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Circus

Articles

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This undated photograph offers a fine view of Leonard “Baby” Bliss, Bloomington’s celebrity “fat man” of a century past.

Celebrity life of ‘Baby’ Bliss mired in tragedy
One of the more beloved local figures from Bloomington’s rich past is Baby Bliss, the city’s re...

Article

Flying Wards in their East Emerson Street practice barn

Circus train wreck takes life of local aerialist Jennie Ward
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the horrific Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train wreck, one...

Article

‘Pop’ Horton organized campus circus fraternity in 1929
Today marks the 38th anniversary of the death of Dr. Clifford E. Horton, one of the titans of I...

Article

Blog

2 items

Annual YMCA Circus Downtown Bloomington, March 1938 Part 1
For nearly a century, Bloomington-Normal served as winter training grounds for trapeze artists ...

Blog Post

Annual YMCA Circus Downtown Bloomington, March 1938 Part 2
Seen here are two members of the Billetti Troupe, a nationally touring high-wire act that winte...

Blog Post

Finding Aids

1 item

Circus
Circuses had been visiting the area for many years when around 1875 a small wagon circus came t...

Finding Aid

Oral Histories

1 item

Manuel Cordero

Oral History

Speakers Bureau

2 items

Artists, Advocates, Acrobats, and More! Women Who Made McLean County History

Speakers Bureau

The Showmen's Final Resting Place

Speakers Bureau