In the summer of 1984, the City of Bridgeport's Human Resources Development, Department of Youth Services conducted an ambitious project to train Bridgeport youth to conduct oral history interviews with older city residents. The goal of the projects was multi-fold: to encourage "respect and understanding between the two targeted groups; increase youths' and the community's knowledge of the city; improve Bridgeport's public image; and assisting businesses in introducing new employees to Bridgeport.
While the project did not meet its original goal of matching 100 youth with 100 adult interviewees, participants did manage to conduct dozens of fascinating interviews with a variety of city residents who offer their personal stories and thoughts on the city they called home. Sadly, the audio did not survive for every interview and there are only transcripts available for a portion of interviews, but a full list of project participants survives and all available content is offered here for the benefit of researchers. No photographs of the interviewees were recovered from this project. All audio files were left mostly untouched to convey the flavor of the project.
NOTE: if you posses a copy of a transcript or audio cassette for one of the "missing interviews," please contact the Bridgeport History Center.
MISSING CONTENT: Burger, Irving; Corrente, Orlando; Hillman, Gertrude; Pearson, Charles; Pemberton, Milton; Pjura, John Jr.; Milton; Robichaud, Sally; Romanoff, Max
