P.T. Barnum – Detail of an engraving from the Connecticut Historical Society

P.T. (Phineas Taylor) Barnum (1810-1891)

Best known as an entertainer and promoter, Connecticut native Phineas Taylor Barnum was also an author, philanthropist, businessman, and politician. He served in the Connecticut legislature and, as Bridgeport’s mayor, spearheaded numerous city improvement initiatives, including Seaside Park. He also helped found the Bridgeport Hospital in 1878. Barnum, as a showman, was known for promoting hoaxes and human curiosities, such as General Tom Thumb and the “Feejee” mermaid, at his American Museum in New York City. He later founded what became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Loved the world over, Barnum died in his sleep and was buried in Bridgeport’s Mountain Grove Cemetery.

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Lewis, Al. 2014. “P.T. Barnum Put On A Show That Plays On To This Day.” Investors Business Daily. https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/pt-barnum-pioneered-entertainment-advertising-marketing/ (September 14, 2015).
“Phineas T. Barnum to Abraham Lincoln, Friday, August 30, 1861 (Union Sentiment in Connecticut).” The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/mal4210600/ (April 7, 2012).
“P. T. Barnum Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive. https://ctdigitalarchive.org/islandora/search/mods_titleInfo_title_mt%3A%28P.T.%5C%20Barnum%29%20OR%20mods_subject_name_personal_namePart_mt%3A%28P.T.%5C%20Barnum%29.
“The Lost Museum.” 2017. http://www.lostmuseum.cuny.edu/home.html (March 24, 2012).
“The Barnum Museum.” 2017. http://www.barnum-museum.org/.
“Hartford Circus Fire Archival Records.” 2015. Connecticut State Library. http://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/hartfordcircusfire/archives (May 3, 2012).
“The Circus Poster Collection: Barnum in the Late 1800s.” 2015. Brideport Public Library; Bridgeport History Center. http://bportlibrary.org/hc/ve/vex6/0C9B8D35-E612-47C2-B95A-815182335380.htm.
Lehman, Eric D. 2013. Becoming Tom Thumb: Charles Stratton, P. T. Barnum, and the Dawn of American Celebrity. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Barnum, P. T. 1872. Struggles and Triumphs, or Forty Years’ Recollections of P.T. Barnum Written by Himself. Buffalo, NY: Warren, Johnson & Co. http://archive.org/stream/strugglestriumph00barnrich#page/n7/mode/2up.
1944 Hartford Circus Fire Raw Footage. 1944. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHlB8FLqR9Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player (May 4, 2012).
Barnum, P. T. 1855. The Life of P.T. Barnum, Written by Himself. New York: Redfield. http://archive.org/stream/lifeofptbarnum00barnuoft#page/n5/mode/2up.
Barnum, P. T., and Sarah J. Burke. 1888. P.T. Barnum’s Menagerie. New York; London: White & Allen. http://archive.org/stream/ptbarnumsmenager00barn#page/n5/mode/2up.
Kunhardt, Philip B., and Peter W. Kunhardt. 1995. P.T. Barnum: America’s Greatest Showman. New York: Knopf.
Saxon, A. H. 1989. P. T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man. New York: Columbia University Press.
Wallace, Irving. 1959. The Fabulous Showman; the Life and Times of P. T. Barnum. New York: Knopf.