This May, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will be ending their 146-year run with one final show at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island. As the famous circus company shutters its traveling doors (a result of high costs and dipping ticket sales), Illinois State University’s Milner Library is working to preserve the industry’s unique culture.
The library has spent years protecting circus history by digitizing thousands of posters, photographs, and Kodachrome slides. After receiving a $268,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources, the library can now expand their online collection by digitizing over 300 circus route books spanning from 1842 to 1969. The project, which will take about three years, will help preserve the legacy of the circus for generations to come.
Circus route books are usually written at the end of a season and give a detailed summary of the circus’s goings-on. They chronicle everything from the crowd sizes to the names of performers and crew. Being able to read these extensive works…
The post Milner Library Is Digitizing the Colorful History of the Circus appeared first on FeedBox.