50 Stereographs (circa 50 printed stereographs, halftone and color halftone)
1,000 Stereographs (circa, albumen and silver gelatin (some tinted))
239 Prints (circa 239 mounted and unmounted prints, albumen (including cartes de visite, imperial cards, cabinet cards, and one tinted print) and silver gelatin (some modern copies))
96 Prints (Album :, silver gelatin)
21 Postcards (silver gelatin, collotype, color halftone, and halftone)
Photographs relating to Native Americans or frontier themes, including portraits, expedition photographs, landscapes, and other images of dwellings, transportation, totem poles, ceremonies, infants and children in cradleboards, camps and towns, hunting and fishing, wild west shows, food preparation, funeral customs, the US Army and army posts, cliff dwellings, and grave mounds and excavations. The collection also includes images of prisoners at Fort Marion in 1875, Sioux Indians involved in the Great Sioux Uprising in Minnesota, the Fort Laramie Peace Commission of 1868, Sitting Bull and his followers after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
There are studio portraits of well-known Native Americans, including American Horse, Big Bow, Four Bears, Iron Bull, Ouray, Red Cloud, Red Dog, Red Shirt, Sitting Bull, Spotted Tail, Three Bears, and Two Guns White Calf. Depicted delegations include a Sauk and Fox meeting in Washington, DC, with Lewis V. Bogy and Charles E. Mix in 1867; Kiowas and Cheyennes at the White House in 1863; and Dakotas and Crows who visited President Warren G. Harding in 1921. Images of schools show Worcester Academy in Vinita, Oklahoma; Chilocco Indian School; Carlisle Indian Industrial School; Haskell Instittue, and Albuquerque Indian School.
Some photographs relate to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 1876; World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893; Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, 1903; and Centennial Exposition of the Baltimore and Ohio Railraod, 1876. Expedition photographs show the Crook expedition of 1876, the Sanderson expedition to the Custer Battlefield in 1877, the Wheeler Survey of the 1870s, Powell's surveys of the Rocky Mountain region during the 1860s and 1870s, and the Hayden Surveys.
Outstanding single views include the party of Zuni group led to the sea by Frank Hamilton Cushing; Episcopal Church Rectory and School Building, Yankton Agency; Matilda Coxe Stevenson and a companion taking a photographs of a Zuni ceremony; John Moran sketching at Acoma; Ben H. Gurnsey's studio with Indian patrons; Quapaw Mission; baptism of a group of Paiutes at Coeur d'Alene Mission; court-martial commission involved in the trial of Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds, 1877; President Harding at Sitka, Alaska; Walter Hough at Hopi in 1902; and Mrs. Jesse Walter Fewkes at Hopi in 1897.
Biographical/Historical note:
George V. Allen was an attorney in Lawrence, Kansas and an early member of the National Stereoscope Association. Between the 1950s and 1980s, Allen made an extensive collection of photographs of the American West, mostly in stereographs, but also including cartes-de-visite and other styles of mounted prints, photogravures, lantern slides, autochromes, and glass negatives.
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Citation:
Photo Lot 90-1, George V. Allen collection of photographs of Native Americans and the American frontier, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
This collection includes 40 copy prints of David F. Barry photographs which had been held by David Barry's sister, Matie (Barry) Moore. These were later copied by her brother-in-law Herbert O. Petersen. The copy prints include many of Barry's most famous portraits of Lakota leaders from at the end of the 19th century such as Tatanka Iyotanka (Sitting Bull) [Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)], Rain in the Face (Iromagaja/Ito-na-gaju/Ite-Mahazhu/I-Te-Amaghazhu/Exa-ma-gozua) [Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)], and Chief Gall (Pizi) [Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux)], among others.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes 40 copy prints of David F. Barry photographs which had been held by David Barry's sister, Matie Barry Moore. It is likely that some of the photographs were originally shot by Orlando Scott Goff and later attributed to Barry, who may have printed them at a later date. The studio portraits of Native leaders include—Tatanka Iyotanka (Sitting Bull) [Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)], Rain in the Face (Iromagaja/Ito-na-gaju/Ite-Mahazhu/I-Te-Amaghazhu/Exa-ma-gozua) [Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)], Chief Gall (Pizi) [Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux)], Chief John Grass (Charging Bear/Mato-Wata-Kpe/Pah-zhe/Matowatakpe/Pehzi/Pe-ji/Used As A Shield), [Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux)], Chief Joseph (Hinmuuttu-yalatlat [Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain]/In Mut Too Yah Lat Lat) [Niimíipuu (Nez Perce)], Chief Goose (Goos) [Ihanktonwan Nakota (Yankton Sioux)], Curley (Ashishishe) [Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke)], Red Cloud (Makhpiya-luta [Scarlet Cloud]/Mahpina Luta) [Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux)], Crow King (Kangi-yatapi/Ka-Ge-Tou-Cha) [Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)], Chief Wild Horse [Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux)], and Good Horse with his wife [Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux)].
