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February 10, 2012

Circus exhibit closing soon

Like the circuses it spotlights, “From Acrobats to Zebras: Circus Art and the Big Top Experience,” a small exhibition at the New York State Historical Association’s Research Library in Cooperstown, will fold its tent and close its doors on Feb. 29, according to a media release from NYSHA.

Countless circuses crisscrossed upstate New York in the early 20th century, captivating children and adults. This exhibition, the release stated, is curated by students in the museum studies program of the Cooperstown Graduate Program and revives memories of those days with circus posters and photographs of performers, such as Clyde Beatty training a tiger (1935). The exhibition features circus-themed toys, especially the Super Circus Playset from the 1950s with its myriad figures and very own tin big-top.

Also on display at the research library is the exhibit “The Deerslayer on Otsego Lake: A Centennial Celebration.”

In 1911, the Vitagraph Company came to Cooperstown to shoot the silent film version of James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Deerslayer.” The exhibit includes photographs from that filming. There is no charge to view either exhibit.

The Research Library is open to visitors and researchers year-round. Its collections include over 90,000 books and bound periodicals, manuscripts, newspapers, and photographs. Holdings on New York’s state and local history, agricultural history, 19th century life, art, and family history are particularly well represented. The library is located on Rt. 80, just north of Cooperstown, next to the Fenimore Art Museum. Visit http://library.nysha.org or call 547-1470 for more information.

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