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Identifier/Call Number
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MSB 87
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Description
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en
This collection consists of three scrapbooks attributed to Reid Lefevre, which document media coverage of the King Reid Shows in 1946-1947, 1956-1957 and 1960, as well as the beginning of Reid Lefevre's career in the Vermont legislature in 1946-1947. The first volume spans 1946-1947 and contains newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and photographs focusing on King Reid's election to the Vermont state house of representatives and his early legislative efforts, including a bill to create a state police system in Vermont. The King Reid Shows and Reid Lefevre's move to bring his circus to the Vermont State House is also featured in this scrapbook. The other two scrapbooks contain clippings focused more exclusively on tours of the King Reid Shows in 1956-1957 and 1960 respectively. In both cases, news of the circus is clipped from tour locations ranging from New Brunswick, Canada, to Maine and Vermont.
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Biography, Administrative History and Provenance
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en
Reid Lefevre was born in Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York, on 10 November 1904, the son of Martha (Moore) (1876-1960) and Edwin Henry Lefevre (1871-1943). Reid Lefevre spent much of his of his youth and early education abroad before World War I, as his father served as Panamanian Ambassador to several countries, including Spain, France and Italy. The Lefevre family returned to the United States after the war, settling in Dorset, Vermont, in an estate and Reid Lefevre studied at both Williams College and the University of Vermont but did not graduate. After periods where he was part of a dance band and worked as a boxing promoter for Jack Dempsey, Reid Lefevre became the showman behind "The King Reid Shows, " after being asked to help promote the Manchester Fair. This carnival started in the mid-1930s and was expanded with the addition of a circus in 1940. The King Reid Shows eventually became a popular attraction that toured up and down the east coast and wintered in Manchester, Vermont. In 1946, Reid Lefevre began a political career with a successful run for representative for Manchester, Vermont. From 1947-1959, Lefevre was a member of the Vermont state house of representatives; he was a member of the Vermont state senate for Bennington County from 1961-1963. Reid Lefevre or "King Reid" was also known as a showman in the legislature and was featured in a 1947 in Life Magazine (Volume. 22, no. 16, April 21, 1947) for bringing his circus to the Vermont State House for entertainment. Reid Lefevre married first to show woman Exilda "Zilda" Pinsonault (d. 1954) on 19 June 1941 in Dorset, Vermont. He married again to Dorothy Elizabeth Vallie on 18 April 1958 in Manchester, Vermont. He died in Portland, Maine on January 27, 1968 while attending a fair operators convention.
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Extent
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3 volumes and one folder
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