Join us on Saturday, August 10, at 2 p.m. to learn about Antoinette Concello, a local circus legend often referred to as "the greatest woman flyer of all time."
Maureen Brunsdale, Special Collections librarian at ISU's Milner Library and author of In the Shadow of the Big Top: The Life of Ringling's Unlikely Circus, will present this illustrated program in person at the Museum and live online via the Museum's YouTube channel.
Antoinette Concello (1910-1984) was the first female trapeze artist to perform the dangerous triple somersault. At the age of 16 she made the life changing decision to visit her older sister Mickey in Detroit, Michigan, who was performing with the Flying Wards at the Sells Floto Circus. It was there that Antoinette fell in love with the circus and never looked back. She joined the circus officially in 1927 and began performing acts such as the "Iron Jaw," where she hung from a leather strap by her teeth.
Antoinette soon began catching aerialists, but what she really wanted to do was fly. That dream became a reality when she met her future husband, Arthur “Art” Concello (who was also a member of the Flying Wards). He began to teach her to fly.
While Brunsdale's book focuses on Art, Bloomington's truant-turned-acrobat-turned-circus executive, this program will shine the spotlight on Antoinette, her life—her triumphs and struggles—and her determination to remain relevant in the male-dominated world of twentieth-century entertainment.
Brunsdale has been a Special Collections Librarian at Illinois State University since 2008. She was born and raised on a Red River Valley farm in North Dakota. Brunsdale holds bachelor's degrees from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa and the University of South Dakota.
She has published dozens of articles and authored her first circus book, The Bloomington-Normal Circus Legacy (History Press, 2013), with colleague Mark Schmitt. Brunsdale released her second book, In the Shadow of the Big Top: The Life of Ringling's Unlikely Circus Savior, in 2023.
A book signing will immediately follow the program on Saturday, August 10. Copies of Brunsdale's books are available for purchase in the Museum's Cruisin' with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center & Gift Shop.
Questions? Please contact the Education Department or call us at 309-827-0428.