A Half-century of Concerts at Illinois State University
Story by John Twork
Web design by Ella Jahraus
All photos in this story are from performances at Illinois State University.
From the “Prince of Darkness” to the “Queen of Soul,” dozens of music’s brightest stars have shined at Illinois State University over the past half-century.
Braden Auditorium (originally named Union Auditorium from 1973-81) has hosted over 300 concerts during its 50-year run as Illinois State’s intimate, 3,500-seat theatrical venue. Larger shows rocked Horton Field House beginning in 1964 until Redbird Arena (now CEFCU Arena) opened in 1989. And, before Illinois State’s modern venues, students danced to the likes of Count Basie at McCormick Gym.
Through more than five decades of concerts at Illinois State, generations of Redbirds share memories of belting out lyrics at live campus shows—from Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” in 1975 to Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” in 2023.
Here are our top 50 concerts of the past 50-plus years at Illinois State.
Fifty years after the curtain rose on Braden Auditorium (then Union Auditorium), it remains a coveted venue for touring artists and fans alike. Pop-infused folk singer-songwriter Noah Kahan sold out Braden for his performance at Illinois State during the 2023 spring semester. A few months later, the rising star played Chicago’s iconic Lollapalooza music festival ahead of a sold-out international tour.
A few alumni stars have appeared on Braden Auditorium’s stage years after they were regulars in Illinois State’s classrooms. Country singer-songwriter Suzy Bogguss ’79, a Grammy award-winning musician, performed at Braden in 1999 to raise funds for Illinois State’s yet-to-be-built Center for the Performing Arts. Comedian Craig Robinson ’94 played the keyboard alongside his band, The Nasty Delicious, at a 2014 Family Weekend musical-comedy show at Braden.
A few hours before opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 25-year-old Lenny Kravitz, bottom right, appeared at The Gallery in Downtown Normal where he was honored by Illinois State’s Black Writer’s Forum “for his outstanding work in the music industry,” according to a February 19, 1990, Vidette article. “What can I say? This is my very first award,” Kravitz proudly told the packed crowd. When asked by an audience member if he would play “Rosemary,” a song off his debut album, at that evening’s concert, he said it wasn’t on the setlist. “So, on the spur of a moment, Kravitz was handed a guitar by someone in the audience and showed the crowd real, honest music, the way it is supposed to be,” according to Vidette writer Kawone Harris ’93.
40
Iggy Azalea
Braden, 10/18/14
Australian rapper Iggy Azalea rode a wave of newfound stardom into Braden Auditorium, with her song “Fancy” topping the Billboard Hot 100 list a few months before arriving in Normal. Along with her hit single, Azalea brought to Braden two dresses for the show that each needed to be shortened by an inch to better accommodate her onstage dance performance. Scrambling with the unexpected request, Braden manager Barb Dallinger, ’81, M.S. ’01, contacted Melissa Schrier ’86, a friend and sewing hobbyist. Schrier dropped what she was doing, picked up her sewing machine, and set up in Braden’s star dressing room. Just a couple hours ahead of showtime, Schrier finished the dresses, which Azalea wore for the evening’s sold-out concert. Before going on stage, Azalea signed Schrier’s sewing machine. “That was incredibly sweet of her,” Dallinger said.
Longtime Braden manager Barb Dallinger has read dozens of tour riders listing items that performers request—or demand—for their performances. Dallinger often parsed the lists by asking managers, “Is it a ‘must have,’ or a ‘want?’” One unnamed star requested a six-pack of white athletic socks and undershirts because she liked the feel of new socks after a show. Dallinger politely declined. Another asked for a specific brand of bottled water only available in Colorado. After arriving in her dressing room to find a case of Evian, Dallinger said the star threw each bottle into the hallway, yelling, “This is not the water I ordered!” Dallinger fondly remembers country band Lonestar’s request for “a meal like grandma would make on Sunday.” “The catering group knocked it out of the park,” Dallinger said. “They made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and pie. It was incredible!
