Archives Resources

Finding Aids highlight our holdings but are not comprehensive listings of our entire collection.

Finding Aids

Al Halpern Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Hartford, Ct. Fire Research Collection

Baliot Collection, 1902-1997, bulk dates 1910-1928

Charles Josef Ringling Family and Circus Collection

Eleanor Merritt Darlington Collection, 1950-2019

Glasier Photographic Collection 1895-1942, bulk dates 1900-1930

Karl A. Bickel Correspondence, 1923-1961

Otto Rice Collection of Robert and Anna Reynolds and Leif Osmundsen Photographs and Printed Materials, 1915-1985

Papers of Dr. Robert Pierce Harris 1908-1951

Records of A. Everett Austin, Director of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1946-1957

Coming Soon! Records of Curtis G. Coley, Director of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art 1963–1973

Records of J. W. Blanding, Business Manager of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 1935-1956

Records of J[ohn] Kenneth Donahue, Director, 1957-1964

Records of Richard S. Carroll, Director of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

Ringling Members Council Records, 1958-2017, bulk 1999-2012

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art  P.T. Barnum Collection, 1845-1890

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art State of Florida Board of Control Records, 1946-1958

The Ringling Bros.’ World’s Greatest Shows Booking Correspondence

Stuart Thayer Manuscript Collection, 1793-1918

Tibbals Circus Collection of Allen J. Lester Papers, 1925-1955

Tibbals Circus Collection Booklet Inventory, 1764-1999

Tibbals Circus Collection of Buster Bailey Films, 1937-1984

Coming soon! Tibbals Circus Collection of Carl E. Elwell Scrapbooks, 1900-1958

Tibbals Circus Collection of Folded Sheets, 20th -21st century

Coming soon! Tibbals Circus Collection of Gibbs Company Records, ca 1890-1919

Tibbals Circus Collection of Greeting Cards, 1868-1998 and undated

Tibbals Circus Collection of Songsters, 1810-1948

Tibbals Circus Collection of Tickets, Passes, and Coupons, 1840-1999

Tibbals Circus Collection of P.T. Barnum Records, 1850-1891

Tibbals Circus Collection of Samuel Franklin Cody Papers, 1895-1912


Circus, Wild West shows and Allied Arts Resources

American Antiquarian Society
185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609-1634

The Barnum Museum
800 Main Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604

Billboard Magazine Archives

Bridgeport Public Library
925 Broad Street, Bridgeport, CT 06604

Circus Arts Research Platform

Circus City Festival Museum
154 North Broadway, Peru IN 46970

The Circus Diaries: circus thoughts from circus people

Circus Route Books

Circus World Museum
426 Water Street, Baraboo, WI 53913-2597

European Network Circus and Street Arts

Harvard University Library Theatre Collection
Cambridge, MA 02138

Hertzberg Circus Collection at the Witte Museum
3801 Broadway Brackenridge Park, Texas

Illinois State University Milner Library
Normal, IL 61761-0900

International Circus Hall of Fame
Post Office Box 700, Peru, IN 46970

John Daniel Draper Equestrian database

New York Historical Society
170 Central Park West,
New York, NY 10024

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Billy Rose Theatre Division
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-7498

Princeton University Library Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections
1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544

Sauk County Historical Society
531 Fourth Avenue, Baraboo, WI 53913

Shelburne Museum
US Route 7, Shelburne, VT 05482

University of Memphis Ned R. McWherter Library
Dyer Marion “Ichabod” Reynolds Circus Collection and Tony Conway Circus Collection
Memphis, TN 38152