Greetings, Everyone!
I hope you are comfortably busy (or are “busy relaxing”) now we’ve swung into July.
Last week I noted that July 5th marks Barnum’s birthday, 210 years ago. There’s also another July date that looms large in remembering his life, and that is July 13th, 1865, when his beloved American Museum in New York City burned to the ground. Next Monday is the 155th anniversary of that enormous conflagration, not an anniversary to celebrate of course, but one that reminds us of Barnum’s tenacity and determination and very practical outlook: when catastrophes befall us, we simply have to pick ourselves up and go on, and do even better while we’re at it. Sounds like a philosophy for today’s world, too.
This week’s blog focuses on the practical Barnum, at work in France seeing to all the tasks and arrangements involved in touring with “the General” (Gen. Tom Thumb). A bit of armchair traveling for us—enjoy!
Stay well, stay strong!
Kathleen Maher,
Executive Director