This Beautiful Day in downtown bridgeport connecticut. It is in fact, barnum news last museum. As we all know he started museum in 1942, this was his last gift not just to the city of bridgeport, really to the Global Community that we serve. Many of you are very familiar with the museum in 2010, we were at a tornado. Thats the kind of stuff that happens to barnum. The year after that it was hurricane i also want to give a huge shadow to the state of connecticut in the delegation who really supported 72 million bonding appropriation because were just about to embark on a major reese doric rehab of that gorgeous Barnum Bailey building from 1993. Thank you. [applause] are congressman has also really been working very hard with us to get to the barn building in the National Register of historic places. I feel like im on the register this. But we are in the process of being reviewed to become a National Historic landmark and that, theres only about 2500 in this country that is a significant thing. Weve been working on that for your a long time. And its reasons, why we are here today. We are still talking about pt bar barnum. He is still relevant in our lives today. Robert most of us here to talk about the fact that you can condition like him in one way. It is something to be looked at and examined and reexamined and brought into modern culture. And the father of the entertainment industry. He is the fellow that philanthropist the doer of good deeds many times. Enough about me, thank you all who much for your coming to the varna museum. Please support us we do programming all year. The music and it is open during the week couple of days and even during the big historic project that is going to be happening soon but with no further ado, and we just introduce you to bob wesson. Bob has been the editor of the american scholar news involvement in 2004, which won the National Award for the best feature story in may of 2006. An additional met National Commentary in 2012 is the editor of the 35 million circulation of aa are bulletin of which now i am a member. And he is also the editor of the magazine of the National Trust for your historic preservation. He won the National Magazine award for your general elections in 1998 and i want to thank you for your that because this National Trust coming into this field. I am accredited to you. Also in founding literary editor of civilized nation for the magazine of the library of congress in 1994 and a 95, during the time there, the magazine received the award of general excellence. And before civilization he did a few little things, he was the editor and columnist for your u. S. Day for your 11 years. And at the washingtons vault boats for your six years. He holds a ba in english, washington and the university where he was inducted by data kappa and and in english from the university of virginia. You can call the university of virginia, and a writing program the john hopkins university, George Mason University as well as the american university. And is the author of a narrative on the adventure of clients king and matthew brady, portrait of a nation but today, were here to celebrate his new book, published by simon schuster, we are honored to have bubbles and speak today on barnum and american life. Welcome bob. [applause]. Bob i have who many microphones going on here. Now this one is on two. Thank you kathy for your that lovely introduction. And thank you for your everything you do for the varna museum. Thank you for your having me here at the barnum museum. And thank you for your everything that you and the people work with you have done to help me in writing this book. I also want to thank adrian st. Pierre, and who really, just throughout the years i was working on the book. They offered me encouragement, lots of good information and home a lot with photographs in the book later on. Im also really pleased to be able to tell you the great barnum scholar at this time or any time, Arthur Saxton is here in the front row here. [applause] arthur could have been forgiven for your not being fully welcome of someone running letter and said i would like to write a biography of barnum. He mightve said, will i did that. [laughter] and did it free app not free app but very well. But another person was written very well about barnum, trust me when i was sitting out and said well, i say barnum is someone who deserves a new book every generation. And off of it wasnt arthur is that, i say he believed it. Because he has just been who warranted and his health and his encouragement is good humor. Helping me to find things i didnt know i was looking for your. I probably couldve written a book that went out author but it would not have been nearly as good of a book and in mightve taken me years longer who thank you arthur. Arthur never blushes who we dont have to worry about that. Im in this funny position of i dont know how many people in the world who know about barnum than i do it at this. Maybe a lot. But i do know for your sure that three people who know a lot more about barnum that i do or here in this audience. It is mildly intimidating to be standing before you. It was such a great pleasure to work in this book not only because of these three people and others who were very helpful to me but just because of barnum himself. Hes just a wonderful character to write a book about. A numbing character in the sense of a character in a normal see. The person of many parts. A person who the city had his dark side as well this is bright side. Someone who never failed to engage me intellectually. An emotionally i was just drone to his wit, his verbal skill. He remarkably, skills as a speaker and writer. Who knows where they came from but if you want evidence that certain gifts are innate and nothing see these work learned skills were jiggly they may have been selftaught but he just had something in that mode that was unusual. This is partly to see for your now barnum was a wonderful character was a wonderful man this is something that will get to in a few minutes and is part of what made working on this book who interesting. Most of you know and i say a lot of you go around here no that the brief frontline of barnum news life. You probably know that he was born 22. 