Klein Memorial Auditorium was completed in 1938 and features&nbsp;a proscenium-style theater that seats up to 1400 people. The auditorium&nbsp;was designed by Leonard Ashem, and architect who designed many municipal and ecclesiastical buildings during the height&nbsp;of his career from 1910 to 1940. Ashem was a German-Jewish American architect who migrated to Waterbury and later&nbsp;moved to Bridgeport. He also&nbsp;designed the Achavath Achim Synagogue in 1926, one of fifteen Connecticut synagogues.&nbsp; There was a list of many famous and historical figures that entered and spoke at the Klein over the years, including Eleanor Roosevelt.&nbsp;Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. also spoke at the Klein after officials at the&nbsp;University of Bridgeport decided to move his appearance to Klein Memorial Auditorium to accommodate the crowd of 2700. King&nbsp;called on John F. Kennedy to enforce the laws of the nation and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bridgeport.&nbsp;

Eleanor Roosevelt, one of many leading Americans who has addressed crowds at Klein Memorial Auditorium. 

View from inside the Klein Memorial Auditorium. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Visits the Klein Memorial 

Website

Martin Luther King on the History Channel.

Klein Memorial Auditoriums Official Website

Klein Memorial Auditorium was completed in 1938 and has played host to notable historical figures throughout history. Sixteen American presidents have visited the Park City over the years, and several of these leaders have spoken at Klein Memorial. In addition, leading Americans such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the American Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa have addressed crowds at Klein Auditorium. 

Klein Memorial Auditorium

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This driving tour includes stops at several museums, landmarks, and historical sites throughout the city of Bridgeport.

By the 1940s, CBI had outgrown this synagogue and moved to a second one, also on Park Avenue. Today, the original Park Avenue temple serves as a Baptist church, and CBI is a Reform Jewish synagogue that maintains an active community with hundreds of families in its new, larger location.

This Craftsman-style building was originally built in 1911 as a synagogue for Congregation B'nai Israel (CBI), a community of German Jews. The former Orthodox congregation organized during the 1850s, making it one of the oldest in Connecticut. For over 50 years, the congregation did not have a permanent, designated synagogue, however, and members worshiped in homes and workplaces. The 1911 construction of this Park Avenue synagogue provided a stable religious and community space. 

B'nai Israel Synagogue (New Hope Missionary Baptist Church)

The Housatonic Museum of Art was founded in 1967 by iconic artist, professor of art and art history, and chairman of Housatonic’s art department, Burt Chernow. Backed by a strong dedication towards presenting, preserving, and interpreting objects of artistic and historic value, Chernow gathered gifts from artists, private collectors, commercial galleries, and others to build a compelling and multifaceted collection. Since Robin Zella took over the role of director in the late 1990s, the museum has hosted a myriad of exciting exhibitions passing through the museum’s doors.1&nbsp;The first exhibition, in 1998, showcased a collection of Sol LeWitt works titled, Forms Derived From a Cube. Ansel Adam’s revolutionary Classic Images exhibition rolled through the HMA in 2001, and in 2014, David Hayes’s exhibition, Modern Master of American Abstraction, gave visitors a fresh insight into the role of American abstract artists and pieces. HMA currently contains over 4,000 works of art including paintings, sculptures, drawings, and other mediums.&nbsp;2
Locals, students, and tourists should always check to see what museum events are available when visiting. Sponsored by the HMA and often in collaboration with other organizations, most of these events remain free to the public and encourage interaction, study, and art appreciation courses. For example, HMA hosted the renowned Draw On! Program, which showcases Housatonic students drawing visual images on the Cafeteria walls in the Lafayette Hall. Past events included lectures and workshops with graphic designers, live poetry readings, Black history month celebrations, and even inflatable-suit bicycle rides.&nbsp;
Furthermore, HMA often partners with local businesses and other institutions to present both students and the public with educational experiences through art. The education programs at HMA typically features a lecture series that coincide with upcoming or current gallery exhibitions, though visitors can also ask about the Werth Family Foundation Student Docent Program, Writing About Art, and the Ansel Adams: Classic Images programs.&nbsp;3

