1964-65 New York World's Fair Groundbreaking and Dedication Booklets

UNITED STATES
STEEL UNISPHERE

:

CEREMONIES

MARCH 6, 1963

Unisphere presented by (u$H United States Steel

jg)MW1 Npw Yorli World"* fai, 1964-1 963 Corporation

AT THE NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR 1964-1965

Following is a transcription of remarks by
officials present at M first steel" ceremonies for
Unisphere, held in die model room, New York
World's Fair, Wednesday, March 6, 1963.

RICHARD C PATTERSON [Chief of Protocol]:
At this important ceremony I have the pleasure of pre-
senting to you, your master of ceremonies, Mr. Thomas
Deegan, chairman of the Executive Committee of the
New York World's Fair 1964-1965.

THC 5 J. DEEGAN, JR.: Good morning, ladies
and gentli □ sorr at we can't be outside on this

great and auspicious OO to, and I'm just as glad that
we, through the far sightedness of out management, have
this ideal model room in which to escape the elements.

e are here today to help the beginning of construction
of the Unisphere, which is the symbol of the 1964-1965
World's Fair. As many of yoa are aware, the Unisphere,
while iding as our symbol throughout the Fair, gains
additional importance because of its permanence.

Th ectacular piece of open stainless steel will for
many years dominate the landscape of Flushing as one of
the most important pieces of sculpture in the metropolitan
area. People of two continents, two countries, and per-

haps most significantly, two cities, are here today to par-
ticipate in this memorable observance. The Honorable
Robert Wagner, mayor of our city, is here, and later will
extend an official welcome to you. We are also proud that
the U.S. Commissioner for the Federal Pavilion, Norman
K. Winston, is with us.

We welcome too the Baron Alexis de Gunzburg, presi-
dent of the Eiffel Tower Corporation, and most particu-
larly extend a cordial welcome to Mr. Rene Legrain Eiffel,
who has come here to receive an award in honor of his
grandfather Gustave Eiffel, from U.S. Steel, represented
here this morning by Mr. Roger Blough, chairman of the
board of U.S. Steel. We are delighted that you too could
be here, Mr. Blough.

It is particularly appropriate that the ceremonies this
morning link two great Fairs and two masterpieces in
design and construction — Unisphere, and the Eiffel
Tower in Paris. Built for the Paris Exposition in 1889,
75 years ago, the Eiffel Tower was conceived by Gustave
Eiffel as a monument to the basic concept behind all inter-
national expositions — a better understanding and a
closer union between all peoples of the world. Unisphere
continues this tradition, for it is dedicated to the ever-
pressing need for peace through understanding.

At this time I would like to present the Mayor of the
City of New York, who just four years ago, as 1 stated
a number of times previously, sat with a group of New
Yorkers including myself, and discussed a world's fair

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1963 New York World's Fair 1964-1965 Corporafion

for New York in 1964 and 1965 ; and in August of that
year, announced that this would be the greatest event of
its kind in our time. I am happy to introduce the Mayor,
who has come away from the pressing need of the news-
paper strike discussions and a sleepless night to be with
us today. Mayor Wagner,

MAYOR ROBERT WAGNER: Thank you very much
Mr. Deegan. As the Mayor of our city and on behalf of
its eight million people, it is indeed a pleasure to extend
the salute of one great city to another. M. Eiffel, welcome
to our country and to our city. It is especially fitting that
we salute the most famous predecessor of Unisphere,
the Eiffel Tower, symbol of France, symbol of Paris, and
symbol of a great world's fair.

Paris is known not only for its glamour, its romance
and excitement, but also for its important contribution
to the spirit and development of international fairs and
expositions. The Eiffel Tower, built for the Paris Inter-
national Exposition of 1889, remains a permanent land-
mark in the skyline of Paris. We in New York City look
forward to Unisphere becoming a permanent part of the
New York landscape. Unisphere is more than a stainless
steel reproduction of our earth; it is truly a symbol* of
man's achievement on a shrinking globe in an expanding
universe.

