During the Great Depression, a federal work program funded the Texas Centennial Exposition to celebrate 100 years of independence from Mexico, and Dallas was chosen to host the statewide exposition at Fair Park. Dallas architect George Dahl redesigned the fifty-year-old grounds into a modern exposition, and among about 50 structures designed by him and his staff was the Hall of Negro Life, created to showcase the accomplishments of the African American community. Federal funding for the hall was secured through the work of Dallas African American leaders Antonio Maceo Smith and Maynard H. Jackson. Jesse O. Thomas, a former Southern Field Director for the National Urban League and a protege of Booker T. Washington, served as general manager of the building, with Smith as assistant general manager. The building contained nearly 14,000 square feet of exhibit space and 9,000 square feet of wall space, and featured exhibits in six classifications: education, fine arts, health, agriculture, mechanical arts, and business. Nearly 400 exhibits from 32 states were shown, with Texas contributing 76 exhibits, the most of any state, and the federal government adding 78 more. Total attendance during the fair reached 400,000. After the Texas Centennial celebration ended, the Exposition Corporation of Dallas took over the fairgrounds intending to continue the following year as the Pan American Exposition, and the Hall of Negro Life was one of only two exhibit buildings demolished. During its brief existence, it celebrated the numerous accomplishments and deeds of the African American community in America.