Exhibitions, 1888-1890

In 1888 and 1889, the Trustees sent out circulars inviting "artists, manufacturers and workmen" to participate in exhibitions to be held at Memorial Hall for the purpose of promoting the advancements of the American art industries and of making the general public more aware that these talents rivaled those of Europe. To encourage participation, a competition offering cash prizes was made part of each of the exhibitions. Thomas Hockley, Stuart Wood and Dr. Isaac Norris, all members of the Executive Committee, served on the committee to plan for the exhibition. For the 1889 exhibition, Hockley served as Chairman and Dalton Dorr was its Secretary. This subseries consists of the incoming correspondence to both men, and is subdivided by each exhibition into two sub-subseries. Hockley (or Dorr) apparently maintained the correspondence in letterbooks, numbering each item, and created an index for each book. Letters have been placed in folders in their numerical order. Each of the three indexes precedes its respective set of folders.