In 1889 millions of visitors from all over the world
visited Paris to behold the wonders, hopes and aspirations
of their time at the International Paris Exposition ; it was

Presentation of World's Fair medallions: left to right, William
Berns (facing in), Fair vice president for Communications and
Public Relations; Baron Alexis de Gunzburg, president of the
Eiffel Tower Corporation; Rene Legrain Eiffel, grandson of
famous engineer and builder Gustave Eiffel; Thomas J, Dee*
gan, Jr. (in background), chairman of the Fair's Executive
Committee; Fair President Robert Moses and Roger Blough,
chairman of U.S. Steel Corporation, which is building the
Unisphere.

the greatest spectacle of its time. We are confident that
tbe New York World's Fair 1964-1965 will be equally
successful.

THOMAS J. DEEGAN, JR.: Thank you Mr. Mayor.
Conceived by tbe Fair, Unisphere I am told, could be
executed only in steel. Because it would permanently
beautify Flushing Meadow Park, it was logical that stain-
less steel was selected; and only natural that we turn to
U.S. Steel Corporation, the world's largest producer of
steel, to build Unisphere. As the Eiffel Tower embodied
the new design and structural concepts of its time, so does
Unisphere — the largest stainless steel structure yet to be
built. It represents, in ie ultimate achievement of

its day.

It is just two years ago that Mr. Moses, our associates
and I sat in the office of the U.S. Steel Corporation with
Mr. Blough to have a meeting of imaginations; and today
the vision and enthusiasm expressed by the U.S. Steel
Corporation and the management of the Fair Corporation
have brought as to this lOtable occasion. I am happy
now to present the chairman of the board of U.S. Steel
Corporation, Mr. Roger Blough.

ROGER BLOUGH: Thank you Mr. Deegan, It s a
pleasure to join you and Mayor Wagner in greeting our
iguished visitors from France, The visit symbolizes
Franco-American friendship just as this occasion symbo-
lizes the best in the tradition of worlds fairs. Displaying
to millions the most advanced materials, knowledge and

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skills, this new World's Fair will present a striking por-
trayal of contemporary culture. The people of U.S. Steel,
almost 200,000 strong, feel privileged to design, fabricate
and erect Unisphere as the symbol of the New York
World's Fair of 1964-1965.

One of the most famous and majestic examples of
structures which symbolized a world's fair was the Eiffel
Tower, a structure which at the 1889 Paris International
Exposition, thrust its graceful yet stalwart frame to a
height of 984 feet, and still stands in all of its grandeur.
This tower was the product of the genius and the daring
of one of the great builders, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
who also pioneered the use of the materials of his day in
structurally designed concepts for bridges, buildings and
viaducts, even before his imagination and courage pro-
duced the great tower of which we speak.

And every American should be mindful that it was
Gustave Eiffel who designed and built the framework of
that revered symbol of freedom, that symbol of the unsev-
erable bond between France and the United States, the
Statue of Libert)'. It's a signal honor for all of us that the
grandson of Gustave Eiffel, Rene Legrain Eiffel, is present
today as we mark an important milestone in the prepara-
tions for an exposition which will be. I am confident, the
most magnificent showcase of cultural, industrial and
technical attainments including those of America, that the
world has yet seen.

It's most appropriate that as we begin the construction
of Unisphere, we pause in tribute to a man whose technical

achievements have inspired so much progress in building
and In design. It's equally fitting that we bear in mind —
as Mayor Wagner and Mr. Deegan have asked us to do
— the strong link between two cities, Paris and New
York, between two world's fairs; 3,000 miles and 75
years apart, but linked closely in spirit.

M, Eiffel, it is my great privilege to present to you this
stainless steel plaque honoring the memory of your grand-
father and inscribed as follows:

Man's achievement in an expanding universe. Eiffel Tower
1889? Unisphere, 1964, Commemorating start of construc-
tion of Unisphere. The theme symbol of the New York
World's Fair, 1964-1965, and honoring Gustave Eiffel,
magician in iro?z, engineer, designer, master builder, in-
novator, and creator of Eiffel Tower, symbol of the 1889
Paris International Exposition,

RENE LEGRAIN EIFFEL:

Mr. Mayor, Mr. President, ladies and gentleman: Let
me say how deeply I am touched by the great honor which
you have just paid to the memory of my grandfather. If
he could see us from above, you can be sure that he would
feel richly rewarded by this commemorative ceremony
held by the compatriots of his old friend Edison.

