chicago.jpg (16304 bytes)

chicago program1.jpg (36816 bytes)

III Pan American Games
Chicago, USA
August 27 – September 7, 1959

The III Pan American Games were the first held in North America. The Games originally were scheduled for Cleveland, Ohio, but the U.S. Congress’ decision to cut $5,000,000 in federal funding forced the city to withdraw as host. Chicago, led by Mayor Richard J. Daley, then became the choice of PASO. The Games opened at Chicago’s Soldier Field, with 2,263 athletes competing in 18 sports. Yachting was on the sports program for the first time. The male athletes’ village was located on the campus of the University of Chicago. The 298 women athletes stayed nearby at the Shoreland Hotel.

The Spanish-language poster above left  features a stylized graphic figure in the act of performing the shot put. The figure is depicted in black outline and colored in yellow and orange with white shadowing. The background of the poster is black. On the right, are the words "chicago" and "ciudad de agasjos," meaning "Chicago, city of hospitality." African-American artist D.W. McIlvaine, then graphics chief for the city's neighborhood services program,  designed the lithograph poster. It was printed by Allied Printing of Chicago.

A second popular image appeared on the cover of the official bulletin. The image shows a male athlete hurdling over the skyline of downtown Chicago. Below the skyline are two hands clasped in a handshake. Together the three elements bring together the themes of the athletic competition, the city of Chicago and friendship. The phrase "friendship through sports" is printed at the bottom of the skyline image. The PASO logo is placed to the left of the hurdler with the informative text printed on several lines at the top of the image.

 

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