>> HI, DON, HOW YOU DOING TODAY?

>> FINE, THANK YOU.

>> SO, CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS COLLECTION AND HOW YOU OBTAINED IT?

>> OKAY.

THE COLLECTION THAT I TRANSFERRED BASICALLY INCLUDES A LOT OF MATERIAL THAT I HAD INHERITED FROM MY STEPMOTHER.

I THINK THE BEST WAY TO START IS THE PICTURE OF THE LADY OVER MY LEFT SHOULDER.

I THINK YOU CAN SEE IT THERE.

IS A PICTURE THAT WE HAVE INHERITED, AND IT IS OF ALICE SELLS.

SHE WAS BORN IN 1870 AND DIED IN 1890 DURING CHILDBIRTH.

ALTHOUGH SHE DIED DURING CHILDBIRTH, THE CHILD SURVIVED, AND THAT CHILD WAS NAMED HESTER, AND SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF MY STEPMOTHER, HEKTER MOYER, THE PERSON WHO GAVE ME THE COLLECTION HERE, THAT INCLUDES A LOT OF MATERIAL ABOUT THE SELLS BROTHERS.

I KNEW FROM MY STEPMOTHER SHE HAD A CONNECTION TO THE FAMILY AND THE CIRCUS.

SHE OFTEN USED TO TALK ABOUT IT.

I ALWAYS THOUGHT, I'LL LOOK INTO IT, SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE, AND TRY TO FIND A HOME FOR THE VARIOUS PIECES OF IT.

>> CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU SENT TO US?

>> WHEY SENT WAS SEVERAL BOXES OF MATERIAL.

IT INCLUDES SOME PHOTO ALBUMS.

ONE PHOTO ALBUM WAS OF THE SELLS BROTHERS.

THERE ARE A BUNCH OF LOOSE PHOTOGRAPHS IN THERE AS WELL.

AND THE MATERIAL I THINK WAS OF MOST INTEREST TO THIS DISCUSSION INCLUDED MATERIAL THAT WAS RELATED TO THE SELLS' BROTHERS CIRCUS TRIP IN 1891 AND '92 THROUGH AUSTRALIA.

THAT MATERIAL INCLUDED A ROUTE BOOK.

IT INCLUDED MATERIAL THAT WAS IN THE FORM OF A DIARY.

THERE WERE THREE DIARIES.

AND THAT IS THE MATERIAL I THINK THAT IS MOST SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE THESE ARE FIRSTHAND DESCRIPTIONS OF WHAT IT WAS LIKE, PICKING UP, LEAVING COLUMBUS OHIO IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON THAT TOOK HER OUT -- TOOK EVERYONE OUT TO CALIFORNIA.

THEY CAUGHT A STEAMER.

THE STEAMSHIP WENT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO AUSTRALIA.

I BELIEVE IT CARRIED THE WHOLE FAMILY AND ALL OF THE CIRCUS CREW, TOO.

>> SO, DON, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET OUT OF THIS COLLECTION?

WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE COLLECTION?

>> WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IS TO SEEING THE MATERIAL THAT I HAVE IN A LARGER CONTEXT OF THE WHOLE SELLS BROTHERS OPERATION AND GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE TO ORGANIZE A CIRCUS AND THEN TAKE IT ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING THE ANIMALS.

TO ME IT'S JUST AMAZING TO THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH FORTITUDE THEY HAD TO BE ABLE TO DO ALL THIS, MORE THAN 130 YEARS AGO.

>> GREAT.

WE'RE GOING TO DO MORE RESEARCH ON AND IT WE'LL FILL YOU IN ON WHAT WE FIND.

>> GREAT.

>> GREAT, THANK YOU.

>> WOW, AARON, THIS IS A COOL DONATION.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE HERE?

>> THIS IS A SELLS FAMILY COLLECTION THAT DON SNIDER DONATED TO US.

THE FIRST THING HE DONATED WERE THE SELLS BROTHERS' ROUTE BOOKS IN 1891 AND 1892.

THE THING I LOVE ABOUT THE ROUTE BOOK IS IT HAS A MINI SCHEDULE AT THE BEGINNING.

