Collections : [Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library]

Ed Gomes was an active part of Bridgeport life starting in his role as union representative for the United Steelworkers of America. He would go on to serve on the Bridgeport City Council from 1983-1989 and then again from 1999-2005, followed by representing District 23 in the Connecticut State Senate from 2005-2013 and from 2015-2019. This collection's contents primarily contain material that was kept by Senator Gomes, but not specifically generated by him. As such, there are very few manuscript documents featuring his handwriting. However, the material collected demonstrates not only the arc of his career as a politician and public servant, but also his interests and concerns in those roles and as a private individual.

Founded in 1913, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 488 currently covers most of western Connecticut. This small collection offers a historical snapshot of the union thanks to the history written by union member Steven Hunyadi.

The collection contains a series of legal and financial papers relating to the Burroughs family, particularly the papers of Stephen, Isaac, and Abijah Burroughs as well as Catherine A. Pettengill, benefactress of the Bridgeport Public Library.

Papers of Luciano Fausto Garcia and his daughter, Diane Garcia, of Bridgeport. Materials span two generations and include items from the Jenkins Brothers company, St. Stephens Church and School (Bridgeport, Conn.), personal photographs, and newspapers published in Cuba or in the U.S. for a Cuban-American readership.

This collection focuses on the Gazzalo family, whose patriarch Luigi came to the United States from Genoa. Gazzalo became a citizen in 1876, and he married his wife Maria Arata in 1886. The collection documents Italian-American life at the turn of the 20th century, with a focus on correspondence and estate papers following Luigi's untimely death at sea.

The Mallett, Fairchild, and Shelton papers provide documentation of the families behind the massively successful Fairchild and Shelton Soap Company. Related to the Sheltons are the Malletts, who also did genealogical work that is present in the collection. Both correspondence and account books are major features of the collection.

William W. Naramore was, among other things, a genealogy enthusiast, avid outdoorsman, and gun collector. He worked as an electrical engineer at United Illumining, and served as the president for his family's business - first known as the Bridgeport Coach Lace Company, and later the Bridgeport Fabric Company. William actively and avidly traced these various lineages in his research, which are all present in the collection that follows. His work allowed him to trace the family back as far as early colonist John Alden, and connect the various families of the area back into the 1600s and 1700s.

D.M. Read Company, later Read's Department Store, was a major purveyor of fine goods in Bridgeport, with a company history starting in 1857. The papers of the Read family offer an intimate look at family photographs and manuscripts during the store's hey-day, with a particular focus on Muriel Read and her parents, Charles B. and Eleanor.

Frank D. Reese, son of Francis A. Reese, is a Bridgeport resident. Frank Reese's family has roots that go back several centuries in Connecticut and include extensive ties to the state's African American and Native American populations, as well as Cape Verdean. The collection consists largely of family photographs or copies of family photographs, photocopied vital records and family genealogies, and scanned and printed ephemera.

The Scanzillo family represents one of the oldest Italian American families that settled in Bridgeport. Focusing on Americo (October 13, 1898- June 12, 1981), the son of Gabrielo Scanzillo and his wife, Americo himself was a lawyer and later member of the state senate. The clippings within the scrapbooks are especially useful in examining the integration of Italian American families into New England at the turn of the 20th century, when ethnic discrimination was common.