Additional non-Native portraits include—Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, General F.W. Bentun, Captain Tom McDougal, Col. William F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), Matie Barry Moore, and Judge Kenshaw Landis. There are also a number of outdoor shots made in Dakota territory which include views of Sitting Bull's log cabin, Sitting Bull's camp, census taking on the Standing Rock reservation, Reno Crossing and Fort Lincoln in the snow. There is also an image of Barry's studio set up in Fort Buford. One image has been restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Prints include catalog numbers P23561 - P23599.
Arrangement:
Arranged by catalog number.
Biographical / Historical:
David Frances Barry (1854-1934) was a photographer who is most noted for his photographs of famous Native American leaders at the end of the 19th century. Growing up in Columbus, Wisconsin, Barry was hired by photographer Orlando Scott Goff, with whom he eventually partnered. From 1878 to 1883, Barry traversed Dakota Territory and Montana making many of his most widely known photographs of Native American leaders, such as Sitting Bull, Rain in the Face, and Chief Gall, as well as photographing forts and battlefields, military officers, and other people in the region. In 1883, Barry opened a new studio in Bismarck, where he began photographing members of Cody's Wild West Show. In 1890, Barry returned to Wisconsin where he operated a successful gallery in the city of Superior until his death in 1934.
Barry's sister, Matie (Barry) Moore, retained a collection of photographs made by her brother which were eventually copied and donated to the National Museum of the American Indian.
Separated Materials:
A folder of newspaper clippings regarding the life and work of David F. Barry were donated by Herbert Petersen along with the photographic prints. These are in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records (NMAI.AC.001) in Box 289, Folder 1.
Provenance:
Donated by Herbert O. Petersen, brother-in-law to Matie Barry Moore, in 1991. Matie Barry Moore was sister to the photographer David F. Barry.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Matie Barry Moore collection of David F. Barry copy prints, image #, NMAI.AC.334; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection is largely composed of photographs depicting Plains Indians, many of whom took part in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Depicted individuals include Young Man Afraid of His Horse, Low Dog, Good Horse, Clear Eyes, Rain in the Face, Crow Flies High, Trail Hunter, Sitting Bull, Crow King, Red Cloud, White Faces, Running Antelope, Red Girl, Curly, John Grass, Gall, Spotted Tail, and a group of Ghost Dancers. There are also images of Barry, General Custer, the horse Comanche, and Buffalo Bill.
Biographical/Historical note:
David Frances Barry (1854-1934) was a photographer based in Bismarck, Dakota Territory, who is most noted for his photographs of famous American Indians. In 1878, he was hired by itinerant photographer O. S. Goff, with whom he eventually partnered. From 1878 to 1883, Barry traversed the Dakota Territory, making many of his most widely known photographs of American Indians, forts and battlefields, military officers, and other people in the region. In 1883, Barry opened a new studio in Bismarck, where he began photographing members of Cody's Wild West Show.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R81-71
Reproduction Note:
Copy prints made by Smithsonian Institution, 1981.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs by Barry, as well as originals of images in this collection, can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 80-18, Photo Lot 87-2P, Photo Lot 90-1, MS 4559, and the BAE historical negatives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
This copy collection has been obtained for reference purposes only. Contact the repository for terms of use and access.
Indians of North America -- Great Basin Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Negatives (photographic)
Copy prints
Place:
Yosemite National Park (Calif.)
Washington (D.C.)
Florida
Yellowstone National Park
Colorado
Date:
mid-19th - early 20th century
Scope and Contents note:
Copies of photogaphs selected from the George Eastman House collection by Bureau of American Ethnology archivist Margaret Blaker in 1962. Many of the photographs are individual or group portraits of American Indians and some highlight pottery, baskets, and cradleboards. There are also images of American Indian dwellings, including tipis and hogans; pueblos; dances; and an encampment during the Modoc War and Plains Indian prisoners at Fort Marion, Florida (1870s).