FIRST THING I OPENED UP, I NOTICED THERE WAS AN INSERT, AUSTRALIAN TOUR.

AND IT TELLS YOU WHAT CITY THEY WERE IN AND HOW LONG THEY WERE THERE.

>> THAT'S AMAZING.

>> THIS IS REALLY COOL.

AS I STARTED LEAFING THROUGH IT, I REALIZED NOT ONLY WAS THERE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHOWS AND TRAVEL, BUT INFORMATION ABOUT ALL THE PERFORMER IN THE CIRCUS, SO YOUR ACROBATS, YOUR CLOWNS, YOUR DAREDEVILS.

SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE BOOK THERE ARE ADVERTISEMENTS ABOUT THE CERTAIN ACTS THAT WERE A PART OF THAT PARTICULAR SEASON.

>> YEAH.

SO WHAT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN LIKE TO TRAVEL FROM COLUMBUS, OHIO, WITH THE CIRCUS TO AUSTRALIA?

>> YEAH, SO THE OTHER INTERESTING THING WE GOT THAT DON SENT TO US FIRST WAS THIS DIARY THAT NELLY THORPE WROTE.

NELLY THORPE WAS -- >> THAT NAME SOUNDS FAMILIAR.

>> NELLY THORPE.

THIS IS HER WHEN SHE'S PROBABLY IN HER 20s.

SHE WAS MARRIED TO A MAN NAMED HENRY THORPE, WHO WAS THE SECRETARY AND TREASURER OF THE SELLS BROTHERS CIRCUS.

THEY LEFT SEPTEMBER 3rd, 1981, AND GET IN NEW SOUTH WALES NOVEMBER 13, SO TWO MONTHS TO GET THERE THROUGH TRAIN AND BOAT, SO -- WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT THESE, THEY START IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THE MOST INTERESTING PARTS ARE THE TRIPS INTO CALIFORNIA, ACTUALLY.

WHEN THEY'RE IN CALIFORNIA, SHE MENTIONS VISITING SAN FRANCISCO, AND ONE OF THE STRANGE THINGS IS ONE OF THE TOUR GUIDES TAKES HER THROUGH THE MEAN STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO OF THE 1890s, AND THEY END UP IN AN OPIUM DEN, AND SHE DESCRIBES TO OPIUM DEN IN GREAT DETAIL, ABOUT THE SMELL.

INTERESTING TO HEAR THIS SOCIALITE FROM COLUMBUS GO INTO THE MEAN STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO AND DESCRIBE HER EXPERIENCES THERE.

THE OTHER COOL THINGS THAT I FIND INTERESTING ARE WHEN SHE'S ON THE SHIP, SHE TALKS ABOUT RECIPES.

SHE'S TALKING ABOUT LANDING AT DIFFERENT PORTS AND ISLAND.

SHE TALKS ABOUT LANDING IN HAWAII AND MEETING TO QUEEN AT THE TIME.

YOU CAN IMAGINE SHIPPING A GIANT CIRCUS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

IT'S QUITE EXPENSIVE.

SO JUST HEARING ABOUT THE ANIMALS ON THE SHIFT AND HOW ROUGH IT WAS FOR THEM AND HOW SICK THEY GOT AS WELL.

>> CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE TOUR, HOW MANY STOPS DID THEY DO IN AUSTRALIA?

>> THEY STOPPED AT 50 LOCATIONS AND EVERY TIME THEY HAD TO PULL UP STAKES AND RESET UP.

A LOT OF THE DIARIES TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH IS INVOLVED IN THAT.

A LOT OF IT IS TALKING ABOUT HOW SOME OF THESE USED TO BE BIG TOWNS.

THEY'RE OLD MINING TOWN THAT ARE EMPTY NOW, SO THE SHOWING'S NOT GREAT, BECAUSE THERE USED TO BE 25 THROW PEOPLE AND NOW THERE'S ONLY 3,000 PEOPLE IN THE TOWN.

THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THESE DIARIES IS THEY'RE VERY MATTER OF FACT.

