On February 19, 1913, a small group of devoted circus performers gathered at the Saratoga Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, to form the Showmen’s League of America.  The club’s first order of business was to elect superstar Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody as their very first president.  They soon after adopted the elephant as their emblem.

Like other societies and associations, such as, Masons, Elks, Eagles, and Odd Fellows, many cemeteries across the United States set aside sections for their members.  Less common are sections set aside for circus performers called Showman’s Rest.  These special sections can be found in Forest Park, Illinois, Hugo, Oklahoma, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The first such special section set aside for circus performers or Showman’s Rest was at Forest Park, Illinois.  The ground was purchased at the Woodlawn Cemetery for those circus performers and show workers who were tragically killed in a horrific train wreck.

A large gray granite block tells of the story of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train Wreck of June 22, 1918: “This was the greatest loss of life in any train wreck relative to [the] circus.  86 souls perished when an empty troop train ran a signal and crashed into the rear of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train as it was stational at Ivanhoe Tower – Hammond, Indiana.  This group of 56 grave markers are dedicated to unnamed unclaimed and unrecognizable men and women that perished in this train wreck and subsequent fire.”

There are those who live nearby who claim that late at night they can hear the faint trumpet of elephants, a nod to the circus.

There is also section set aside for circus workers, performers, and managers in Hugo, Oklahoma, at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Because of the mild climate, many different circuses began wintering in Hugo in the early 1940s.  As many as fifteen different circuses headquartered in the town at one time or another, so many in fact, Hugo became known as “Circus City.” At the end of the twentieth century the Kelly Miller and the Carson and Barnes circuses still used the community as their base.

The Lakeview Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota, also has plots set aside for different communities, including Showmen’s Rest which honors those who worked in the outdoor amusement industry, including circus performers, concession stand managers, and ride operators.  The large gray granite monument is inscribed with a poem honoring the joy the circus brings to each community in which it sets up its Big Top!

No Ferris wheel with circling lights

Glitters across our quiet nights,

Bird music has replaced the sounds

Of barkers’ calls and merry-go-rounds;

Tent canvas folded, stored away

Steeps in no sun for us, this day.

—Visitors at life’s carnival

Did we bring something to you all?

After drudging at mill or desk

Did you enjoy a thrill a laugh?

Then let this be our epitaph—

We Showmen with our flags unfurled

Toil to add brightness to the world;

Through grace and mercy are a need

For us, as for all of Adam’s; breed.

Hopefully now with freshened eyes

We wait God’s Show of Paradise.

Note: Raised trunks are a symbol of joy and excitement; lowered trunks symbolize mourning.