The term \u201cspecial collections\u201d is a broad one, and is used by different institutions to mean different things. Here at the Bridgeport History Center, we use the term special collections to refer to material unique to Bridgeport that does not fall under other categories, such as archives and manuscripts, films, maps, and newspapers. These include city directories, our clipping and vertical files, and yearbook collection, among others.<\/p>\n
The ARC collection represents small archival materials, single items, and other material held by the Bridgeport History Center that does not have enough volume to constitute an entire archival collection.\u00a0 The Small Archives and Manuscripts collection contains a large variety of items that span centuries, cover an extensive number of subjects and come in multiple formats.\u00a0 Examples include:\u00a0 individual letters, certificates, reports, pamphlets, handbills, broadsides, flyers, booklets, programs, articles, small maps and illustrations, newsletters, directories, invitations, menus, poems, songs, souvenirs, and more.<\/p>\n
Booklets with street car schedules and routes and World War II era ration cards and stamps stand as popular items for both research and display.\u00a0 A program of Memorial Day exercises in Mountain Grove Cemetery, 1872 and 1874, organized by Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) is another example of ARC holdings with content from a well known organization that had a very active chapter in Bridgeport.\u00a0 An original issue of the New Haven Register Sunday Magazine<\/em> featuring coverage of the 1953 flood that devastated many Connecticut communities and includes a map showing the extent of flood overflow is also part of the ARC collection. [BHC-SPC 0003]\u00a0 See collection guide for full description.<\/a><\/p>\n Over the years, the Bridgeport Public Library published catalogs of its holdings. These “Classified Catalogs” were often broken down by subject, author, and genre and they provide an insight into the growth and development of the institution and the population it served. [BHC-SPC 0001]\u00a0 For a full listing, please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n City directories for Bridgeport run from 1855 to 1990. These directories not only include information about who lived where when, but also information about a person\u2019s occupation or place of work; they will sometimes include the names of spouses or death dates. There are also listings for businesses and organizations. These directories are available in physical form, microfilm, and partially through our databases.<\/p>\n We have additional directories for other cities in Connecticut. For a full listing, please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n The Bridgeport History Center holdings include various documents created by the city of Bridgeport. These include municipal registers (city yearbooks that include key information about city government officials and departments) that run from 1863 to 1961, City Council proceedings, and city reports and publications. We do not have every city document or publication created by city agencies. Please refer to the City of Bridgeport Municipal Archives if we do not have what you are looking for.<\/p>\n The BHC has a collection of newspaper clippings and vertical files. These clippings are actual or photocopied articles taken from local newspaper titles over decades have been arranged by major topics of interests. The department’s vertical files contain short documents, brochures, flyers, reports, and ephemera and follow the same general subject headings as the clippings collection.\u00a0 Please be aware that the clippings are samples not complete or a\u00a0 definitive index.<\/p>\n A portion of our newspaper clippings has been digitized and can be searched on the Advantage Preservation website.<\/a> Also, check at our holdings on the CT Digital Archives<\/a> site as well, where more newspaper clippings and vertical file materials are being added each month.<\/p>\n Community cookbooks offer unique insights into groups and food trends, and enables a greater understanding of a community\u2019s sense of belonging to a given place. Many times cookbooks are used as fundraisers or outreach, helping to bring attention to a community or organization\u2019s work.<\/p>\n Over the years, the Bridgeport Public Library has entered community based cookbooks into it\u2019s collections, and then turned the items over to the Bridgeport History Center upon removing the books from circulation. At the same time, the Bridgeport History Center has acquired cook books from various community organizations.\u00a0 This collection is currently seeking additional donations.\u00a0 To see what is already available, please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n The General Assembly created this commission in 1929 to plan for the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Connecticut\u2019s settlement. This group of materials contains event programs, city and state histories, recreational guides, and maps produced by the Tercentenary Commission. To view the list of items in this collection, please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n Collected by both the Bridgeport History Center specifically and the Bridgeport Public Library overall, the Organizational Reports and Catalogs collection holds a number of \u00a0reports, catalogs, yearbooks, and other ephemera published by major and minor industries and organizations within Bridgeport.\u00a0 For a listing of which organizations and corporations are represented in the collection, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n High school yearbooks are collected from all of Bridgeport\u2019s high schools. While there are no complete runs of these yearbooks, there is a sizable amount for each high school within the city. To view a list<\/a> of which yearbooks we do have, [BHC-SPC 0002]\u00a0 please click here to view the PDF.<\/a><\/p>\nSpecial Collections – BPL Catalogs<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Special Collections – City Directories<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Special Collections – City Documents<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Special Collections – Clippings and Vertical Files<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Special Collections – Community Cookbooks<\/h2>\n
Special Collections – Connecticut Tercentenary Commission Special Publications<\/h2>\n
Special Collections – Organizational Reports and Catalogs (ORC)<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Special Collections – Yearbooks<\/h2>\n