A one-hour documentary – Seattle’s Forgotten World’s Fair: The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition – currently airing on Seattle Channel celebrates the centennial of the A-Y-P.

Thought Seattle’s 1962 World’s Far was the first? You’re not alone. Step back in time to 1909 and catch a glimpse of Seattle’s first world’s fair, a grand celebration and fascinating chapter from the city’s forgotten past. A one-hour documentary – Seattle’s Forgotten World’s Fair: The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition – currently airing on Seattle Channel celebrates the centennial of the A-Y-P. Watch the video here.

During the summer of 1909, nearly 4 million people passed through the fair’s gates on the UW campus. The fair helped Seattle shed its frontier past and became a gateway to Alaska and Asia. Filmmaker John Forsen brings the A-Y-P back to life through thousands of historical images, archival footage and interviews. Actor and former Seattle Arts Commissioner Tom Skerritt narrates. The Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural—coordinator of the communitywide A-Y-P centennial celebration – is a film sponsor.

Image: Courtesy of the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division.