Gustave Eiffel deeply admired the United States. On
June 22, 1889, a few weeks after the inauguration of the
300-meter high tower at the 1889 World's Fair, my grand-
father had the joy to receive an important delegation of
engineers from your country. He greeted them with these

words: We are very proud to welcome you here, you
American engineers who are among the finest engineers
in the world/'

In all branches of the engineering art you have created
works of daring and scientific accomplishment that we
have often admired. In your wonderful Brooklyn Bridge
you have brought to perfection the technique of suspen-
sion bridge building; in fact your beautiful cantilever
bridges are known all over the world and are setting a
trend that is being followed by many nations. Your works
are not only big but they are put up with a speed that is
characteristic of your country; your achievements in the
field of metallurgy are equal to those in the field of com-
munications. You were one of the first countries to use-
steel for railway tracks. Your metal foundries, especially
those in Pennsylvania, surpass tn importance anythin
that we have in Europe. You are constantly working to-
wards the improvement of your equipment in order to
reduce labor to a minimum and to perfect the quality and
precision of your products. Everything you do, you do
well ; you are ever alert to continuous progress.

'Well done" is what the builder of the Eiffel Tower
would have said today, 74 years later, on March 6f 19
to express his admiration for the builder of the Unisphere.
New York and Paris are proud to possess the most fre-
quently visited monuments in the world: the Eiffel Tower,
about which Baron de Gunzburg will cell you :n a moment.
and the Statue of Liberty, conceived by Bartholdi in the
grand artistic spirit, which, thanks to Eiffels precise

t>

B. PEAK

JOHN WENR/CH
1

SANTORE

5

W. D. SHAW

sfi^

UNISPHERE, symbol of the New York World's Fair, is
donated as the exhibit of United States Steel Corporation.
It will tower 140 feet above a gigantic 340-foot reflecting pool,
with its land masses of stainless steel supported on an open
grid of latitudes and longitudes. It will dramatize the
interrelation of the peoples of the world and their hopes for
Peace Through Understanding/1

Rain notwithstanding, the first steel units for Unisphere's ped-
estal were erected in the presence of (left to right) Baron de
Gunzburg, Eiffel Tower Corporation; Roger Blough, U. S.
Steel; Rene Eiffel and Robert Moses, New York World's Fair.

design, rides out safely the most terrible storms. Today,
the Unisphere takes its place alongside these famous land-
marks. Like the Eiffel Tower, it represents more than an
architectural design. The engineers and technicians of
U.S. Steel are faced with intricate problems in its construc-
tion, but their inventive genius, already recognized by
Eiffel in 1889, will result in a monument which, light and
magnificent, will soon dominate Flushing Meadow Park.

For the first time in the history of cultural and industrial
expositions, you have organized a ceremony which joins
two symbols — the Eiffel Tower and the Unisphere. Each
signifies the peak achievement of its time and represents
an expression of the economic and social progress and the
affirmation of the most sacred ideals of man — Liberty
and Peace.

Mr. Mayor, distinguished guests, in honoring Mr. Eiffel
today you, the pioneers of scientific and technical Franco-
American relations, have recalled to mind the work and
research of that great magician in the field of iron to whom
the world owes much. I am deeply moved to find myself
among you on this occasion and to be associated with the
homage you are paying him by inscribing his name on the
plaque which will be attached to the Unisphere, and by
receiving, as his grandson, the small reproduction of it.
My family and I are greatly touched by this gesture of
admiration on your part.

In return please allow me to present to you, Mr. Mayor,
and to you, Mr. Moses, on behalf of my family this com-
memorative medallion, which wras coined in memory of the

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man whom you have honored today during this ceremony
of placing the first foundation unit for the Unisphere
which, like the Eiffel Tower, will become a permanent
invitation to people to achieve Peace Thruogh Under-
standing.

THOMAS J. DEEGAN, JR.: It's always a source of
great pride to me to introduce the next man. I'm usually
at a loss as to how to characterize him, and I must say over
the years he has been characterized by experts in various
ways. Shall I describe him as creative genius, administra-
tor, master builder, leader, friend, or shall we lump them
all together and call him Bob Moses ?

