History of The Gamma Phi Circus
The Gamma Phi Circus was founded in 1926 by Dr. Clifford Horton, who was a gymnastics instructor for Illinois State University. The Gamma Phi fraternity was founded in 1929 and held the first Gamma Phi Circus performance in 1931 on the Illinois State University campus. The Bloomington-Normal community has had strong ties to circuses since the 1880s, and was home to the Flying Wards and the Conciellos, both trapeze acts. In 1938, female members began to perform with the all-male circus, with women formally elected into the organization in 1940.
Circus alumni have gone on to perform in a variety of venues including the Shrine Circuses, the Circus Kingdom, Roberts Brothers Circus, Kelly Brothers Circus, the Great American Circus, and the Circus Alleluia. They have also performed at Disney World, Busch Gardens, Universal Studios, Great America, and at Club Med Resorts. Members and alumni have also competed several times internationally in the Rhoenradturnen (Wheel Gymnastics) World Championships.
Read more about this topic: Gamma Phi Circus
Famous quotes containing the words history of the, history of, history, phi and/or circus:
“The reverence for the Scriptures is an element of civilization, for thus has the history of the world been preserved, and is preserved.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The whole history of civilisation is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“It’s not the sentiments of men which make history but their actions.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Adolescents have the right to be themselves. The fact that you were the belle of the ball, the captain of the lacrosse team, the president of your senior class, Phi Beta Kappa, or a political activist doesn’t mean that your teenager will be or should be the same....Likewise, the fact that you were a wallflower, uncoordinated, and a C student shouldn’t mean that you push your child to be everything you were not.”
—Laurence Steinberg (20th century)
“One key, one solution to the mysteries of the human condition, one solution to the old knots of fate, freedom, and foreknowledge, exists, the propounding, namely, of the double consciousness. A man must ride alternately on the horses of his private and public nature, as the equestrians in the circus throw themselves nimbly from horse to horse, or plant one foot on the back of one, and the other foot on the back of the other.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)