Expedition photos in the collection were made on T. O. Selfridgeʹs Darien Expedition (1870-1871), the Wheeler surveys (1871-1874), and the Hayden Geological Survey (1871). The collection also includes portraits of Frederick Douglass, Sitting Bull, and John A. Logan; and images from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show; Company F of New York's 140th Volunteer Infantry; and the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R79
Reproduction Note:
Copy negatives made by George Eastman House, 1962.
Copy prints made by the Smithsonian, 1962-1963.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds vintage prints for many of the photographs copied in this collection, including in Photo lot 4501, Photo Lot 4605, and Photo Lot 90-1.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
The images were acquired for reference purposes and cannot be reproduced. Copies may be obtained from George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film.
Biographical material; diaries; correspondence, financial material; notes; writings; art work; printed material; and photographs
REEL D30 (fr. 420, 521, 542): Three letters from Bruce Crane, 1930, mentioning his election to the Allied Artists of America, from Will Hicok Low, 1930, concerning Cole's election into an art organization, and from Chauncey Foster Ryder, 1921, saying "You may count on me."
REEL 420 (fr. 453-652): Letters written by Timothy Cole, 1885-1928, primarily to Alphaeus and to painter Edward Ertz of Sussex, England, discussing engraving, work for the CENTURY, World War I, and personal matters; a letter to Alphaeus from sculptor John Angel, 1946, discussing Alphaeus' portrait of him; a poem and notes for a speech by Timothy Cole; writings by Alphaeus describing his engraving techniques and his recollections of his father; printed material, including a program for a dinner honoring collector Alexander Wilson Drake, 1913, an address by Timothy to the National Arts Club, 1916, 11 exhibition catalogs for Timothy, 1927-1931, and for Alphaeus, 1922-1952, a catalog from the Grand Central School of Art, and a few clippings; and 2 photos of Alphaeus, ca. 1912 and 1970.
REEL 3481 (fr.467-700): 64 letters, 1910-1927, and 2 sonnets from his father Timothy Cole and a letter to his future daughter-in-law regarding her upcoming marriage to Alphaeus; a letter to Timothy Cole from Calvin Coolidge thanking him for an engraved bookplate; 12 letters to Cole, 1931-1964, from Maurice Bloch, Paul Bransom, A. B. Butts, Will H. Low, Hermann Dudley Murphy, Hudson Strode, R. P. Tolman, and Mahonri Young; a typescript of an article by Cole on Charles C. Curran; 2 photographs of Cole at work, and a photograph of 26 members of the National Academy of Design, ca. 1925, including 19 autographs on the mat; and miscellaneous printed material and writings.
REELS 4783-4791: Biographical accounts and documents; 70 diaries, 1889-1982, containing accounts of Cole's daily activities and 7 photographs; correspondence, 1891-1988, including letters from his father, Timothy Cole, and other family members, 2 notes from Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant, comments by Cole about his colleagues in 1901-1902, Solon Borglum, Joseph Pennell, Edward Steichen, and a Mr. Yeats, and a description of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, 1902; receipts for art expenses and doctor bills; 4 income tax returns, 1936-1980; an address book, ca. 1933; 6 notebooks on the German language, travels in Orvieto, religious symbols in art, and art history, 1889-1898;
writings by Cole and others, including poems to Eugene and Anita Higgins; prints and drawings by Cole, 1899-1958, including a self-portrait and a portrait drawing of Jean Paul Laurens; 2 prints by John W. Evans, 1935, and Keith Shaw Williams; 26 prints of religious paintings by Italian masters; printed material, including clippings, exhibition catalogs for others, reproductions of art work, material concerning Anita Rio, a postcard album, 1901-1934, and picture postcards, and miscellany; and photographs of Cole, Anita Rio, family, friends, models, residence, travels, art work by Cole and others, and gallery installations.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, portrait painter; New York, N.Y. Born in New Jersey, Cole was the son of wood engraver Timothy Cole. After studying under Isaac Craig in Italy, he began studies at the Academie Julian in 1892, under Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. His painting of Dante was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1900. He moved to England and married sculptress Margaret Ward Walmsley in 1903. They moved to the United States in 1911, where Cole joined the Salmagundi Club, 1918, and served as president of the New York Water Color Club from 1931 to 1941. He taught at Cooper Union, 1924-1931, and was elected a National Academician in 1941. A widower in 1962, Cole married Anita Rio, the widow of painter Eugene Higgins.
