Opening in Style

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Crowds gather for the Pan American Center Dedication Ceremony, coinciding with Pan American Day, a day established by the Organization of American States to commemorate Pan American relations. Present were various foreign dignitaries.

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Template of invitation on oversized canvas-like medium in large flowing script meant to copy older manuscript and formal correspondence inviting a most esteemed guest to join in the activities of the 400th Anniversary at the invitation of the President of the United States.

Dedicated in front of an international crowd on April 14, 1965, the Pan American Center opened its doors for the first time in a very busy St. Augustine. Crawling with tourists in town for the celebration of the 400^th Anniversary, taking in the newly reconstructed town, the day was especially significant as it coincided with Pan American Day and the 75^th Anniversary of the inter-American organization.

With this ceremony, the Pan American dream seemed certain to manifest in St. Augustine, a dream now accessible to the stimulated spike in tourism that St. Augustine enjoyed in the early part of the 1960s, celebrating the legacy of the nation’s Oldest City.