BHC Special Events/Announcements
NEW BHC Exhibit: Jasper: The People’s Mayor
Monday, July 1 - October 1, 2024
12:00 am
“When the old parties win, Bridgeport always loses– but everybody wins with Jasper!”
It may be surprising to learn that Bridgeport’s city government was run by Socialists for nearly thirty years. During the election of 1933, frustrated with the scandals surrounding the Democratic and Republican parties, many voters decided to take their chances with a longtime sidewalk politician known as Jasper McLevy, a relentless campaigner promising implementation of progressive reform. Following McLevy’s mayoral victory, and electoral victory of his fellow Socialist Party members in other positions, the city of Bridgeport would see drastic changes, including improved infrastructure, expanded affordable housing, and honesty in government.
Who was Jasper McLevy? What did he do during his record term? And what was the Bridgeport Socialist Party that he belonged to? Our new exhibit “Jasper: The People’s Mayor” chronicles the rise and career of Bridgeport’s longest serving mayor, and the profound impact that he left upon the city.
NEW Article for BHC: When The Aztec Eagle Began Her Soar Over Bridgeport
Sunday, July 7 - July 31, 2024
12:00 am
“Around 2,000 miles away, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, resides the largest Mexican population, both largest foreign born and Mexican descendant population, of any city in New England, ahead of runners-up Boston and New Haven….When, how and why did Mexicans start to arrive in large numbers to Bridgeport? That is the tricky part. But we can observe the regional trends and compare them more introspectively to the once Industrial Capital of Connecticut.
The Aztec eagle now flies over Bridgeport, and this is the story of how she spread her wings.”
Grassroots Historian Abraham Lima gives a compelling account of Mexican migration to the city of Bridgeport and their indelible contribution to the city’s history. Part One of this four-part series is out now. Click to read it here.
View detailsNEW Article of BHC: The Many Saints of Bridgeport: The Mafia and Mayhem in the Park City
Sunday, July 7 - September 30, 2024
12:00 am
“Cries and chaos filled the air as a crowd of more than fifty people surrounded the stricken victim. A woman in nurse’s scrubs began to give him CPR as others tried to stop the bleeding from his chest and arm.
None of the concerned Bridgeporters realized the man they assisted was Fairfield County’s most notorious mobster, Frank Piccolo, nor could they anticipate that the hit ordered on him would be another link in the chain of events that would lead to the downfall of one of New York’s most notorious crime bosses. For now, as far as McKinney and the other good Samaritans were concerned, Piccolo was just a guy in need of help.”
BHC Assistant Archivist Jaime Pettit tells the story of one of the most infamous crimes in Bridgeport History, click to read it here
View detailsUsing Voting Records in Family History Research
Thursday, August 1, 2024
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
If your ancestor had the right to vote, you can find a wealth of information in their voting records. These records can help you to verify the exact years your ancestor lived in a certain location, locate your ancestor on a state census, identify when your ancestor was naturalized, and more. Join Senior Genealogist Melanie McComb as she discusses where to find voting records, the information they contain, and how to use them to advance your family history research.
BHC News
BHC x CTDA: Bridgeport’s history, now more searchable than ever
Find BHC Materials ONLINE
The Bridgeport History Center has been a proud part of the Connecticut Digital Archive for years now, taking advantage of this unique digital preservation platform that invites cultural institutions from all around Connecticut to share digitized material. Since March of 2020, BHC has worked hard to take advantage of CTDA’s hosting, search features, and support in order to make more of it’s holdings available and easier to search.
BHC is proud to share its updated CTDA space. Explore Black Bridgeport. Get to know our Archives and Manuscripts better. Did you know we have yearbooks digitized? All of our Grassroots Historians articles are available too, along with postcards and Mary Witkowski’s newspaper articles. You can search within the Bridgeport History Center’s collections only, or expand it to all of CTDA in order to find more material.
New and Noteworthy at BHC
The Bridgeport History Center updates our new and noteworthy page on a regular basis! Check back to see what we’ve added and you can come in and use. This page was last updated on April 22, 2022.
New Oral Histories
Bridgeport and New Haven Puerto Rican Oral Histories, 2023-2024
Third year Yale University doctoral candidate Amanda Rivera conducts oral histories to facilitate her research on the bilingual education movement in Bridgeport as led by Puerto Ricans in the 1970s. Rivera interviews community members about this topic in both Bridgeport and New Haven from 2023-2024. The interviews she conducted are now part of the History Center holdings as an oral history collection.
New Special Collections
BHC has long held biographical newspaper clipping files. Now researchers can view the list of names included in this substantial collection.
New Photographs
BHC has been continuing to add photographs to the Connecticut Digital Archive. There are over one thousand images available, with more on the way! Don’t see what you’re looking for? Contact us on our contact form.
New Digital Collections
BHC has one of the best newspaper clippings collections in the state. Explore some of the initial offerings from this vast resource.
Maps online!
Plat maps with details of lot apportionments and street details for cities across the United States
Maps with details on buildings prepared for the insurance industry
New Research Guides
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.
BHC Events & Regular Monthly Programming
Using Voting Records in Family History Research
Thursday, August 1, 2024
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
View detailsFeatured Articles
A Look Back at the Little Liberia Community via the Historical African American Press
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 Charles Brilvitch article entitled The Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses provides the historical context for the articles written in historically African American newspapers that shed light on the Little Liberia Community, a testament to the resilience and determination of a community of ‘free people of color.’ This community began to coalesce around the lower reaches of Bridgeport Harbor the same year (1821) that Bridgeport itself came into being.
The Many Saints of Bridgeport: The Mafia and Mayhem in the Park City
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 way about the shops and houses for their Sunday errands. It was 2:30pm, and the sun peaked out through the clouds above the quiet suburban street. No one expected that the warm September afternoon would erupt in violence.