Lya Graf

In this famed, often reproduced 1933 image we have both pathos and true sadness. J.P. Morgan was taken aback when tiny Lya Graf with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was put on his lap by circus press agent, Charles Leef during a break in hearings of a 1933 Senate Banking and Currency Committee. Morgan had been summoned to appear before them to testify about what they viewed as very suspect banking practices.

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