By Michelle Black Smith On July 6, 1970, under the agency leadership of Charles B. Tisdale, the A.B.C.D. Cultural Arts Center (hereafter Art Center) welcomed Bridgeport youth and young adults to explore a variety of creative expression at an office building in downtown Bridgeport. Free of ...
The idea of going to the dentist to get your teeth cleaned, before they rotted away, took shape in Bridgeport, thanks, in part, to the son of the city's mayor. Civilion Fones served as mayor in 1886 and 1887, and knew P.T. Barnum well. He was ...
By Mary K. Witkowski Editor: Ann Marie Virzi Alice Whiting Farrar had many passions: music, church, education and above all, her family and their home on Bridgeport's East End. Skills she learned at a young age, especially sewing,served her well as a mother running a household with ...
by Professor Sonya Huber, Associate Professor of English, Fairfield University The life work of an activist can often be portrayed as a bold stance taken at a single defining moment, such as the image of Rosa Parks not giving up her seat on the bus. But ...
A recent gift to the Bridgeport Public Library Historical Collections was this small wooden ruler, only six inches in length. The ruler had the name "Gutchess College" engraved on the side, with the addess 46 to 54 Cannon Street. What was Gutchess College? The Bridgeport City ...
By Andy Piascik This Fall marks 50 years since the establishment of Housatonic Community College. The school has come a long way in that time, from facilities scattered throughout Stratford to an old industrial building on Bridgeport’s East Side to a lovely downtown campus. More importantly, ...
by Andy Piascik One year when I was a teenager, I had a summer job pumping gas at a local gas station. Business at the station fluctuated and on one afternoon when it was quite slow, a distinguished looking man of about 70 pulled in. He ...
By Mary Witkowski Eleanor Painter was, according to the Bridgeport Post March 18, 1945, a “Veteran Teacher… Leader in Cultural Activities in the City since 1864.” When Nellie Painter got to school in June of 1891, she knew she would be posing for a photograph. She had ...
By Carolyn Ivanoff Reading a newspaper you can witness the first draft of history from world to local news. In the spring of 1915 the sinking of the Lusitania factored largely in headlines along with the war in Europe. Local and national labor news would also ...
