Collections : [Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library]

Divided almost equally between Polka Dot Playhouse theater programs and programs for the Raybestos Braktettes and Cardinals, Samuel Sarkissian's personal collection of Bridgeport cultural publications represents insight into the names and accomplishments of some of the biggest draws in the city's entertainment offerings. Particularly important is the material related to the Raybestos Brakettes as it represents several National Championship title seasons.

Bridgeport is primarily known for its manufacturing role during World War II. This is thanks to the number of industries that mobilized during the war. The Air Raid and Civilian Defense Councils helped respond and keep the home front safe. In the Cold War, the Civilian Defense Council remained in place to help the city's residents prepare for the fallout of a nuclear attack or other invasion from the USSR.

Anne Drew Hallock was born in 1869. She was a public-school teacher at the Barnum School in Bridgeport, specializing in art. In 1893, she garnered local fame when she rescued three men from drowning. She would go on to continue teaching and promoting the arts and other civic causes in her lifetime.

Organized in May of 1897, the Mosaic Club was a women's organization that lasted from the 1890s until sometime in the 1970s. It came out of a small circle of neighborhood women who got together and read Shakespeare together, but over time it expanded to include most of the humanities, including art, music, history, and social sciences. Minutes and clippings make up the bulk of the collection, and provide extensive documentation of most of the club's history.

A veteran of the Civil War, Truman Parsons lived the second half of his life in Stratford, Connecticut and was a heavily active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Elias Howe Post No. 3 in Bridgeport. This collection documents Parson's G.A.R. participation and the end of his life in Fairfield County.

This collection, belonging to the International Brotherhood of Longshoreman local 1398 member Constantino Pietrini, features select agreements and contracts negotiated by the union and earlier material from the Seafarers International Union strike.

The Citizens Committee for the Study (later Improvement) of Bridgeport Public Schools was founded by Anita Vogel (a future member of the Board of Education.) It would go on to serve as a check on the Board of Education and the City of Bridgeport when it came to advocating for Bridgeport public schools, and often focused on issues such as adequate supplies, dropout rates, and budgets before disbanding sometime in the mid-1960s.

The Republican Action League was founded by Bridgeport Republicans in 1969. As per their leadership guide, they cite the charter revision committee's mostly Democratic composition, as well as a sense of one-party domination in the city. This collection contains a brief overview of their activities through clippings and some documents they created for the public.

World Organization of Mothers of All Nations, Inc., known by the acronym W.O.M.A.N. was a women's peace organization that followed in the wake of World War II's horrors. This collection provides a snapshot of the Connecticut branch's activities soon after the group was founded.

Consisting of correspondence, accounts, enrollment bonds, and personal compositions, the papers of Burr Knapp allow for insight into one of the oldest maritime trade families in Bridgeport and how the city relied on harbor trade in the first half of the 1800s prior to industrialization.