In the early years following the Civil War, the first request for the Liberty Bell's presence at a World's Fair was sent to the City of Philadelphia. In late 1884, S. Prentiss Nutt, Special Commissioner for the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, wrote to Philadelphia Mayor William B. Smith requesting that the Liberty Bell be sent to New Orleans for the opening of the exposition the following year.
The desire for unity by both the North and the South is evident in the request for the Bell and the reply from Philadelphia. Special Commissioner Nutt declared that sending the Liberty Bell to New Orleans would:

"meet with the universal approbation and the heartiest greetings of all the people of the South. Our ancestors fought and bled for the time-enduring principles which that bell rang out on July 4, 1776 and, although the bell is the property of the City of Philadelphia, yet are we not co-inheritors of its glories? In the name of those mutually earned glories, we ask you to let it come to New Orleans."

Mayor Smith proposed the trip to the Select and Common Councils of Philadelphia stating,

"If the presence of the Old Bell which rang out the birth of a great republic can be the means, by its presence at New Orleans, in restoring or cementing the same patriotic spirit in the entire nation at this time, it will bring credit and renown to this city, and make evident to the people of the South that the City of Brotherly Love, true to her history, is anxious to aid in the restoration of perfect harmony throughout the nation."

The City of Philadelphia agreed to send the Bell to New Orleans with the condition that three policemen accompany and guard it at all times.

Much fanfare and ceremony accompanied the Liberty Bell's removal from Independence Hall for the trip south. On January 23, 1885, the Liberty Bell was transported to New Orleans on a special flat railroad car and hung on a wood and decorated metal frame that permitted full view of the Bell during its travels. As the Liberty Bell train traversed through the countryside, large crowds gathered to cheer its passing, church bells rang, cannons fired. In towns where the Bell stopped, it was greeted with enormous crowds of people, parades, speeches, salutes and much ceremonious honor.

Following a very successful exhibition, the Liberty Bell began its trip home to Philadelphia on June 13, 1885. The Mayor of New Orleans and city officials accompanied the Bell on its return trip. Meeting in Baltimore, the mayoral parties of both great cities continued the trip together to Philadelphia where an official reception was planned for the return of the Liberty Bell to its home.

At a time when the nation's sense of wholeness was still very fragile, the Liberty Bell's trip from North to South proved to be a balm in the spirit of healing national unity.