History

Contact us:
Simply Circus, Inc
info@simplycircus.com        
86 Los Angeles St
Newton, MA 02458
617-527-0667
617-431-7352 (Gym)

• Circus Research Papers.  Includes abstracts and theses on various aspects of circus history.
  
• Circus History bibliography.  This bibliography, compiled by Simply Circus, lists all of the books we know of on circus history.
  
• CircusArts.Org.UK Circus History Timeline. This page includes a general timeline of the history of circus, going back to 1768.
  
• Circus Periodical Listing from Circusnews.com. This listing contains current information on all circus periodicals known to circusnews.com
  
• Circus Museums and Collections from Circusnews.com.
Circusnews.com maintains this listing of what we feel are the most useful Circus Museums and Collections. This is not an exhaustive listing, but a listing of what we feel are the 15 most useful collections.

• Circus Museums and Research Collections from the Circus Historical Society. The Circus Historical Society maintains this state by state listing of circus collections in the USA
  
• Circus Collections directory (scroll down to Circus, over 100 collections listed) from The International Directory of Performing Arts Collections and Institutions. This is the single most extensive listing of circus collections we have ever seen. Listings are included for collections all over the world, including full contact information and holding descriptions.
  
• Roots-l Circus Genealogy FAQ (via Penn State U.) was at one point (1980's - 1995) considered to be the bible for finding circus genealogical information. Much of it is now outdated, but still a good source to help you find information.
  
• Carson Turner's Circus Folk page was the first place on the internet that tried to bring Circus Genealogy information togeather in one place. While it appears to have been last updated in 2001, it is still a treasure trove of resources.
  
• Circus Organizations list from Circusnews.com. This is a listing of all circus organizations that circusnews.com knows about. At this time it includes mostly US circus organizations, but we will eventually add circus organizations from around the world.
  
• Circus Record and Documentation Center. The Circus Record and Documentation Center is a project that is trying to establish a research center for circus information. They have an extensive collection, though at this time it is mostly unavailable to the public.
  
• More Circus Genealogy Links

Circus Historical & Genealogical Mailing Lists & Message Boards

• Circus Board Ancestry.com's web board for discussion of circus genealogy.
  
  
• Circus Folk Genealogy Mailing List at Rootsweb is perhaps the oldest circus genealogy mailing list on the internet. Lots of great and very helpful people. (also see the online board archive, and the Circus Folk Yahoo groups companion site.
  
  
• itinerantroots. Itinerantroots is a genealogy resources relating to itinerant professions; circus, theatre, music hall, vaudeville, fairs, showmen, portable theatres, etc. Primarily for those seeking British Victorian ancestors in the business, the site also has resources for research in America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Europe.
  
  
• More Circus Historical and Genealogical Mailing Lists and Message Boards

General Genealogical Resources for those just starting out

• The Circus Historical Society. If you are just starting out with your quest for circus history, the Circus Historical Society is a resource you should get to know.
  
  
• Ancestry.com Ancestry.com offers a nice collection of Genealogical Resources for those just starting out, and for those who need more.
  
  
• Family Search.org. The FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service is a service of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is designed to give everyone, from beginner to expert, the training and tools they need to do family history research.
  
  
• GENDEX. Gendex is an enterprise devoted to advancing the progress of family history and genealogy research on the World Wide Web. Their GENDEX index is perhaps the most extensive index of GEDCOM records on the internet.
  
  
• Genealogy.com. Genealogy.com is one of the premier online genealogy sites on the internet. This site offers a wide array of services for genealogy (both free and pay services).
  
  
• Genealogy Home Page, the. The Genealogy Home Page is chalk full of useful genealogy information and resources. This is an excellent resource for all those looking for hard to find information.
  
  
• Rootsweb. Rootsweb is the oldest free genealogy resource on the internet.  It includes access to a large number of databases, including a SSDI database, extensive genealogy links database, and more. This is also home to the Circus-Folk and Roots-L mailing lists.