The Housatonic Museum of Art (HMA) stands as one of the premier college art collections in the United States. Scattered throughout the Housatonic Community College Campus and located within the university’s Lafayette Hall, the free and permanent collections at this museum traverse centuries and art forms to enhance the cultural life of Bridgeport students and residents. While strolling through the campus hallways, visitors are greeted with 18th, 19th, and 20th century works of art, as well as ethnographic objects from Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. These collections are quite unique to the Housatonic campus, and permanent exhibitions remain on continuous display throughout the 300,000 square-foot facility. Within the permanent collection, visitors can view and interact over 4,000 works of art from various time periods, and some of the most famous artists featured at this museum include Renoir, Picasso, Matisse, Ansel Adams, Klimt, and many others. The Burt Chernow Gallery, named after the museum’s founder, offers rotating exhibitions every six weeks that feature national, regional, and even local artists as well as art shows. 

Housatonic Museum of Art

<blockquote>Mclevy Hall was originally Bridgeport City Hall. When it was erected in 1954 it was designed to be the Fairfield County courthouse as well. The architect that designed Bridgeport City Hall was Alexander Davis Jackson. He originally designed architectural illustrations. He moved on to assist in creating the Federal Hall National memorial which is on the National Historical list.&nbsp; Jasper Mclevy was the 1st and only Socialist Party elected Mayor in the Park City's history. He ran twenty times before he became elected. Once elected he was the longest standing mayor for the city of Bridgeport 24 years. They say he ran so long that a Bridgeporter born when Mclevy was first elected he could vote for him. (Sunday Herald,1962). He was a working class member of the Bridgeport community.&nbsp; He was&nbsp; a roofer who joined the Socialist party and became a politician.&nbsp; He was compared to P.T. Barnum in that he was a vital and dedicated piece in the positive changes in the Park Cities history. The Park City has always been an important stop for presidential nominees, the city has had 16 presidential visits to date.&nbsp; Abraham Lincoln visited the Park City March 10, 1860. He was not yet a dedicated Republican candidate. He had to campaign through New England and didn't want to make multiple speeches, so the consensus was they were pretty uniform in context. There are no articles on exactly what was said but there are many articles on how it may have been a spin off of the Cooper Union speech that put him on the road to the White House.&nbsp; </blockquote>

Mclevy Hall is located in Downtown Bridgeport Connecticut, in the historic Golden Hill District.It is designed by Alexander Jackson Davis. It was formerly known as Bridgeport City Hall. It was renamed after Jasper Mclevy in 1966 the Mayor of Bridgeport from 1933-1954.It was the site where President Abraham Lincoln spoke. 

Mclevy Hall

George and Rebecca Latimer resided in Chelsea, Massachusetts after escaping slavery in 1842. Six years later, Rebecca gave birth to their son Lewis Howard Latimer, the youngest child of four. In 1857, George fled the area to avoid being captured and reenslaved. With his father on the run, Lewis worked to help support his family. Among many odd jobs, young Lewis delivered and sold abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper,&nbsp;The Liberator.&nbsp;He even lied about his age so that he could&nbsp;join the Navy during the Civil War. Despite his youth, Latimer served in the Navy and was honorably discharged. After returning home, he took an entry-level position at the Crosby and Gould patent law office and eventually accepted a promotion to draftsman.

Light bulbs and telephones are not the only things Latimer is known to help design. He also worked on improvements to air conditioner units and helped design railroad car bathrooms. Latimer was appointed as the superintendent of the incandescent lamp department of the United States Electric Lighting Company. He also authored the book&nbsp;Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison System.&nbsp;Latimer was a pioneer in the electrical industry and was even awarded eight patents.&nbsp;Latimer died in 1928 in Flushing, New York. Remembered today for his accomplishments in engineering, it is important also to recall Latimer's words in support of racial equality. "It is necessary that we should show the people of this country that we who have by our martyrdom under the lash, by our heroism on the battlefield; by our Christian forbearance beneath an overwhelming burden of injustice; and by our submission to the laws of the native land, proven ourselves worthy citizens of our common country,” Lattimer wrote.&nbsp;This statue demonstrates the delayed recognition given to this inventor by a city where he only briefly lived. Although residents welcomed the statue, it was almost moved after it was revealed that the statue was funded with money reserved for neighborhood revitalization which did not include downtown Bridgeport. After extended talks, city leaders decided against moving the statue.&nbsp;

Commissioned by local leaders in 2015, this statue in front of the Margaret E. Morton Government Center commemorates the life and work of inventor Lewis Howard Latimer who invented and patented the carbon filament used in many of the most important inventions at the turn of the century. The son of runaway slaves, Latimer was a draftsman worked closely with other inventors such as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell to design innovations that led to the telephone and incandescent lighting. Latimer came to Bridgeport in 1880 to take a job with Hiram Maxim at U.S. Electric Lighting Company. He later worked for Edison Lighting Company and General Electric in New York City. 

