– access millions of records for genealogy research:  census, military, city directories, immigrations, and much more.

– Register for free and search millions of documents collected from all over the world and the LDS library catalog.

– search essential historical records for African Americans, including Federal Census, Marriage and Cohabitation Records, Military draft and Service Records, Registers of Slaves and Free(d) Persons of Color, Freedman’s Bank, and more.

– free databases: African American Gateway, Surname File, Family Bible Records, Military Heritage, Native American Gateway, and more.

– from adoption to countries and states to land records, to ethnic and religious groups, to veterans and world wars, and everything in between.

– Online Consultations – sign up for a free 20 minute online consultation with an experienced genealogist from the LDS library.

– get help from fellow genealogists from across the country.

• Genealogy 101: the Basics with Ancestry.com
• Pedigree Charts and Family Group Sheets
• Brick walls in research – 3 overlooked resources
• Immigration Records – National Archives and Records Administration
• Organizing and Preserving your Family History
• Ten Steps to Writing and Publishing Your Family History
• How to Handle Old Books
• RootsTech Session Videos – Latter Day Saints

• Make a Family Tree
  Making a family tree is a great way to help children understand how they are related to the individuals that are referred to as “family.”
• 5 Exciting Activities to Teach Your Kids About Their Family History
  Exploring your family’s heritage not only gives children a connection to the past, but it can also guide your child’s future.
• AncestryK12
  AncestryK12® offers a no-cost program for K12 schools that includes access to content from Fold3, Newspapers.com and the U.S. collection of Ancestry
• Genealogy in the Classroom
  Victoria Genealogy Society – fun projects and resources for students and teachers

Historic Map Works

Plat maps with details of lot apportionments and street details for cities across the United States

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Maps with details on buildings prepared for the insurance industry

Hot off the heels of finishing up the Records of the Warner Brothers Company, the Bridgeport History Center is pleased to present not one, not two, but three brand new research guides!  Our women’s suffrage guide will help you celebrate a century of voting rights, the belatedly spooky guide to local witchcraft and hauntings will provide a different kind of January chill, and our comprehensive guide to material related to the Warner Brothers Company and the family will assist researchers who are keen to know more about one of Bridgeport’s biggest manufacturers.

 We Are Artists Every One:  The Art Center in Action, 1970-1986

The Art Center was far more than a place to learn visual arts, literary arts and music.  The Art Center was a place to improve reading skills, get a meal, and gain exposure to burgeoning cultural, artistic, social, and political ideas.  By the time of its closing in 1986, the Art Center had offered thousands of hours of art, photography, music and culinary instruction to city youth, adults, and senior citizens. Curator Michelle Black Smith

click here to visit the exhibit

The Bridgeport History Center is thrilled to announce that after a year long processing project, the Records of the Warner Brothers Company – originally the Warner Corset Company, and later known as Warnaco – is fully open and available for research.

Taking up an astounding 475 boxes, these records cover the undergarment company’s history from the 1870s to 1975.   It features extensive advertising material that focuses on the evolution of women’s undergarments, along with behind-the-scenes business documents, fabric samples, and more.

Historians of fashion, Connecticut industries, and Bridgeport itself are sure to find something relevant to their research.  Material can be requested for a viewing appointment now.   The finding aid is available here.

Please be aware that image requests for the Records of the Warner Brothers Company may not be fulfilled due to the large amount of oversize material present.  Thank you!

Many items from the P.T. Barnum Research Collection are now available online! Thanks to generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, researchers may access many items from the History Center and Barnum Museum collections: Over a thousand items — advertisements, books, magazines, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, prints, programs, records, sheet music, and souvenirs — all available through the Connecticut Digital Archives!`

History Center photographs are now available to search and view online.  The images are part of the General Photograph Collection held by the BHC and feature street scenes.  Please check back with us each month as we add new images to our site. (more…)

The BHC is an affiliate for the Family Search program published by the LDS church.  This means that patrons using the computers at the History Center may access thousands of digitized records in the Family Search program that were previously available on microfilm only.  More records are being added each month, so stop by the History Center and do some searching in Family Search! (more…)

History Center Head Emeritus Mary K. Witkowski wrote over 450 articles for the Bridgeport News during her tenure at the BHC.  From the Historical Collections articles explore many facets of Bridgeport history –people, places, and things– from the renowned to the quirky, and will take readers on a delightful journey through the City’s past.