By Sharon Bunyan Before I begin, I want to acknowledge the Golden Hill Paugussett Nation's ancestral land, which is the geographical area where the Little Liberia community was established. This land, rich in history and culture, is the location for the news articles I will discuss. The ...
SEASIDE PARK Seaside Park comprises two and one-half miles of gently curving shoreline on Long Island Sound. Long considered one of New England's premier urban parks and Bridgeport's "front yard," it has an important place in the annals of American landscape and social history. For here ...
By Carolyn Ivanoff George Francis Gilman was a man recognizable to Bridgeporters, especially those in Black Rock. He was the wealthiest man in Fairfield County. When he retired from his legendary career as a tea importer to Bridgeport in 1878, he purchased a prominent 1762 colonial ...
by Elizabeth Boyce Just a few years back, my youngest daughter innocently summed up my work to new friends saying: “Oh, and that’s my mom.” As they passed by, she added, “She works with dead people.” She wasn’t wrong. I do spend an inordinate amount of time ...
by Michael J. Bielawa One hundred and thirty years ago this autumn, in 1888, Jack the Ripper terrorized the Whitechapel neighborhood of London, England. The madman brutally murdered five women. Then vanished. Never to be heard from again. Or was he? Some 21st century Ripperologists, as ...
By Britney Murphy On December 22, 1939, Father Stephen J. Panik, proudly addressed the audience attending the groundbreaking ceremony for Bridgeport’s first public housing project. The erection of what would become Yellow Mill Village was the culmination of years of hard work on the part of ...
by Andy Piascik In the second half of the 20th century, a change took place in the landscape of American dining as the places where we went out for a casual meal changed to “fast food” establishments. Like many industries, food service became increasingly monopolized. In ...
By Jaime Pettit The older man looked unassuming, dressed in a plaid flannel shirt and a black-and-gray tweed sport jacket as he stood at the phone booth on the corner of Main and Jewett Ave. Passing Bridgeport residents paid him no mind as they made their ...
By Abraham Lima To read the previous articles, use the guide below to navigate. Part 1 - https://bportlibrary.org/hc/hispanic-populations-and-culture/when-the-aztec-eagle-began-her-soar-over-bridgeport-part-1/ Part 2 – https://bportlibrary.org/hc/business-and-commerce/when-the-aztec-eagle-began-to-soar-over-bridgeport-part-2-from-puebla-york-oaxakeepsie-and-mexchester-2/ “I don’t remember the year they opened, it was in the 90s. When I arrived after a few years, the first Mexican restaurant that opened was La ...
By Abraham Lima PROLOGUE: The eagle eating a cactus perched on a snake was the symbol the god Huitlolopotchli gave to nomadic Nahuatl-speaking people as to where to build their new city. They found just that in the middle of Lake Texcoco and thus the city of ...
by Abraham Lima This is Part 2 of a 5 Part Series at the Bridgeport History Center: For Part 1 click below: https://bportlibrary.org/hc/hispanic-populations-and-culture/when-the-aztec-eagle-began-her-soar-over-bridgeport-part-1/ For Part 3 click below: https://bportlibrary.org/hc/business-and-commerce/when-the-aztec-eagle-began-her-soar-over-bridgeport-part-3-men-of-maplewood/ How did Bridgeport’s Mexican community arise? It came about with a few separate chance incidents. A Few Early Arrivals: The Carmonas and ...