In search of a quiet spot after soundcheck to write music with his acoustic guitar, country singer-songwriter Brad Paisley wandered up a spiral staircase connecting the stage level of Braden Auditorium to the upper level of the Bone Student Center. According to former Braden manager Barb Dallinger, Paisley ended up in the former Office of Alumni Engagement, where he was greeted by collective, surprised exclamations of “Brad Paisley?!” Staff set Paisley up with a private conference room where, for the next few hours—as Dallinger frantically searched for the missing country star—he strummed away, potentially working on his next hit single.
Founded by former Illinois State University students Greg Koos and Mike Metcalf ’71, the New Friends of Old Time Music was a student organization that put together a remarkable run of weekly music shows on campus from 1970-87. The free concerts featured “traditional American music,” according to Koos, including signature folk, bluegrass, and blues. New Friends performers included John Prine, Leon Redbone, Tom Waits, Steve Goodman, Bill Monroe, pictured, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many others.
Classically trained soprano Julie Andrews, widely known for her lead roles in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, spent a few days in the fall of 1987 at Braden Auditorium rehearsing her first-ever concert tour directed by husband Blake Edwards, according to longtime Pantagraph arts and entertainment editor Dan Craft ’80. “They wanted to keep it under the radar, so they chose Braden and ISU,” Craft said. “That was a pretty big deal for Bloomington-Normal.” Andrews then opened the tour with two shows at Braden during Family Weekend.
For a half-century, artists preparing for a show at Braden Auditorium have been surrounded by the stars who shined onstage before them. Covering the cinder block walls, ceiling tiles, bathroom—even the clock—in the star dressing room, are signatures, messages, and artwork penned by past performers. From a flowingly scripted “Prince” (the “I” dotted by a heart) to a 4-foot-tall chili pepper drawn by none other than the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the dressing room is a living time capsule of Braden’s storied history
Normal Mayor Richard T. Godfrey proclaimed November 7, 1983, as “Genesis Day” in honor of the band’s decision to open its 12-week North American tour in Normal. Phil Collins, middle, and his fellow band members accepted a plaque marking the honor and held a press conference for local media.
If there ever was a band that could conquer the acoustic atrocities of Horton, it is Genesis. But that’s no surprise. -David Bill, Pantagraph
25
Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine
Redbird, 11/11/89
Less than 10 months after Redbird Arena’s inaugural concert (featuring glam metal band Ratt in January of 1989), Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine heated up Illinois State’s newest venue with their high-energy, Latin-influenced music during Parents’ Weekend. The Grammy-nominated group packed their 90-minute show with dance-worthy hits—opening with “Conga” and closing with an encore of “Get on Your Feet,” which was then No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Vidette writer Susie Ginther ’90 noted the concert’s entertaining theatrics, including a “colorful light show,” plus “an astounding alto saxophone solo played by Mike Scaglione.”
Bloomington-Normal has long attracted top-tier touring musicians. This is due, in part, to the community’s location at the intersection of three interstates, inevitably placing it in the middle of cross-country tours. “Our marketing campaign (to tour promoters) for a while was, ‘No matter where you’re going, we’re on your way,’” said longtime Braden manager Barb Dallinger. The community, including its college students, also has a reputation of supporting live music, according to former Pantagraph arts and entertainment editor Dan Craft. “It’s a strong music town,” Craft said.
Soft rocker Barry Manilow performed four times at Illinois State, including a sold-out, two-night stand at Union Auditorium in 1976. “Although I felt more like an observer than a participant, it occurred to me that I was witnessing probably the greatest thing ever to occur in the Union Auditorium since its groundbreaking,” wrote Vidette reviewer Ralph Baum ’77. “(Manilow) gave to (the audience) what they wanted; and they gave to him right back.” Manilow’s performance included a medley of his famous commercial jingles, including “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” Throughout Barb Dallinger’s tenure managing Braden, she said Manilow was the venue’s most-requested artist by community members.
A live recording from English rocker Peter Gabriel’s concert at Braden Auditorium was incorporated into the 1983 double album and long-play cassette, Plays Live, which featured 16 songs primarily recorded at four Midwest venues. It was subsequently rereleased in remastered CD and digital formats. The Vidette concert review, which praised Gabriel’s “well-refined form of art-rock,” noted that Gabriel told the audience, “Those of you who are observant may have noticed a very large truck outside. It is in the process of recording you at this very moment.”
