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The Tibbals Collection of Buster Bailey Films capture Bailey's insider's view of circus. The general circus community embraced Bailey's familiar presence on the circus lot, granting him extraordinary access to the lots and venues of a variety of circuses including the Al G. Barnes Circus, Clyde Beatty Cole Circus, Amsterdam Circus, Moscow Circus, Russian Ice Show and Circus Benneweis. Bailey's footage of these circuses feature several performances and circus set-ups in venues across America, including scenes of winter quarters, trains loading and unloading, the backyard, animal acts, spec productions, tumbling acts, rolla bolla acts, clown gags, trapeze and web numbers, and much more. Also captured in this collection are Bailey's tours of European circus parks, the circus parade in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois, and the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida.

This collection relates to Sergeant Tillman Joe Rutledge, who served in the 31st Infantry Regiment of the United States Army in the Far East's Philippine Division. After the fall of Bataan in April 1942, he was captured as a prisoner of war until 1945. This collection consists of one box of personal papers, including the original diary he kept during his internment and photocopies. It also contains an original draft and signed copy of his book My Japanese POW Diary Story; a 36-page oral history transcript; letters to and from his family; newspaper clippings; various government documents; and photographs.