Virtual Exhibitions

This week free standing walls began to be moved out of the main museum and into the air conditioned exhibition hall that most of the collection is currently inhabiting.  This process is planned to be continued next week when we will be moving bigger walls and bringing paintings down to hang on them.  Anyway, in all this hubbub a few large, leafy, green potted plants had to be moved out of the way, and were eventually set directly in front of the taxidermed elephant in the lobby.  Now when viewed from head on, it looks like the little elephant is hanging out in the jungle.

But Baby Bridgeport, as the elephant is called, has never been to the jungle.  She was born here in the city of Bridgeport.  In fact, she was only the second elephant to be born on the continent.  The first was named Columbia and was born to one of Mr. Bailey's elephants before he and Barnum became parteners.  Unfortunately Baby Bridgeport died rather young, which is why she's still so tiny, at least as far as elephants are concerned.  I did a little research on her this week and discovered, to my surprise at least, that she was in fact a she.  I'd had no idea.