As the lights died and the backing band entered in twos, the audience became excited. A sweet but raspy voice came from somewhere, ending the wait. With enough sequins and hair to kill Liberace once again, Dolly Parton entered the stage and blew away the audience. -Bruce Whitenack, The Vidette
15
The Smashing Pumpkins
Redbird, 3/23/94; Braden, 10/4/07
Four years after playing at The Gallery, a college bar in Downtown Normal, Chicago-based alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins returned to Normal in 1994—with two platinum records under their collective belts—to open their spring tour at a sold-out Redbird Arena. Fans were treated to a high-energy concert featuring two encores. “Thanks to you 10 people who used to come see us at the Gallery,” lead singer Billy Corgan told the crowd between songs. The Smashing Pumpkins previously opened, along with Pearl Jam, for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Braden Auditorium in 1991, and they returned to headline a Braden show in 2007.
The long list of concerts in Normal includes a handful of notoriously controversial performers, none more so than heavy metal rocker Marilyn Manson, who played Redbird Arena in 1997. “There was so much controversy,” said longtime Pantagraph arts and entertainment editor Dan Craft. “Church groups were protesting, and the anti-Marilyn Manson faction blew it up into a front-page news story.” Craft also recalls controversy surrounding rock band Jefferson Starship’s 1982 performance at Horton Field House. “A local minister had discovered what he believed to be a satanic message recorded backwards on a Jefferson Starship record,” Craft said. “Starship’s Paul Kantner went on WJBC radio’s afternoon show, Problems and Solutions, and had a live debate with the minister before that evening’s concert.” In both cases, the shows took place without any major incidents.
“I’m feeling pretty normal tonight,” Bruce Springsteen joked to a full-capacity crowd at Braden Auditorium Tuesday night (during his solo, acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour). I’m in a normal place with a bunch of normal people,” said “The Boss.” “It feels good to be normal.” -Matt Miller, The Vidette
Blues legend B.B. King and his famous Gibson guitar, “Lucille,” played at Illinois State four times beginning in 1974 when King was 48 years old. He returned in 1992, 1995, and finally, in 2006 at age 81. Former Braden manager Barb Dallinger said King was among the friendliest artists to perform during her tenure. “He was just the sweetest man,” said Dallinger, right, with King. “I spent quite a bit of time with him on his bus, which was special.” While chatting, King expressed his interest in Braden’s graduate assistant and internship program. “The type of experiences our students were receiving were rare in the fine arts community,” Dallinger said. “He was quite impressed with not only the experiences they were getting, but also how well they were doing it.”
After singing 18 songs, the Beach Boys took a small intermission. Joyce Kay, an usher for the performance, found herself enjoying the show as she repeatedly got up to dance and sing along. “I think [the show] is fantastic,” said Kay. “It makes me feel young again. It makes me feel like I’m a student again at ISU.” – Becky Fletcher, The Vidette
5
Grateful Dead
Horton, 4/24/78
Widely revered by “Deadheads” as one of the best shows from one of the band’s best tours, the Grateful Dead’s Horton Field House concert was immortalized in a limited edition, three-CD live album produced by Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux in 2013. The show—part of the ISU Entertainment Committee’s Springfest—was recorded by Grateful Dead audio engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson. “It’s long been one of my favorite shows from a really, really good tour,” Lemieux said in a video introducing the live album. “What we have is this incredible show, start to finish.” Lemieux said he ranks the renditions of “Scarlet Begonias>Fire on the Mountain” and “The Music Never Stopped” at Horton among the band’s best versions ever.
Held from 1972 to 1977, the Rites of Spring—Illinois State’s version of Woodstock—were free, all-day events anchored by emerging musicians performing on a stage on the south end of the Quad. In its final year, the Rites drew nearly 20,000 students from across the country to see a lineup that included REO Speedwagon and the Charlie Daniels Band. Excessive drinking and the use of recreational drugs by many of the event’s attendees along with the festival’s cost to the University led, in part, to the Rites’ demise.
