In the spring of 1949, 17-year-old Lorna Mae Nifong left her family’s 335-acre farm in Bourbon, Indiana, for a job most teenage twirlers could only dream about. She had never set foot on a train and was still working toward her high school diploma, but her destination was Sarasota, Florida, the winter headquarters of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Within weeks, she would be performing in front of packed crowds at Madison Square Garden.
Lorna Nifong, 1949
Farm Girl
Lorna grew up on the farm with three brothers and no sisters, perfecting her spin with whatever she could get her hands on, including brooms, shovel handles, and scrap wire. Taking notice, her grandmother gave her a real drum majorette’s baton for her 15th birthday. The gift shifted her trajectory.
“When you are a girl on a 335-acre farm with three brothers and no sisters, you learn to take your own part,” Lorna later told The South Bend Tribune. When her brothers teased her, she practiced harder, often stepping behind the barn to twirl until her hands were stiff and sore. “They made fun of me,” she recalled. “Well, they don’t laugh now.”
Lorna went on to become the drum major for the Bourbon High School band and studied under Merle Smith in nearby Syracuse, Indiana. Her raw talent quickly drew attention. Early in 1949, circus bandleader H. Milton Crook caught wind that Ringling Bros. was scouting an Indiana twirler and recommended her. That March, Lorna boarded a train to Sarasota, auditioned, and landed the job on the spot.
Circus Life
The transition to circus life was swift and jarring. A local paper described it as “a strange world for a high school girl who’d never been on a train before or sent a telegram.” Arriving weeks into rehearsals, Lorna had to catch up quickly, spending her downtime studying for her high school exams while perched on costume trunks.
When Ringling launched its season at Madison Square Garden on April 6, the sheer scale of New York City almost overwhelmed the Indiana teenager. Overwhelmed and homesick during the 21-day run, she called home twice on opening night and later admitted to being “frightened stiff” by night two. But it didn’t take long for her to find her footing and perform like a seasoned pro.
Lorna Nifong, 1949
Valedictorian
Three weeks later, she briefly returned to Indiana to graduate as class valedictorian. Her classmates weren’t surprised. Lorna was already a 4-H Grand Champion, and despite her sudden brush with fame, she still told reporters she hoped to become a home economics teacher one day.
Around the big top, she earned the affectionate nickname “The Kid.” Her role, however, was far more than decorative. In the show’s grand finale, a spectacle titled The Old Woman in the Shoe, performers represented children born in different months. When November’s segment arrived, Lorna marched out leading a mock football team as its drum majorette. For ten full minutes, the ring was entirely hers.
That spotlight required a level of discipline that redefined her idea of hard work. Back home, she thought practicing to spite her brothers was intense, but with Ringling, she was rehearsing four relentless hours a day.
Her talent gained national traction. That same year, she won the Indiana State Drum Major Association contest and was featured in a syndicated newspaper cartoon called Keen Teens, which introduced readers to “Beautiful Lorna Nifong, 18,” tracing her journey from twirling sticks on a farm to performing in the world’s largest circus.
Behind the Scenes
Behind the scenes, life under the big top lacked glamour. Lorna traveled thousands of miles by rail and ate in the mess tent alongside famous aerialists, acrobats, and clowns. Performers washed their hair and clothes in galvanized buckets and coped with constant dust and fatigue. Circus management kept a strict eye on the young performers, as neither drinking nor smoking was allowed. Yet the moment the calliope roared to life, the grit faded into pure spectacle.
It was also at Ringling that Lorna met her future husband, Arthur W. Cooksey, a circus clown. They married in Plymouth, Indiana, on January 16, 1950, shortly after her first season wrapped. A notice in Billboard magazine referred to her as the circus’s “featured baton twirler,” a distinction confirming her role was a central act, not just an extra in the background.
Though her professional circus career was brief, her marriage to Arthur lasted until his passing. Together, they settled in Indiana and raised four daughters: Janet, Peggy, Joni, and Regina.
Lorna Mae Nifong Cooksey passed away on February 28, 2025, in La Porte, Indiana, at the age of 93, leaving behind a large family that included 10 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. Her obituary remembered her as a woman who loved travel, helping others, and bringing her family together, leaving unmentioned that extraordinary summer when she was “The Kid” under the big top.
