INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Historical Society (IHS)’s newest exhibit, Circus City, opened Jan. 20 at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, located at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.
The exhibit explores the circus primarily as a story of people and labor in the 20th century, examining different aspects of the circus in the Hoosier State.
As the winter headquarters of some of the biggest circuses in the country — including Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus and the American Circus Corporation — Peru, Ind., became known as the “Circus Capital of the World.” Other circuses such as the Cole Brothers Circus wintered in Indiana and left an indelible mark on the culture of entertainment in the state.
In 1960, after two decades of the circus’s absence in Peru, local circus veterans initiated a revival of the circus culture of the town and formed the Circus City Festival Inc. Ever since, the town has put on a yearly festival with performances by the Peru Amateur Circus, starring local children. Today, the former grounds of the Peru winter headquarters house the International Circus Hall of Fame, a nonprofit that preserves the quarter’s remaining buildings and circus history.
Circus City runs through June 8. The exhibit is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $14 for seniors, and $5 for youth ages 5-17. If you buy tickets online, they are discounted $2 for adults or seniors. For more information about IHS, go to www.indianahistory.org.