The “Rocket Man” helped launch a golden era of rock concerts at Horton Field House in the 1970s. Wearing a flashy suit, platform shoes, and rimmed glasses, 25-year-old Elton John electrified Horton. Students had camped on the Quad for two days to secure tickets. In his review of the Elton John show, Vidette feature editor Mike Waters ’73 said the audience was treated to a “masterpiece” of a concert. “Without letting up, he hit high point after high point, continually bringing the audience screaming to their feet,” wrote Waters.
For 50 years, Braden Auditorium’s towering walls have reverberated some of the finest voices in music—none more magnificent than Aretha Franklin’s. “Franklin proceeded to prove that she still reigned as the Queen of Soul while presenting her wide vocal range to the audience,” wrote the Vidette’s Carrie Browning ’96. “She asked the audience for a little help with the old favorite ‘Think.’ Franklin was surprised with the enormous response from the audience and moved onto ‘Respect.’ The entire audience stood up, rocked with the music, clapped their hands, and yelled out “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.’” Franklin later played a “slow but sweet” rendition of “You Send Me” on Braden’s grand piano before closing with “Spirit in the Dark,” leaving the audience “impressed with Franklin’s style and pizzaz,” according to Browning.
What memories do you have of concerts at Illinois State? Did we miss your favorite show? Share your stories and photos
Special thanks to Julie Neville, M.S. ’12, Illinois State University senior archives specialist, and Bill Kemp ’88, M.S. ’00, McLean County Museum of History librarian.
Cover by Half Hazard Press
Join Milner Library for an evening of fun and games celebrating International Games Month on Thursday, November 9, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on the library’s third floor. Bring friends (or make new ones) while taking a study break with tabletop games, video games, snacks, and more. No prior registration is needed to attend, although RSVP is appreciated. Participants can either bring their own games or enjoy one of the many that will be provided.
Games that will be available include, but are not limited to:
This event is held in conjunction with the Card-Board Game student organization and Redbird Esports. For more information or if you need an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact Michelle Neuffer at mgneuff@IllinoisState.edu.
Milner Library (with Chad Kahl as the principal investigator) is doing a research study on how we can better serve our patrons. Whether you’re a student, faculty, or staff, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t wait: the survey closes at end of day, October 31!
Anyone who completes our short survey will be entered in a raffle to win one of 50 $20 Amazon e-gift cards!
Milner Library at Illinois State University is now accepting applications for the 2024 Circus & Allied Arts Collection Fellowship. This $1,500 award is available to scholars external to Illinois State University who are interested in researching any topic that requires the on-site use of the Circus & Allied Arts Collection housed in Milner Library’s Special Collections.
The $1,500 Circus & Allied Arts Collection Fellowship is intended to support costs associated with the selected scholars’ proposed research projects including, but not limited to, costs of travel, room and board, digital scans, and other expenses related to utilizing the Circus & Allied Arts Collection for research purposes.
“This is an exciting award because it will allow more researchers to be able to physically access and learn from the unique and significant materials we have under our care in the Circus & Allied Arts Collection,” explained Maureen Brunsdale, head of Special Collections at Milner Library. “We look forward to welcoming those who want to learn more about this amazing amusement dedicated to ‘children of all ages.’”
Founded in 1955, the Circus & Allied Arts Collection was created initially to document the important relationship between Bloomington-Normal and circus acts throughout modern history. Bloomington was a popular winter training location for numerous aerialists such as The Flying Fishers, The Flying Wards, and The Concellos. Today, the collection is one of the largest collections of circus materials in the country. Items in the collection consists of materials such as books, correspondence, personal papers, periodical holdings, posters, prints, slides, advertising pieces, photographs, films, music scores and recordings, route books, and much more. The Circus & Allied Arts Collection also includes materials from related arts such as carnivals, carousels, Wild West shows, and vaudeville.
The Circus & Allied Arts Fellowship is open to all graduate students enrolled in an institution of higher education pursuing a degree at a master’s level or higher, all faculty members employed at an institution of higher education, or researchers or scholars who hold a master’s degree or higher and are currently employed in a cultural heritage institution (e.g., gallery, library, archives, or museum). Current Illinois State University students and faculty members as well as past Circus & Allied Arts fellows are not eligible for this award.
