Collections : [Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library]

Peter Spain served as a part of the Bridgeport City Council for a two year term, spured on by the sudden 29% increase in Bridgeport's mill rate/property tax rate. As a city councilor, Spain's focus was primarily on health issues, education, economic development, and governmental transparency. This is well represented in the collection, and there is particular weight to the matter of the Water Pollution Control Authority and its aggressive approach to collecting payment.

Largely photocopies of newspaper articles on the Black Panthers in Bridgeport in the early 1970s, including Kelly's involvement, and the Bridgeport Fire and Police Departments. Other documents cover the Young Lords and the L'Ambiance Plaza construction disaster. A South End resource guide and two short films about firefighting in Bridgeport and on 9/11 are also included.

The papers of Diana Lesser consist of Bridgeport Jewish Community Council and Tercentenary Committee meeting minutes, correspondence, research notes, and draft chapters, along with other book materials intended to be used for a history of Jewish life in Bridgeport. The book never came to fruition, but the drafts contain important documentation of the community.

Douglas Reid was one of the longest serving directors of the Bridgeport Public Library, sitting in the post from 1963 to 1965. Prior to taking the position, he worked as a part of the state's Bureau of Library Services, and went on to help run the Southwestern Connecticut Library System. His papers focus on his service to the Bureau and the early days of the System, rather than his day to day running of the Bridgeport Public Library.

: Edna M. Richardson was an active part of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Bridgeport Historical Society, which starting in 1957 began a campaign to save the remarkable and well known Harral-Wheeler House. The collection documents the local level campaign to save the home.

Edward A. Nevins spent most of his career at the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He worked in the drafting department, eventually holding the title of chief draftsman. Present in this collection are blueprints and technical drawings for various machine parts, starting in the 1900s and ending in the 1950s.

Serving in the Civil War from 1863-1865, the documents and forms of Edward W. Marsh chart the career of Captain Edward W. Marsh and his time as quartermaster sergeant through captain with the 2nd Regiment of Connecticut's heavy artillery unit. Most material is in the form of official forms and reports.

The Model Cities Program was a nationwide initiative begun by the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and lasted from 1966 to 1974. A part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, participating cities sought to approach urban redevelopment and renewal from a different angle, especially as urban renewal began to sound like buzz words. This collection contains printed material and reports related to Bridgeport's implementation of the Model Cities program, as well as related social service programs that followed in its wake.

A Bridgeport resident for most of her life, Ella Fleck played a prominent figure in the city's philanthropy, support for US military ventures, and social reform. Prominent in the collection are materials related to the Minute Women organization, active in 1918. Other materials relate to the concurrent Bridgeport Woman's Committee of the National Defense, among other groups.

The Barnum Museum building has gone through various incarnations since it was first opened in 1893. In the 1950s and 1960s, the museum collections were managed by Elizabeth Seeley (a Barnum descendent). Elsie Beth Clark was a board member and helped create displays for the museum, as well as handouts.