3 miles from here. Lisa according to google this morning. and that village of bethel. And that he early on busied himself with a lot of sort of smaller the larger entrepreneurial activities. I thought i would just read a great one paragraph from the book where i can talk about a little bit about the arc of history history. His note today primarily for your his connection to the circuit. But that came early in the last quarter of his life. This possible occupation before that, occupations were running the American Museum. Being the one behind the witty and talented tom thumb the angelic swedish soprano, jenni lynn. Who created sensation in america in the early 1850s. And dozens of other people and ask him traveling shows. What less well known today as he is also a bestselling author. An inspirational lecture on tiverton on success in business. And ended in life, and Real Estate Developer and builder and a banker and a state legislator. The mayor of the city of bridgeport. Near where he lived knows to this adult life, he was even a candidate for your congress. It is a bare knuckle contest joe cousin also named barnum. In all of these endeavors, he was a promoter and self promoter that went out peers. Relentless advertiser and unfailingly imaginative dr. Of events for your exhibits to draw the interest off and feverish interest of potential patrons. Im going to raid one of the paragraph in a preliminary way. Just sort of get you situated. With barnum. Something to later. Philosophy insects success to the relationship to his audience that he related to his showmanship. The relationship centered that was most associated with barnum in his lifetime. Humbug. As he himself wrote in this 1865 book, the humbug news of the world. Websters definition is, to deceive. To impose upon. Today include the words hoax, fraud, imposture, want nonsense, trick. His book is the survey of such practices. Intensity said to save the rising generation from being bamboozled by the unscrupulous. Whether in a religion or business of politics, medicine or science. But for your barnum, nano forms of humbug were hurtful. Sometimes, very could be harmless even join us. He claimed that for your him, the generally accepted definition of humbug focused on this benign writing. When he defined as glittering appearances and novel expedients, which is suddenly arrest public attention. And attract the public eye in the year. In other words, what he did. This matter was that the person who attracted patrons in this way, but then foolishly failed to give them a full equivalent for the her name, cannot get a Second Chance for your customers who are properly denouncing a swindler. In an imposter and a cheat. I say this is really, the whole idea humbug is his idea of humbug. Is one of the things that distinguishes him from his reputation. As you begin to look at him in more depth. I will get to that in a second. But i want to tell you since the book has been published a few surprising things, this method book a few things have been a not happen to me before it will begin. In addition to having all here and cspan2 here. I was astonished to see the mike publisher made an incredibly beautiful book. [laughter] and i can see this because i had nothing to do with it. I say it an undercover and wonderful insight design and i seem to be la here forgive me. And the or as the 16 page color insert, which paid urine and hell live ben toole from down the road help me populate and it also has something has dickel ditches, i dont know if you know those are but in the book, its often cut straight on the edge and if its cut rough on the edge is called tickled edges. Enemy it is something very elegant. And wonderful and i failed my editor early on. No one really want to book with tackled edges. [laughter] and he said, all we can do that. And it i thought know it would never happen. A delay with the fox. I didnt say it would happen. Initial this to my wife was sitting right here martha and i said, you know i told them that if always wanted tackled edges and she said will, ive never even heard that word. In a 45 years of marriage. And who my response to that is that every marriage that is must have its secrets. [laughter] if my secret was tackled edges. And another wonderful thing that happened, ill just mention briefly and have right here, the spot with kcbs news and it is decided to do a piece about barnum about the book barnum in the museum and cafe side this wonderful experience is the small editor of a small magazine who it uses a lot of time studying at home. It does spend a lot of time in front of national tv camera who that was something else. And in the third thing is, new yorker of all places and its wisdom, did a major piece of the book. They gave four pages by one of its most prominent writers hell live kolbert who won the prize for your her book, extension. And this was utterly unexpected and most of all by my publisher. And where my friends and refers to me is four pages because about four pages on the new york edge. [laughter] who actually that was deeply exciting and something very happy other couldnt help noticing, as an editor and writer and someone who has tried to be paying attention to the nuances of language that she seemed to be implying that he its been six years writing a book about barnum. In the air trump and others things going on in the present day. And i made the connection or any connections at all. But i was somehow leaving in this complete bubble. Who this raised for the puzzle about the review which is how did this rather dimwitted person mini me, ministering to book for your what its worth. Did i mention four pages in the new yorker. [laughter] also four pages i state with very little attribution two. My book. Who anyway, there is that. Some of that could be forgiven but i felt there was a moma interview where she really tried to sort of twist nine. That she took her language and honed it to a fine. The fact there is a sentence right in the middle of the review that is only three words. The words are willfully admires barnum. This was meant as a great trick critique i say. And it won me as much he mightve thought it would. I do admire barnum. I say there is who much to admire about him. As i said earlier, one of the things that made him interesting for