Awards will be granted twice a year. The deadline to apply is January 5, 2024, for on-site visits planned in spring or summer 2024. Those interested in a fall 2024 on-site visit need to apply no later than May 3, 2024. For more information about this award, contact Associate Dean for Information Assets Rachel Scott. For additional information on the Circus & Allied Arts Collection, contact Head of Special Collections Maureen Brunsdale.
International Open Access Week is upon us, and Milner Library has some ideas to help you celebrate. Defined by Peter Suber as, “Digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions,” Open Access expands access to publications, increases the impact of scholarship (by number of citations, for example), speeds up the rate of research, promotes one’s profile as a public scholar, is altruistic, contributes to materials that can be used in classrooms, and ensures compliance with funder mandates. As a partner in university research and creative activities, Milner Library is committed to supporting Open Access initiatives.
Despite the long list of benefits associated with Open Access, obstacles to adoption persist. Most notably, publishers often charge fees to publish open access, and many scholars don’t have the funding to pay sometimes exorbitant fees. Another concern is that Open Access publishers can be associated with predatory practices or less rigorous peer-review processes. Scholars need to publish their work in venues where it will reach the intended audience. Milner Library facilitates connecting researchers to their readers in two significant ways:
The first is by hosting an institutional repository (ISU ReD) that preserves the scholarly and creative outputs of University authors and artists. ISU ReD currently hosts four peer-reviewed, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, student and faculty research, and University documents.
The second is by negotiating Open Access agreements with scholarly publishers that cover the cost of Open Access publishing for University authors. Milner Library entered into its first Open Access agreement with Cambridge University Press in 2021 and has since added agreements with Annual Reviews, Company of Biologists, IGI Global, and Taylor & Francis. Upcoming agreements, set to be effective January 2024 include Association for Computing Machinery, American Chemical Society, Institute of Physics, and Sage Publications. Recent University scholarship that has benefited from these agreements is available in ISU ReD’s Open Access Publishing Support collection.
Beginning Monday, October 23, Milner librarians will be reaching out to Illinois State authors who have published their work open access with the offer to deposit it in ISU ReD. Research shows that more (copies of) publicly available full-text means more opportunities for access and impact. For example, a recent study found that “making OA copies of manuscripts available in self-archiving or ‘green’ repositories results in a positive citation effect.”
Please reach out to isured@ilstu.edu with any questions and regardless of how you celebrate, Happy Open Access Week!
Milner Library is pleased to announce an open house to celebrate the opening of its Digital Scholarship Lab in room 165. Join us from 2-4 p.m. on November 14 and enjoy snacks, conversation, and a chance to experience all the resources the Digital Scholarship Lab has to offer. Can’t make it? No problem! With open lab hours weekly on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, the lab provides a space for students and scholars to explore digital scholarship tools and community for those who embrace these processes.
If your scholarship would benefit from data analysis, data visualization, data mining, digital exhibits, or other digital scholarship approaches, we encourage you to visit open lab hours or reach out to Rebecca Fitzsimmons (rlfitzs@IllinoisState.edu) and Rachel Scott (rescot2@IllinoisState.edu).
The lab features 11 Dell Precision 3650 Workstations with the following specifications: Intel Core i9-11900K 8-core, 16 thread, 3.5 to 5.3GHZ CPU, 64GB DDR4 RAM, NVIDIA RTX A4500 w/ 20GB GDDR6 VRAM, and 2TB PCIe NVME SSD. Specialized equipment includes two Epson 12000XL Graphic Arts Flatbed Scanners and two Meta Quest Pros with 256GB Storage. In addition to software available across campus, the lab machines also have ZoomText Fusion 2023, ABBYY FineReader, and OxygenXML, among others. Please visit the Digital Scholarship Guide to explore related offers and opportunities.
Fall open lab hours are: Sundays, 3-8 p.m.; Tuesdays, 4-8 p.m.; Wednesdays, 4-6 p.m.; and Thursdays, 4-8 p.m. The lab is staffed by two Illinois State graduate students with considerable experience in digital scholarship.
If you need an accommodation to fully participate in this event or have any questions about events at Milner Library, please contact Director of Marketing and Communications Michelle Neuffer at mgneuff@IllinoisState.edu.
Milner Library (with Chad Kahl as the principal investigator) is doing a research study on how we can better serve our patrons. Whether you’re a student, faculty, or staff, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Anyone who completes our short survey will be entered in a raffle to win one of 50 $20 Amazon e-gift cards!
