Tucked away in the far south of the White City was the Anthropology Building. While the Fair opened to the public in May 1893, construction delays resulted in the opening of the Anthropology Department in July, months after the Fair opened to the public. The outdoor exhibits, however, had opened on time and fairgoers could view Navajo weavers and meander through a Penobscot Village.
Armed with a budget of $100,000, Putnam relied on personal and professional relationships to develop the Anthropology Building. He commissioned nearly 100 field researchers and collectors to amass collections that were used to create 314 exhibits of objects, mannequins, and dioramas inside the building. The result was a comparative, sensory-rich display of the world’s people, past and present. Boas was Putnam’s second-in-command, focusing his efforts on creating the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) Village outside the building and the physical anthropology lab inside the building, which featured photos, human remains and measurements of Native American children as well as an area where the fairgoer could be measured.