your me to write about him, was that he was not continuously and admirable. Who as i went through his life, i found myself constantly looking at things in the context of his own time, is this something that he did or display he was able to bring himself to make because this was general accepted at the time. I also tried to look at him as oh man to greg as a human being and see well quality is bad beyond the pale. And whenever century or millennium you live in. Thats me give me a you the chance to be continuously be engaged intellectually. The one thing i try not to do, was to work from the assumption that with key perfection at any given moment. Which i say is, an idea for your their due presentism that is out there very much in the culture now. Its a very easy to dismiss people who do not represent everything that we in our great wisdom have achieved. One could easily poke holes into this notion of the presentism but anyway, that was something out that i didnt do. Some of things it did admire about barnum, as his eagerness to make to make other people happy in his commitment to larger ideas temperance, eventually to evolution. In his commitment to make public entertainment safe families and children or just written a lot about that in a definitive way. That the stage in the early years of barnum involvement with that when he started the American Museum from lower broadway, had essentially a theater, lecture room because the reputation of the theater was who low that he didnt want to call it that. As i learn from arthur mothers, theaters theaters and those days were often places where prostitutes worked the balconies. And even in the expensive seats, there was drunkenness and rowdiness. Who one of the things that barnum and others did, in that time period was to really commit themselves to moral entertainment but also to lack of drunkenness to creating an atmosphere where families can sit with them. I also, as it was implied by being the mayor of bridgeport and many other things he did, he was truly minded. He was actually a philanthropist. They claim that it is it turns out, actually give her name. His philosophy early on was one what he called profitable philanthropy which is, if nothing else, should you is mastery of language to have come up with the phrase profitable philanthropy. And what he meant by that part was viewed in the room here, and look at seaside park, that was a large part or large chunk of property the barnum and others the gift to the city to create the mark. But he kept a chunk of it for your himself who he built beautiful houses in the middle of a nice park with a great view. That is profitable philanthropy. He helped develop east bridgeport. They had a very generous scheme for your developing housing across the river. They held up every lot for your themselves. As the price of land over there increase, it is people put houses and stuff. Their own holdings increase in value as well. But profitable philanthropy turned into real flip debate later in his life. And again a of her name to church. Local hospitals come in bridgeport and to now the university, and other universities. And i say the thing that sort of sold me on barnum a bit to the cons of his personality but, was this phenomenon of him becoming a better person throughout life. As i got to know him better and better, i was just who impressed with the idea that he was oh man who had a lot of success early in life. And i say how many people do you know who are very successful early in life, are not convinced that it is because of their perfection as a human being. The somehow they did everything right. And good things happen to them. Barnum had had success in yet throughout his life evolved. His beliefs on race evolved in philanthropy and that quality of kinda renewing himself, and becoming a better person, was another thing that really made me admire him. Cons are not small. The racism, early on is despicable. You can justify to some degree, by the racism of the times but also people who are abolitionist from the day or declaration of independence came out and there are many people who were not racist. And who its not something that you can dismiss. He did become an evolutionist himself. He did run or the Connecticut Legislature after the war staying that one reason he ran was who that he could be revoked for the 13th amendment. He gave a speech favoring giving about two within freed black in connecticut. Fearing the speech, you will not feel completely comfortable with the terms in which he said the fox deserve remote. But nonetheless, he did that. Some of it is the humbug news room beyond the pale often only in many of you probably know the story of joyce f, who a slave woman, she was being promoted as being a 1601 years old. And then nurse native George Washington is the baby. Even barnum became embarrassed by that. The part of his life live on. His treatment of his wife, certainly towards the middle and the end of the marriage was not acceptable say. Part of it i say group out of this or came from a culture that is very much into practical notes into very rough humor. Often pointed out when when barnum took tom thumb to meet queen victoria, everything read about it now, is what a wonderful impression that both men made on the royal family. But arthur, went and read victorias diary for the day. Her journal and she was very troubled by the way barnum spoke to tom thumb. I suspect is partly because she didnt understand american humor. There was a lot in barnum news humor that was rough. A lot of it was directed towards his wife in ways and pretty hard to forgive. And it must be said the barnum was somebody who was unusually needy for your wealth and admiration. That is not a quality that i would particularly admire. Who the question in the book and the question that came out of a lot of the reviews, is you know, was he admirable was a not admirable how admirable was the and how justifiably was he. My admiration for your him. The basic thing is if barnum were in the situation he would see, gee there is the dispute here. The atlantic says one thing of the new yorkers is another. You must come and fight for your yourself or decide for your yourself by reading the book. This what i would do if i were barnum. Im going to re