Collections : [Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library]

Reflecting the extensive nature of Bridgeport industry during the Second World War and into the 1950s, the Records of the Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers International Union, Locals 623, 320, 601, and 719 provides a snapshot of union activity at various Bridgeport employers.

The Brass Workers Federal Labor Union Local No. 24411 represented the workers of the Bridgeport Brass Company. In the collection are various agreements and constitutions that the two parties came to agree upon over a roughly twenty year span.

Unlike United Steelworkers of America Local 7528, Local 5623 dealt exclusively with the Jenkins Brothers, a valve and steel manufacturer. The material within the collection provides a snapshot of the work done by the union on behalf of its members.

As a manufacturing city during World War II, Bridgeport was a logical target should the warfront move to the east coast of the United States. The Bridgeport War Council, which oversaw the city's defense and preparations, devoted special resources to air raid preparation, defense, and recovery. This collection heavily focuses on the individual zones that Bridgeport was divided into, who was in charge of each zone, and how the city prepared for air attacks should they ever come.

The Bridgeport Area Chamber of Commerce was founded between 1915 and 1916, when the city itself was a major industrial center of Connecticut. With good profits, high employment, and a desire to attract more business, the organization was founded in order to accomplish these goals and to prove that Bridgeport was a desirable place to have a business. This collection contains minutes, showing the inner workings of the organization, as well as a subject file which reflects the organization's interests from its founding into the 1960s.

The Locomobile Company of America's first two presidents were father and son-in-law, Amzi L. Barber and Samuel T. Davis Jr. The close familial relationship the two had in running not only Locomobile but other business ventures as well, including Barber's asphalt company, is present and heavily represented in these papers.

Andrew Daniels was active in Fairfield county labor unions and causes from 1941 until his death in 1982. Starting as a secretary for the Aluminum Workers of America, he went on to sit as a part of the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration. His papers chart his labor career and provide insight into negotiations and changes in the Connecticut landscape as labor unions began a decline in the 1970s and 1980s.

Collected by Frederick Fleischer, this collection of bills and receipts reflect the variety of Bridgeport businesses as the 19th Century became the 20th. Looking at the various purchases helps to shed light on the shopping habits of the time period.

Project OWN, began in 1968 under the name of the West End Corporation and was an offshoot from the major organization Action for Bridgeport Community Development (ABCD). These records focus on the beginnings of Project OWN including their lobbying for closed sewer tanks following the death of Gary Crooks and their mini-store which helped address the food dessert of the West End.

Starting in 1929, the Bridgeport iteration of the Altrusa Club provided public service and means for women to connect from 1929 to 1988. Within the collection is extensive documentation of the group's minutes, budgets, and their major public service initiatives and their impact, with a focus on 1951 until the club disbanded in 1988.