ROBERT MOSES: Mr. Deegan and friends. We
looked high and low for a challenging symbol for the
New York World's Fair of 1964 and 1965. It had to be
of the space age ; it had to reflect the interdependence of
man on the planet Earth, and it had to emphasize man's
achievements and aspirations. It had to be the cynosure
of all visitors, dominating Flushing Meadow, and built to
remain as a permanent feature of the park, reminding
succeeding generations of a pageant of surpassing interest
and significance.

And so we discarded startling abstractions and decided
on a transparent, or shall I say diaphanous globe with
orbits, with the continents outlined, and ingenious light-
ing and other effects in place of revolving machinery.
What stronger, more durable, and more appropriate metal
could be thought of than stainless steel? And what builder

The first steel section for Unisphere's pedestal weighing
twenty tons, is lowered into place. Fabrication of sections
for the world's largest representation of the Earth is taking
place in Harrisburg, Pa., at U.S. Steel's American Bridge
Division, and from there will be shipped by rail and truck
to Flushing Meadow Park.

9

more ginative and competent than the United States
Steel Corporatior

This symbol floating over the Meadow, is going around
the world. It signifies the New York Fair everywhere. Its
effect is instantaneous. It speaks volumes in a single pic-
On behalf of the Fair, and my associates, I congratu-
late Roger Blough and his steel associates on this, the first
manifestation of the Unisphere and present to him, the
Baron de Gunzburg and M. Eiffel of the famous Eiffel
Tower, these medallions which will show how our symbol

II look to the millions who will be attracted to the Fair.

THOMAS J. DEEGAN, JR.: Ladies and gentlemen,
I can't think of a more appropriate way to climax these
brief ceremonies than to have the Baron de Gunzburg

pond as the representative of the Eiffel Tower Corpo-
ration. Baron de Gunzburg.

BARON DE GUNZBURG: M. Eiffel, Mr. Mayor, Mr.

Moses, Air. Blough, ladies and gentlemen. I am very happy

d proud to gtttt you in the name of Eiffel Tower, We

look upon the birth of Unisphere as we would upon the

birth of a new born sister. We welcome her with warmth

and wish her every possible success. The link between the

I Tower and Unisphere will be a symbol of Franco-

rkaa friendship, and it will bind this friendship

and last in

Ic will do so all the better because Unisphere is built

in that lasting material, stainless steel produced by U.S.

10

Steel. Franco-American friendship manifests itself in
many ways — culturally, economically, politically. For us,
in our particular field, we feel it daily and receive an ever
increasing number of American visitors. In 1889, our
metallic tower was as great and daring a novelty as Uni-
sphere will be tomorrow. May the tower of Paris con-
gratulate you on this magnificent realization.

The Eiffel Tower was built in two years, two months,
and two days. It weighs 7,000 tons and is composed of
20,000 different pieces, prepared and formed with the
greatest precision.

It was assembled entirely by hand because at that time
there were no power resources to facilitate this work. The
whole world was fascinated by this enterprise and the
Tower continues today to attract visitors from every corner
of the earth. Over 50 million people have already visited
her. The Tower continues to welcome 2 million people
a year; it is impossible to know Paris without first having
been up the Eiffel Tower. Only from there can the full
panorama of the city's true beauty really be appreciated.

The Tower, furthermore, has a practical and scientific
value. In 1925, the first television show anywhere in the
world was launched from the Eiffel Tower. Thus you can
see that through 75 years, through two World Wars, the
Eiffel Tower has remained the tallest metallic building in
the world, and the symbol of Paris and of France. I hope
and believe that your magnificent Unisphere will have a
similarly long and glorious career.

NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR 1964-1965 CORPORATION

Flushing 52, N. Y. Tel. 212-WF 4-1964

ROBERT MOSES, President

THOMAS J. DEEGAN, JR., Chairman of the Executive Committee

WILLIAM E. POTTER, ExecufiVe Vice President

CHARLES POLETTI, Vice President, Internationa! Affairs and Exhibits

STUART CONSTABLE, Vice President, Operations

WILLIAM A. BERNS, Vice President, Communications and Public Relations

ERWIN WITT, Comptroller

MARTIN STONE, Director of Industrial Section

GUY F. TOZZOLI, (Port of New York Authority) Transportation Section

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ERNESTINE R. HAIG, Secretary of the Corporation and
Assistant to the President

WILLIAM WHIPPLE, JR., Chief Engineer