Acknowledgments List
The curators would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance with the Flights of Fancy exhibition:
Lynda Xepoleas, Kat Roberts, Rodney Barge, Dr. Mikaila Brown, Laura Libert, Angela Chang, Amy Cohen, Holly Adams, the team at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at the Cornell Library, Melissa Wallace and Lynette Rayle for their technical assistance with the site, and last but certainly not least, Dr. Denise Green, without whose guidance and support this exhibition would not have been possible.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Archive team has provided a number of items included in this exhibition. Many thanks to Jennifer Lemmer Posey, Susan O’Shea, Heidi Connor, and Heidi Taylor for their assistance and enthusiasm.
Videos
The curators would like to thank circus artists Kleber Berto, Brien McCrea, Rena Dimes, Sorrell Nielsen, Veronica Blair, and Izzy Patrowicz & Tad Payne-Tobin for their permission to include videos of their performances or demo reels.
Mr. Harlin C. Kearsley kindly permitted us to include his African American History is AMERICAN History episode on Moses Ephraim "Eph" Thompson. The African American History is AMERICAN History (AAHIAH) Video Series Channel on YouTube is an incredible collection of the stories of African Americans that are written, directed, and produced by Mr. Kearsley, and we recommend taking some time to explore this invaluable resource.
P.T. Barnum's Ethnological Congress | The Circus video was downloaded from PBS Learning Media: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/amex30circus-soc-ethnocongress/pt-barnums-ethnological-congress-the-circus/
Rights to use this asset do not expire. Asset Copyright: © 2019 WGBH Educational Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
- Media Credits: Adapted from American Experience: The Circus. Third-party materials courtesy of Alamy, AP Archives, AV Geeks, Beinecke Library at Yale University, Boston Public Library, Circus World Museum, Fred Pfening, Getty Images, Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Harvard University, Indianapolis Freeman, Lenox Library Association, Library of Congress, Mark Cantor/Celluloid Improvisations, Minnesota Historical Society, National Archives (UK), National Library of Australia, National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, New York Times, New York Public Library, Philadelphia Times, Princeton University/McCaddon Collection, Ringling Museum of Art, Ronald G. Becker Collection at Syracuse University, Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, Tegge Circus.
- Source: The Circus: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, which was funded by Liberty Mutual, Consumer Cellular, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, DIG Cook and Rose, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Photographs
The curators would like to thank Matt "Toy Store" Zimmerman, Joy Powers, Doug Stewart, and Izzy Patrowicz, who graciously provided the photographs used in the Circus Tent video on the Setting the Stage page of the exhibition. Narration for the video was provided by Matt "Toy Store" Zimmerman.
Many thanks to Mr. Ron Seymour for granting permission to use the Flying Marilees and Betty Pasco photographs on the Aerialists Aloft page. Mr. Seymour oversees the Maurice Seymour Gallery, and we gratefully acknowledge his assistance.
The black & white publicity photographs of The Flying Gibsons, the Flying Larrays, Miss Pauline, Malikova, the Triska Troupe, and the unnamed male tightwire walker are all included in this exhibition under Fair Use. These items were sourced from the Circus Publicity Collection in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in the Cornell University Library, and do not contain any copyright markings or photographer information.
The curatorial team elected to include these items for educational purposes, as the photographs ' original use was for publicity purposes when marketing their acts, and the content of the photographs contains valuable information on the topic of circus costume. Similar items, including copies of some of these images, were found to be publicly available online or available for purchase on websites such as eBay. If you have concerns about these images, please contact the curators.