I CAN GIVE YOU AN INSTANCE WHERE SHE'S TALKING ABOUT WINDOW SHOPPING IN SYDNEY BUT ALSO TALKING ABOUT ONE OF THE HORSES GOT FRIGHTENED WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DROPPED BY AND ONE OF THEM DROPPED DEAD FROM FRIGHT AND ACTS LIKE IT'S A NORMAL THING THAT ELEPHANTS ARE AN EVERYDAY PART OF LIFE AND HORSES ARE DROPPING DEAD AND RATTLESNAKES ARE BITING THE TALL MEN IN THE DESERT.

JUST VERY STRANGE THIS DICHOTOMY BETWEEN NORMAL LIFE AND CIRCUS LIFE.

SHE ACTS LIKE IT'S A NORMAL THING.

THEY DECIDED TO GO TO AUSTRALIA WHEN IT'S THE HOTTEST PART OF THE YEAR.

OUR WINTER BEING THEIR SUMMER.

SO THEY'RE THERE IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, AND SHE TALKS ABOUT IT'S SO HOT, SO DRY.

SEEMS LIKE THERE'S ALWAYS A HEAT WAVE THEY'RE DEALING WITH.

CAN DEFINITELY TELL IT'S A PERSON THAT HAS MONEY, FROM THE UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, BUT IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A NECESSARILY EASY TRIP.

>> WHAT'S THE PHOTO ALBUM UP HERE?

ARE THESE PICTURES OF THE ACTUAL PERFORMERS?

>> YES, SO I THINK THIS IS DON'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY, THE MOYERS, BUT I THINK THERE ARE SOME ACROBATS IN HIS FAMILY AS WELL.

THIS IS MAINLY THE SELLS BROTHERS FAMILY HERE, AND MOST OF THESE PEOPLE ARE COLUMBUS RESIDENTS.

>> SO THESE ARE REALLY FAMILY PHOTO ALBUMS THAT ALSO CAPTURE THE BUSINESS THAT THE FAMILY WAS IN.

>> YES.

>> THE PHOTOS REALLY BRING THE DIARY TO LIFE AND EVEN VICE VERSA, REALLY.

>> THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE COLLECTION IS WE CAN USE THE ROUTE BOOK, THE PHOTOS IN HERE IN TANDEM WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND TELL WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE.

>> WHICH IS UNUSUAL TO HAVE THESE PHOTOGRAPHS ALL TOGETHER, BUT THEN TO HAVE A WAY TO TRAY TO IDENTIFY THEM.

>> JUST A GREAT COLLECTION OF THINGS THAT ARE SORT OF CROSS REFERENCED FROM ONE ANOTHER.

>> WOW, AARON, THIS IS SO COOL THAT THIS CAME TO THE COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN LIBRARY AND WILL BE PART OF THE COLLECTION.

HOW WILL PEOPLE BE ABLE TO SEE THIS.

>> WHAT WE'LL BE DOING IS SCANNING IT AND DOING RESEARCH ON IT TO GET IT AVAILABLE ONLINE.

IT WILL BE AVAILABLE ON OUR MY HISTORY SITE, COLUMBUS.ORG/MY HISTORY.

WE HAVE OVER A MILLION PIECES AND WILL KEEP ADDING TO IT.

SELLS BROTHERS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR HISTORY, SO WE'LL KEEP ADDING TO IT.

>> ALWAYS AMAZES ME THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE HAVE IN THEIR HOMES AND ATTICS AND BASEMENTS AND EVENTUALLY THEY WILL DONATE TO THE LIBRARY.

AND I JUST LOVE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO BRING ALL THIS TOGETHER AND MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE TO SEE HERE AT THE LIBRARY.

>> YEAH, I AGREE, AND I THINK THE INTERESTING PART ABOUT THIS IS JUST WHEN YOU THINK ALL THE OLD STUFF HAS ALREADY BEEN DONATED OR GIVEN OR DESTROYED IN SOME CASES THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU STILL FIND PHOTO ALBUMS WITH TIN TYPES IN THEM FROM 150 YEARS AGO.

>> WELL, THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS AARON.

THANK YOU FOR SAVING IT, GETTING IT ALL DIGITIZED AND SAVING THE STORY FOR COLUMBUS.

>> THANK YOU.