Prof. A.W. Mansfield

This is the story of an ordinary man who grew up in Iowa and decided he was a performer. The man, Albert Willis Mansfield, is one of my great-grandpas and in 1896 he was a teenage trapeze artist hopeful in Decorah Iowa. Over the next 21 years he passed through the ranks of hopeful, through trainer, to owner of his own show. He raised a family, trained animals, won a lawsuit that was decided by the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, and lost it all when a boat sunk.

 But Albert kept a scrapbook of his adventures. Filled with playbills, newspaper clippings, post cards and more. Additionally, he took photos and reported his doings to The Billboard magazine and that information is included.

This is Albert’s story told with those clipping, playbills, and photos. This is the story not of someone famous but someone who tried to do things better and let the audience decide.

 This is not a traditional book but a scrapbook from 1896 to 1918 with a few of my words, the words of a great-grandson who never saw the ringmaster, the artist, the professor at work.