Provenance:
Material on reel D30 donated 1955-1962 by Charles E. Feinberg, an active donor and friend of the Archives of American Art. Material on reels 420, 3481, and 4783-4791 donated 1965-1989 by Alphaeus Cole, in part through his nephew Orlando, and by his estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Portraits of Native Americans made by Charles Milton Bell in his Washington, DC studio. Depicted individuals include Red Cloud, Oglala; Spotted Tail, Brule; Quanah Parker, Comanche; Nawat, Arapaho; Scabby Bull, Arapaho; Wolf Robe, Cheyenne; D. W. Bushyhead, Cherokee; John Jumper, Seminole; Plenty Coups, Crow; Rushing Bear, Arikara; Gall, Hunkpapa; John Grass, Sihasapa; Lean Wolf, Hidatsa; Chief Joseph, Nez Perce; and Lone Wolf, Kiowa; as well as people associated with Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show. The collection also includes copies of some images by other photographers, including G. G. Rockwood and F. T. Cummins.
Biographical/Historical note:
Charles Milton Bell (circa 1849-1893) was the youngest member of a family of photographers that operated a studio in Washington, DC, from around 1860-1874. Bell established his own studio on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1873 and it rapidly became one of the leading photography studios in the city. Bell developed the patronage of Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, who sent Native American visitors to the studio to have their portraits made. Bell also made photographs of Native Americans for the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 80, NAA MS 4661
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Copy prints previously filed in MS 4661 have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 80. These are also copy prints of Bell negatives that were acquired from Boyce and form part of this collection.
Additional C. M. Bell photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4420, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 60, Photo Lot 81-44, Photo lot 87-2P, and Photo Lot 90-1.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Jane and Michael Stern Collection, circa 1920-2015, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Photographs of (listed at first instance): Richard McIntire, Lani McIntire, Buck Jones, Buster Crabbe, "Entertainers at the Anchor Bar Tijuana, Mex", Alice Jean Mayo, Ruth McIntire, Sol Bright, Cantina Palacio Palais Royal (Tijuana, Mexico), Frozen Justice (1929), Sheridan Stampede, Vera McGuinness, Rudolf Valentino, Jack Hoxie, Frank Mayo, unidentified.
Photographers: Bruno of Hollywood (Hollywood, California), Alfred's Studio (Los Angeles, California), Otto Linke (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), unidentified.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
McIntire Family Hawaiian Entertainers Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
The collection is open for research use. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
McIntire Family Hawaiian Entertainers Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
1 Reel (ca. 500 items (on partial microfilm reel))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Date:
1890-1920
Scope and Contents:
A catalog of the Lenders's collection of American Indian objects; copies of sketchbooks of Indian artifacts and cattle brands; 8 letters from J.G. Braecklein, 1924, and other correspondence; material regarding Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show; writings and notes; and miscellany.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, cowboy; Philadelphia, Pa. and Oklahoma City, Okla.
Provenance:
Microfilmed 1984 along with other selected art related papers from the Gilcrease Institute.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The collection consists of five children's books about the circus, a brochure announcing the show in London, an 1873 advertisement for the Great Traveling World's Fair of Barnum's, and two scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The P.T. Barnum collection consists of five children's books about the circus, a brochure announcing the show in London, an 1873 advertisement for the Great Traveling World's Fair of Barnum's, and two scrapbooks. The scrapbooks mostly contain newspaper articles, 1889 1893, as well as cartoons, pictures, and drawings of circus events and circus personalities including P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey. Interviews of circus people, anecdotes of circus life, and techniques of training children for circus horsemanship and tigers for the ring are also a part of the scrapbook coverage.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the articles is their description of the logistics of bringing 440 performers, 380 horses, 13 elephants, lions, tigers, deer, llama, camels, a bear and other animals, administrative and support staff, and 80 tons of advertising material to and from London for a 100 day run.
Biographical / Historical:
Phineas Taylor Barnum was born on July 5, 1810 in Bethel Connecticut. He worked hard as a small boy to help support the family. When Barnum was 15, his father died, leaving him almost penniless. Although he attended school irregularly, he was excellent in calculations and could drive a hard bargain. This was later referred to as his Yankee shrewdness.
In 1835 he found his true calling—show business—when he exhibited a black woman, Joice Heth, who claimed to be 161 years old and a nurse to George Washington. Barnum bought her for $1,000 and soon had his investment returned.
In 1841 Barnum obtained the American Museum in New York City, which became a famous place of amusement. He displayed exhibits which were forerunners of the sideshow, as well as performances of moral plays such as Uncle Tom's Cabin.
