduating class. It was beginning to bloom on the campus that was the long-time home to the West Central School of Agriculture.

Gaining visibility was important to the new UMM. Toward that end, UMM vocal musicians made this trip to the Pacific Northwest.

These were the heady days of the JFK presidency. Heady yes but worrisome too, due to the looming Cold War. Cold War circumstances caused John F. Kennedy to be absent from the fair's closing ceremony. The official word was that he had a bad cold. Really he was attending to the Cuban missile crisis.

The year 1962 seemed more a continuation of the 1950s than the dawn of anything new. Social change didn't seem on the radar yet. I have read one scholar, though, who suggests with support that there was a strong undercurrent in the 1950s anticipating change. It was merely beneath the surface.

The UMM singers visited the gala spectacle that expressed technology-based optimism. The famous Space Needle was built for the event. Two years later the UMM men's chorus would visit New York City where the iconic symbol was the Unisphere. These structures stand today.
I share a retrospective about the 1964-65 New York World's Fair on my companion website, "Morris of Course." You may click on the permalink below to read it. Thanks. - B.W.
http://www.morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-grand-new-york-worlds-fair-umms.html
 

Frankly I have often wondered why the Unisphere hasn't gained the stature of the Eiffel Tower in France or the Taj Mahal in India.

Another symbol of the Seattle World's Fair was the monorail. This too survives today with trains carrying about two million passengers a year.

Everyone was conscious of the "space race." JFK set the tone with his goal-setting.

The Boeing company had made Seattle vital in aerospace development. The world's fair projected a theme of how the U.S. was holding its own versus the Soviets in science and space.

The UMM men's chorus is planning a reunion for the upcoming Homecoming. Alumni from 1960 through 1964 are invited, encompassing the two world's fair trips. It was westward in '62 and eastward in '64.

The group performed in a tight and disciplined way, assembled on risers wearing their trademark maroon jackets. My father Ralph E. Williams was director. He was commissioned a "goodwill ambassador" for Minnesota by our Governor Elmer L. Andersen. A certificate marking this was presented to Williams on the state capitol steps, St. Paul.

The certificate proclaimed Williams a "10,000 Laker." He was in St. Paul for a final orientation before he and his 36-voice chorus left for Seattle. The party left from Morris by train, recipient of send-off festivities at the Great Northern depot.

Our men's chorus opened the program for Minnesota Day at the World's Fair. It was June 12. The chorus sang "Onward, Ye Peoples," "Born to be Free," "Rock-a My Soul" and "Russian Picnic."

Minnesota Day ceremonies were held in the Plaza of States. Governor Andersen was there along with St. Paul Winter Carnival and Minneapolis Aquatennial royalty. Another vocal group and four bands also represented the state. The UMM chorus sang later in the day at the Plaza of States.

The Minnesota delegation had brochures promoting the state's tourism to distribute to all. The singers and band musicians wore red and white badges with the messages "Minnesota says hello" and "Vacation Land of 10,000 Lakes."

The Minnesota delegation was 500 strong. Minnesota Day was coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Business Development. Governor Andersen said at trip's outset: "I want to tell you all that we're all mighty proud of all these organizations going out to Seattle."

The fledgling UMM got a boost in its visibility to be sure.

The Seattle World's Fair (or Century 21 Exposition) was held from April 21 to October 21 of 1962. Nearly 10 million attended. It did well financially compared to some other world's fairs.

The joy helped offset some of the dismay caused by world affairs. Americans were building homes with "fallout shelters." The trend didn't last long. The later TV show "Happy Days" gave a good retrospective on that. Their experiment with such emergency preparedness ended in a feeling of resignation. They figured if a conflagration so serious as to require fallout shelters actually happened, "life wouldn't be worth living anymore."

That says it all. The house we live in today does in fact have a fallout shelter. We even still have the owner's manual for it - probably a collector's item. It would be neat to take that to "Pawn Stars." I guess we're ready for. . .something.

All this survivalist talk by Glenn Beck might prompt one to think we should have a revival in emergency preparedness. But again, would life really be worth living?

The Seattle World's Fair projected optimism as best it could considering the backdrop of the Cold War. It and the New York World's Fair were futuristic, striving to put the best foot forward with technology. The monorail was a futuristic vision and shows its viability today. Now if we can get high-speed rail implemented in Minnesota.

The year 1962 was more of a "Father Knows Best" world than "Laugh In." Seeds were being planted for fundamental change. It was the year that saw the first computer video game, called "Spacewar." My goodness, audio cassettes were invented then. Cassettes seemed very futuristic and state of the art for a period, just like "faxing." Then we got CDs and email.

Nostalgia is easy to feel about 1962. If you turned on your radio while out motoring, you might hear "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens. Or, "Duke of Earl" - I love that one - by Gene Chandler. The definitive fad, the "Twist," was given to our culture by Chubby Checker.

Meanwhile JFK was guiding the country. It was an all too short presidency that may have come to be defined by myth at least to a small extent. The boomers were clearly enthralled. We knew nothing of JFK's peccadilloes or the extent of his health problems which really were substantial. I'm not convinced he would have stopped the escalation of the Viet Nam War.

Some inevitable forces bubbled over in the 1960s. We revere JFK as well we should.

I went to our Morris Theater to see "P.T. 109" starring Cliff Robertson as JFK in the real-life war story. Warren Beatty was the other finalist for that role. Movie history has it JFK made the choice himself, also stating he would only go along with the movie if it were factually accurate. Oh c'mon, a little propaganda never hurt a good war story. But the movie seemed to come off just fine.

The world averted the most feared crisis, nuclear annihilation, during the time of JFK.

The site of the Seattle World's Fair is called Seattle Center today. The city burst into our culture in 1993 with the flick "Sleepless in Seattle," the romantic comedy directed and co-written by the recently-deceased Nora Ephron.

The UMM men's chorus members will reunite on September 22 and 23. They'll join in with the UMM concert choir during the Homecoming concert set for 2 p.m. on 9/23 at the HFA. What a grand occasion it will be.

Gary Sethney is the main reunion organizer.

Are the "bluest skies" really seen out in Seattle? Are the hills the "greenest green?" The UMM men's chorus members would know, having celebrated the attributes of Minnesota (and Morris) out in the Pacific Northwest in 1962.

Perry Como sang how the city was "like a beautiful child, growing up free and wild."

Just like UMM in 1962, to be sure.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com