Collections : [Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library]

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.

The Young Men Christian's Association of Bridgeport was founded in 1884 to provide support for men in the city of Bridgeport. In order to support the YMCA's mission, the Women's Auxiliary was founded in 1887. The Mother's Club did the same, although it was founded later in 1936. Their assistance, documented in this collection, helps document the needs of the YMCA and the population it served from 1915 to 1971, with a particular focus on the Great Depression

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam burst and flooded the Pennsylvania town of Johnstown. The sudden flooding killed over 2,200 and left a swath of destruction. Donations came from all over the United States, including Bridgeport. The city's donation response was spearheaded by W.B. Hincks. These records show the individual donations of private citizens and major Bridgeport companies.

J.H. (James Henry) Mansfield served as a local leader for the southern Connecticut group for the United Society of Christian Endeavor, an interdenominational, Christian organization that encourages greater familiarity and cooperation among Christian youth. The material represents early programs, events, and conventions that were held to address societal issues and encourage young members to get involved.

James Staples was born in 1824 in Swansville, Maine as one of twelve children. He moved to Bridgeport in 1854, and went on to establish the real estate office that became James Staples and Co. This collection contains a small group of his correspondence related to his work, as well as genealogy research he conducted.

This small collection contains some correspondence to Matthew Rogers during his tenure as Secretary of State for Connecticut in 1909-1913. It is not extensive or inclusive.

Mary Ann Paula Flanagan (later Hornish) was born in Bridgeport in 1927. The material in the collection focuses primarily about life in Bridgeport prior to 1948, with an emphasis on photographs. Later correspondence also includes insight regarding growing up in Bridgeport, and the dictated family histories of Mary Ann's parents contain useful information about childhood in the Great Depression in Bridgeport.

Serving as an officer for Company F, 14th Connecticut, Captain Frederick Doten experienced fighting at Antietam and Gettysburg, and spent time in Libby Prison. His letters to his girlfriend, Georgia, offer an intimate view into both daily life of a Civil War officer and the horrors of the war. In several cases, letters were sent every other day.

The collection contains letters from Presbyterian missionaries working in China and Korea from 1920 to 1961, with the bulk dating from 1920 through 1941. Most of the correspondence was sent to recipients in the United States by the Fairfield, Connecticut native Elizabeth Curtis Wright, a missionary educated in the Young Women's Christian Association as well as Smith College and Columbia University. She spent most of her career in China. Samuel Austin Moffett and his wife Eileen Moffett also sent letters and reports to Kirk from 1958 through 1961 from their post in Andong, South Korea. The collection provides insight into US missionaries' perceptions of religious practice, schooling, political and military shifts, and poverty in East Asia. Papers also include Kirk's Bridgeport-based diary from 1932 and earlier photographs of her family.

The Bridgeport Commission on the Arts and the Bridgeport Arts Council were separate but similar entities that came out of a greater investment in arts education in the 1970s. They should not be confused with the Bridgeport Cultural Arts Center, although all three were a part of the same movement. The records of Judith Muniec provide insight into the organizations during their time of operation.