On Election Day 1904, Igorots cast mock votes for presidential candidates Theodore Roosevelt and Alton B. Parker by placing beans in one of two gangsa as shown. Filipinos in the US would not be able to vote in real elections until 1946.

In the Philippine Village, there were two carabao named Aggie and Teddy. They would often escape and have a good run of the fair before being chased down and returned to their post.

One Mangyan stands outside his hut, who was taken to St. Louis from his village in Mindoro without knowledge of the destination. Written on the plaque outside is “Kario, Sinhigan, St. Louis,” the names of its two residents. The Mangyans lived alongside the Aeta in the Negrito Village during the 1904 World’s Fair.

The Visayan teenagers at the fair were outspoken about how they were portrayed as savages. Teresa Ramirez (left) wrote an editorial which was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and boycotted the reservation school.

Datu Bulan was a young Bagobo chief who was admired in America for his androgynous good looks ahead of his time. The Bagobo Village opened later in the year due to his group being quarantined for smallpox on arrival.

The Philippine Scouts at the fair were a branch of the US Army and were intentionally set in contrast with the native villages. They had more freedom during the fair and participated in St. Louis society and events, including going out with local women. Their interracial romances often sparked controversy.

Many well-known Americans and St. Louisans visited the Philippine Village during the 1904 World’s Fair, including Helen Keller. Since she could not see or hear, she laid her hands on village residents to understand. They showed just as much interest in her as she did in them.

Singwa poses with Jessie Tarbox’s Beals’ 4x5 camera. If Filipinos had phones or social media in 1904, what stories of our own would we have told?

Text by Janna Añonuevo Langholz

Photographs by Jessie Tarbox Beals