Diana Nicholson, Public Relations Associate for Expo 67, is one of the first hundred employees of Expo 67.
By Productions de la Ruelle
Photo credit – Library and Archives Canada
At the age of 23, the young American woman was already spending her summers in Quebec: “I was traveling between Charlevoix and Washington, and would come down to visit friends in Montreal,” she told us in an interview in 2016. “I was there during the time that Expo was changing administrations, at the very beginning, in September of ‘63, and I was very interested.”
Nicholson is one of the first hundred employees hired by the Canadian Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition. She was hired as liaison for public relations working under the direction of Yves Jasmin, and oversaw communications with French West Africa and Latin America.
Photo credit – Library and Archives Canada
Things quickly changed. “I had the chance to present an enormous model of what Expo would be. They sent me to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver… I toured Canada with this model! Everyone was very skeptical.”
When Expo was over, Nicholson remained in office for another six months to oversee the voluminous exploitation service report. Afterwards, she was mandated twice by the United Nations to work on biodiversity. She was also the communications consultant for the Jeanne-Sauvé Foundation, for which she oversaw digital content and development.
Nicholson is now a member of management for the Expo 67 Foundation and contributes content to the website, in addition to being the administrator for the Foundation’s official Facebook Page.
Sources: Interview with Diana Nicholson, 2016; La petite histoire d’Expo 67
