1135 Main Street, Bridgeport CT 06604
Mailing address: 1019 Main Street, Suite 210, Bridgeport CT 06604
203.612.7769
freemancenterbpt-ct@yahoo.com
freemancenterbpt.com
Executive Director: Maisa L Tisdale
Founded in 2009, The Mary & Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Center owns the Mary & Eliza Freeman Houses (circa 1848), under restoration, in Bridgeport’s South End. They are listed on the National Register of Historic Places for significance to African Americans and women. The Freeman Center is creating a national African American historic site consisting of a museum and education center, and a digital research center. Mission: restore, preserve, and ensure the viability of the Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses; teach the history of Connecticut African Americans; revitalize the surrounding Bridgeport South End community; and facilitate the preservation and revitalization of other African American, and greater Bridgeport historic/preservation communities.
Event: Departures & Arrivals: Bridgeport and the Great Migration Exhibit
Thursday, November 10; 5 pm to 9 pm / Friday, November 11; 5 pm to 9 pm
Saturday, November 12; 1 pm to 9 pm / Sunday, November 13; 1 pm to 6 pm
In partnership with the Westport Museum for History and Culture. Considered among the largest movements of people in human history, “The Great Migration” took place between 1910 and 1970 when African Americans from the South moved to the Northern, Mid-Western and Western states, seeking liberty, personal security, and opportunity. This new exhibit features the photos, family memorabilia and personal stories of Black Bridgeporters who came to the city from the American South, adding to the cultural and economic diversity of the city.
Event: Richard Patton IV: Contemporary Fine Art & Graphic Design Exhibit
Thursday, November 10; 5 pm to 9 pm / Friday, November 11; 5 pm to 9 pm
Saturday, November 12; 1 pm to 9 pm / Sunday, November 13; 1 pm to 6 pm
Rich Patton’s work combines his African, Hispanic, and Native American heritage with abstract expressionism. It expresses his emotions, ideas, and beliefs through vibrant color, bold composition and contrasting texture and patter. Born in Bridgeport, Rich graduated from Western Connecticut State University, School of Visual and Performing Arts. His pieces are owned by private collections here and abroad, and by corporate collectors including the Freeman Center and Yale New Haven Health’s Park Avenue Medical Center.
Event: Reimagining Little Liberia: Restoration & Reunion Exhibit
Thursday, November 10; 8:30 am to 7 pm
Friday, November 11; 8:30 am to 5:30 pm / Saturday, November 12; 9 am to 3 pm
This exhibit, shown at the Housatonic Museum of Art #7, shows that Connecticut’s African American legacies are rich, layered. From land to sea, countryside to cityscape, African and Native Americans contributed to the development of this region – only to have their own stories omitted from official histories. Bridgeport’s “Little Liberia” (1821-1899) was even ignored on maps. Art, artifacts and scholarship tell this story. Little Liberia, deeply connected to a Black Atlantic network, created opportunities for Connecticut’s Black and Native Americans beyond the denigration of slavery and servitude.
Event: Reimagining Little Liberia: Restoration & Reunion Exhibit
Thursday, November 10; 8:30 am to 7 pm
Friday, November 11; 8:30 am to 5:30 pm / Saturday, November 12; 9 am to 3 pm
This exhibit, shown at the Housatonic Museum of Art #7, shows that Connecticut’s African American legacies are rich, layered. From land to sea, countryside to cityscape, African and Native Americans contributed to the development of this region – only to have their own stories omitted from official histories. Bridgeport’s “Little Liberia” (1821-1899) was even ignored on maps. Art, artifacts and scholarship tell this story. Little Liberia, deeply connected to a Black Atlantic network, created opportunities for Connecticut’s Black and Native Americans beyond the denigration of slavery and servitude.