Barnum Museum Joins National

Jenny Lind Consortium

BRIDGEPORT — The Barnum Museum has been selected as a member of “The Jenny Lind Festival,” a consortium of seven museums and cultural organizations throughout the country that are exploring the legacy of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind with exhibitions, concerts and lectures.

Bridgeport’s 107-year-old institution joins The New-York Historical Society, the American Swedish Historical Museum, the American Swedish Institute, the Museum of the City of New York, the Swedish Consulate and American Landmark Festivals in forming the collaborative group.

The consortium’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the “Swedish Nightingale’s” American concert tour in 1850 includes scheduled events from mid-April, when The Barnum Museum’s current exhibition opened, through May 2001.

At The Barnum Museum, the exhibit “P.T. Barnum presents the Divine Jenny Lind” has been extended through December 3 in response to a request from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art so that it could be listed as a related exhibition venue to enhance the Met’s exhibition, “The Empire City: New York 1826-1861,” which opens this month.

The Barnum Museum is collaborating with American Landmark Festivals in a celebratory festival September 11 at Battery Park in lower Manhattan. Battery Park was the site of the first Jenny Lind American concert on September 11, 1850. The free event will include dramatic readings, a concert with period music, and a tree commemoration ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of the “Swedish Nightingale’s” debut in this country, which was promoted and advertised by P.T. Barnum.

When Jenny Lind arrived in New York, she was greeted by more than 30,000 people who had never heard or seen her, but were lured by Barnum’s promotions. The Swedish soprano quickly became one of America’s first popular cultural icons.

Other Jenny Lind celebrations include an exhibit at The New-York Historical Society through October; a concert and lecture September 10 at the Museum of the City of New York; a new permanent exhibition at the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, including a concert by soprano Randi Marracco and lecture by Barnum historian Arthur H. Saxon of Fairfield; an exhibit beginning in February at the American Swedish Institute, in Minneapolis; and dissemination of information about Sweden and it culture at the Swedish Consulate in New York City.