The 1959 Pan American Games were held in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

between August 28 and September 7, 1959.

Host city selection

One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the

Pan American Sports Organization The Panam Sports (Formerly Pan American Sports Organization; es, link=no, Organización Deportiva Panamericana; pt, link=no, Organizacão Depórtiva Panamericana; french: Organisation Sportive PanAméricaine) is an international organization whi ...

(PASO), along with three cities that withdrew their bids. On March 11, 1955, at the IV Pan American Congress in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, PASO selected

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

unanimously to host the III Pan American Games. On April 15, 1957, Cleveland asked PASO to be relieved of their assignment as the host city. Subsequently, both Guatemala City and Rio de Janeiro informed PASO that they would not be able to host the games either. Two cities came forward as candidates host the games,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, and on August 3, 1957, Chicago was selected over São Paulo by a vote of 13 to 6.

Organization

Once Chicago took over the game following Cleveland's withdrawal, there were 18 months left to organize the games. The games were held on-schedule nonetheless. The games were the first Pan American Games to be held in the Northern Hemisphere's

summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

. The previous two editions were held in March.

The Games

The games opened on August 27, 1959, in sunny 90 °F (32 °C) heat before 40,000 people in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

Medal table

Sports and Venues

Abanderado en los juegos panamericanos 1959 (cropped)

* at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

and

Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Buil ...

* at Alumni Gymnasium (Men's) and Oak Park High School (Women's) * at Northwest Armoury * at Gately Stadium ''temporary venue'' (Track Cycling) * at

Portage Park Portage Park is a park in the Portage Park community area of Chicago, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places. The park stretches from Irving Park Road on the south to Berteau Avenue between Central and Long Avenues. The largest p ...

* ( Open jumping) * (soccer) at Hanson Stadium and

* at

Navy Pier Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants, famil ...

* at Waukegan Shooting Range (shooting),

Great Lakes Naval Training Center Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center ...

(fencing), Independence Grove (equestrian show-jumping and cross-country running), and

(swimming) * in the

Cal-Sag Channel The Calumet River is a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana. Historically, the Little Calumet River and the Grand Calumet River were one, the ...

* in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

* at

* at Lincoln Park Tennis Club * at Proviso High School * * at

Chicago Vocational High School Chicago Vocational High School (commonly known as CVCA, Chicago Vocational Career Academy or CVS) is a public 4–year vocational high school located in the Avalon Park neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened i ...

* at

Reavis High School William Claude Reavis High School simply known as Reavis is a public high school located in Burbank, Illinois., a near southwest suburb of Chicago. It is named for Dr. William Claude Reavis (1881–1955), a professor at the University of Chicago ...

References

{{Events at the 1959 Pan American Games