George Emery Papers

Background on George Emery

George Edward "Red" Emery, born in Marlboro, Massachusetts, in 1904, was an ardent lover and devoted supporter of the circus, fascinated even at the age of three, in Emery's words, " by the monkeyshines of the clowns." After graduating from Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1924 and working a few various jobs, including a brief tenure as a high school teacher, Emery decided to chase his childhood dream and, in the most literal sense of the phrase, ran off to join the circus. He started as a "property boy" for the Sells-Floto Circus in 1923, "but the lure of the spotlight soon drew him to a performing role as a clown." Performing as a white-face clown as a part of many circuses, including the famous Walter L. Main Circus, Emery toured the country and made deep friendships and connections with his fellow performers which he would maintain throughout his life. This period would chisel into stone his passion for the circus, though he was not to remain a lifelong performer.

George Emery's love of the circus brought him into the touring clown lifestyle, but his love of Virginia Link, a Smith College student, would take him out of it, at least as a full-time performer. Emery and Link married in 1932 and George quickly settled back in the Pioneer Valley, taking a job in the Alumni Office at his alma mater, now known as Massachusetts State College. Emery would work within the University of Massachusetts Amherst for the rest of his career, becoming Veterans Coordinator and a staff member at the Student Placement Office until his retirement in 1972.

Although Emery's professional life in the circus officially ended in 1932, he remained a dedicated follower and member of the circus community for his whole life. Emery used his connections built up during his time as a performer in order to assist the Three County Fair in Northampton, Massachusetts. He served on the board of directors beginning in 1938 and worked as a talent agent for the fair, finding acts from various talent agencies and recommendations from other circus associates. Emery also wrote the program for the 150th anniversary of the fair in 1967, which contained a detailed history of the fair and endorsements of the fair's role for the local area as well as American culture from the Secretary of Agriculture at the time, Orville Freeman, as well as the Governor of Massachusetts, John Volpe. Governor Volpe wrote of the fair, "The country fair is part and parcel of the Massachusetts heritage and way of life. It is one of our strong ties with a past that is colorful and worthy of great pride." Alongside his work with the Three County Fair, Emery was a member of the Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden Agricultural Society, the Massachusetts Agricultural Fairs Association, as well as the International Association of Fairs and Expositions. Eventually, his work and contributions to the circus community were recognized with an Award of Achievement from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions.

Emery's love for everything circus-related extended beyond the fairgrounds and into his personal life, as well. Over the years, he became a dedicated collector and preserver of circus history. Emery collected all types of materials related to this American institution, including posters, programs, toys, news clippings, vinyl records, artwork, and over 80 works of literature about the circus and the performers within it. Notably, Emery kept extensive notes of the fairs he attended over his lifetime, as well as detailed notes of their programs or the performance details of individual acts. He also desired to spread his love of the circus to others, giving lectures and writing numerous newspaper articles about various aspects of the fair. Many of these articles were preserved in homemade scrapbooks, including one featured in Yankee magazine in June of 1936 about the seven jokes clowns have used throughout history, writing, "The clown you watch may use new wardrobe, a new technique in pantomime, new props. But his joke will be the joke that wasn't new a century ago."

After his retirement, Emery maintained contact with many of his old friends and circus associates and attended circuses all over the region. George and Virginia, having lived in Leverett, Massachusetts for the majority of their lives, died within a year of each other; Virginia passed in 1974 and George in 1975.