In November 1842, Barnum engaged Charles Stratton, whom he christened Tom Thumb. They were received by English royalty, including Queen Victoria, and other notable figures throughout Europe.
In 1850, Barnum engaged Jenny Lind and made a fortune for both of them. He lost his fortune when he speculated in the Jerome Clock Company of East Bridgeport, and regained it slowly due to multiple disasters.
About 1877, he became a partner of James A. Bailey, who started the two-ring circus in 1879. Bailey was the administrator of the Barnum and Bailey Show and was considered an excellent manager.
In March, 1882, Barnum bought Jumbo from the London Zoo for $10,000. Jumbo was a very popular elephant with the English people, who resented Barnum's purchase and subsequent export of Jumbo to the United States. After the circus's trip to London in 1890, which was a tremendous success, the English forgave Barnum. Jumbo met an untimely death in 1885. His bones went to the Smithsonian and the stuffed hide to the Barnum Museum of Natural History at Tufts College. Barnum had given the Museum to Tufts in 1884 and contributed a $55,000 stone building to the institution.
In November, 1889, Barnum brought his circus to London for fourteen weeks. He could not stay longer because the show had obligations in the United States. Other Europeans hoped to have the show visit their countries, but Barnum said the logistics and the railway tunnels prevented it.
Notices of the Circus coming to London were plastered all over England, with advertising techniques never before seen by the English. The Show, called the Great Moral Show in England, was considered more stupendous than the Wild West Show with Buffalo Bill, which had recently been shown in London, as well. About 30,000 people a day came and many others were turned away. The Circus took in $900,000, but had large expenses with over 1,800 staff on the payroll.
Barnum himself was a great hit in England. Most of the English royalty attended his circus, many more than once. Queen Victoria requested a private showing but did not receive one, and therefore never saw the show. Even the elderly Gladstone attended. It was said that the English liked audacity, Americans who were not a toady and who offered pleasure, all of which described Barnum. It is also interesting that Barnum supported Irish Home Rule while he was in England.
Barnum was a genius in public relations for himself and his enterprises. He was a great believer in the power of advertising, and made it his business to be talked about. He liked to say that his name did not have to appear beneath his picture because everyone knew him.
Barnum loved children and was known as "The Children's Friend." He often went to the show's matinees to be with the children and talk to them. He gave generously to the Children's Aid Society and made it a beneficiary of a percentage of the show's profit after his death.
With regard to religious and political beliefs, Barnum was a Universalist who believed in the salvation of all men. He was originally a Democrat, but became a Republican because he was a Union supporter. He was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly four times, where he advocated the rights of individuals against railway monopolies. He was also Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and during his time in office brought many businesses to the town and invested in local real estate. He established a system of building houses and sold them to working people on long payments and low interest rates; he also gave the land which became Seaside Park to the community of Bridgeport.
Barnum was married twice, the second time in 1874 to an English woman who was half his age. He had three daughters by his first wife, and his two grandsons were his only male heirs. In 1883, he made his first will so "no business cares should devolve upon his wife at his death." He left the management of his interests to his grandson, Clinton H. Seeley whom he required to change his name to Clinton Barnum Seeley; he had previously made an agreement with Bailey for the Barnum and Bailey Show to continue for 50 years.
Barnum had a reputation for giving everyone their full money's worth. He acknowledged the unreality of some of his attractions with frankness in his autobiography, but he said he was not a humbug; he was just a showman who gave the public what it wanted. He claimed he never pretended to be more than that. After Bailey implemented the two ring circus in 1879, and subsequently a third ring, people complained that they were being given more than their money's worth with so many activities going on simultaneously.
In the interviews and stories about the Barnum and Bailey Circus, it was evident that the circus people had strong training and excellent discipline. But some backstage interviews revealed low ages, poor boarding house food, bad dressing rooms, and strict discipline, with fines often meted out for slight infractions of the rules. The treatment of the animals also was questioned. Bailey reported that 38 horses had to be killed because they had been injured during the hippodrome race in the Nero act of the show.
P.T. Barnum was involved in four lines of entertainment: (a) circus; (b) museum of curiosities; (c) theatrical (he produced plays and helped several actors and actresses get their start); and (d) musical impresario with Jenny Lind.
Barnum was known as a great story teller. He enjoyed playing jokes on himself and others. He died on April 7, 1891 at 80 years and nine months.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