When you search for academic articles using Google, you’re likely to hit a paywall or login screen. To access the full text, use LibKey Nomad, a browser extension that connects you with Milner Library’s paid resources. This is also a great way to use sources like Wikipedia to learn a bit about a topic, then go one step further and start to find credible, potentially scholarly sources that can be used as references in research and assignments.
Step 1: Download the LibKey Nomad browser extension at https://thirdiron.com/downloadnomad/ and select Illinois State University as your institution.
Select Illinois State as your institution on the LibKey Nomad site.
Step 2: Use Google to search for academic articles. When you open an article, you’ll see a button in the lower left corner that will connect you with access options available through Milner Library.
LibKey Nomad will display access options for articles you find.
Even items without direct library database access can be accessed with this tool. Clicking the LibKey button will take you to Milner’s interlibrary loan form to request the item for free. This is a great tool that works in the background while you’re using a search engine. Tools like LibKey Nomad make it easier to search the way that works best for you while still allowing you the best access. LibKey Nomad and other research tools are offered through Milner Library at no charge to Illinois State University faculty, students, or staff. It’s one of many resources we offer to make research easy, accessible, and affordable for our patrons. If you have questions about LibKey Nomad, contact Discovery Services Librarian Lindsey Skaggs at lsskagg@IllinoisState.edu.
Attendees will be able to explore degree and career opportunities in the world of library science, information management, school librarianship, records management, data science, bioinformatics, and security and intelligence studies. All three institutions offer flexible in-person, online, and hybrid graduate and undergraduate programs designed to meet the information challenges of today’s workforce.
If you have any questions or need an accommodation to participate fully in this event, contact Karmine Beecroft.
One of the more unexpected things available in Milner Library is the Ueckert Circus Wardrobe Collection. An amalgamation of over 1,200 circus costumes, accessories, and props from the 1880s to the early 2000s, the collection is one of the most comprehensive collections of circus wardrobe in the country.
The assessment of the Ueckert Circus Wardrobe Collection in progress.
In October of 2022, Milner Library was awarded a Save America’s Treasures grant to support the preservation of the Ueckert Circus Wardrobe Collection. This grant helped to fund a conservation assessment to identify if these costumes were being stored correctly, to flag any items that needed to be repaired, and to identify significant materials and techniques used to make the pieces. For two weeks this summer Colleen Callahan and Shae Masterson, two professional textile conservators from Costume & Textile Specialists, visited Milner to complete their assessment. With the assistance of student worker Grace Benefiel, Conservator and Preservation Specialist Becky Koch, and Conservation Technician Jessica Martin, they carefully examined every costume in the collection.
The assessment led to several surprising discoveries about the collection, one of the most impressive being that many pieces were entirely handmade, which means that sequins and feathers were painstakingly applied by hand. Some rare pieces were also found, including 19th century underwear. Underwear might not sound very exciting, but it is typically used until it is worn out then discarded and replaced with the newest styles, so not many examples of historical underwear still exist. There are several pieces of underwear in this collection, whether they be underwear that was modified to become a performance costume, or simply underwear that was packed in a forgotten trunk for many years.
The costume room where the Ueckert Circus Wardrobe Collection is stored.
Funds from the Save America’s Treasures grant have also been allocated to assist with researching the collection. The grant participants include principal investigator Becky Koch, library conservator at Milner Library; Maureen Brunsdale, head of Special Collections at Milner Library; Rainie Themer-Bosquet, program director of Gamma Phi Circus; Maritza Atayde, assistant coach of Gamma Phi Circus; and Colleen Callahan and Newbold Richardson, who are both textile conservators at Costume and Textile Specialists. Participants from Gamma Phi are still hard at work researching the provenance and stories behind individual wardrobe pieces. Their work will continue through fall of 2024.
The information discovered during the conservation assessment along with the details our researchers are uncovering will make this collection of great value to historians not only of the circus and performing arts, but also to textile and costume researchers. Having all these items available to researchers in a single repository, especially as part of an institution already known for its unmatched circus collections, will facilitate interdisciplinary research at Milner Library.