Lewis Howard Latimer Statue, Bridgeport

Constructed in 1893 and originally known as The Barnum Institute of Science and History, P.T. Barnum envisioned this Byzantine and Romanesque-influenced building as a prominent resource library and lecture hall. In fact, iconic American figures and luminaries such as the Wright Brothers and Thomas Edison spoke at the institute in its early days. With the Great Depression in full swing by 1933, financial instability led to the museum’s acquisition by the City of Bridgeport. From 1943 until 1946, the city remodeled the structure, and it thereafter opened as a city hall annex, where it remained throughout the 1960s. Concerned city officials and Bridgeport citizens paved the way for the opening of the P.T. Barnum Museum in 1968, and only four years later, the Barnum Museum was added to the National Register of Historic Places.&nbsp;
Combining a deep influence central to Bridgeport’s history, the exhibits housed among the three floors at this museum offer a new and exciting chance for visitors to explore both Bridgeport and P.T. Barnum. Across the top of the building, visitors are first confronted by five relief panels illustrating America’s history, ranging from a 1670 relief depicting Native Americans to an 1870 panel of America’s industrial revolution. Within these panels, there are six busts also dedicated to central historical figures, such as Christopher Columbus and President Grover Cleveland. Many of Barnum’s personal items and artifacts are carefully organized across the first floor of the museum, as the P.T. Barnum: Bethel to Broadway to Bridgeport exhibit explores Barnum’s family, political, and professional life before concluding with his (arguably) pinnacle life achievement — P.T. Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth.&nbsp;
The main lobby and the first floor feature a re-creation of the library from Barnum’s first mansion as well as Baby Bridgeport, a six-foot, eight-inch mounted pachyderm that is also the first elephant born in captivity to be preserved. Bridgeport history buffs can delight in the museum’s second floor, which features several exhibits exploring the culture and industry of 19th-century Bridgeport. Located adjacent to the second-floor main gallery is a re-creation of the drawing room found in the iconic Harral-Wheeler mansion, which is considered to be one of the most famous examples of Gothic architecture and design in the United States. Heading up to the third floor, museum-goers can discover those 3,000 hand-crafted figurings and circus sets, one of the most outstanding carved circus models in the nation.&nbsp;

The Barnum Museum preserves and interprets the history of P.T. Barnum, an American showman and one of the founders of the iconic Barnum & Bailey Circus. Listed on the National Register of historic places and located in downtown Bridgeport, this three-story museum offers a variety of exhibits that share the history and mythology surrounding P.T. Barnum’s life and work. Visitors can browse a number of exhibits, including artifacts drawn from Barnum's personal collection and related to the history of the circus in the United States. The most popular feature offers a one-thousand square-foot miniature representation of a five-ring circus with 3,000 hand-crafted figurines. The museum is also home to several exhibits committed to preserving and illustrating Bridgeport’s industrial and social history. From the first floor’s gallery that ports visitors on a journey through Barnum’s multifaceted life to the third floor’s dedication to Barnum’s protégé, General Tom Thumb, the Barnum Museum takes museum-goers on a ride traversing Bridgeport’s history and the life and career of one of the most famous showmen in American history. 

The Barnum Museum

<h4>James O’Rourke and a Lifetime of Baseball</h4>
Born in 1850 to first-generation Irish immigrants in Bridgeport’s East End, James O’Rourke grew up on the family farm with his brothers, engaged in daily chores and, in his free time, building his lifelong devotion to the game sweeping the nation at that time: base-ball. By the age of 21, O’Rourke was signed with his first major league team, the Middleton Mansfields, and thus entering the one-year-old National Association. As the legend goes, however, O’Rourke’s mother wouldn’t let him sign due to the loss of essential help on the farm, and so Mansfields manager Ben Douglas found a farm hand, letting O’Rourke play.&nbsp;
The Mansfields garnered a season record of 5 wins to 19 losses in the National Association, and the team folded. Nonetheless, O’Rourke’s made a favorable impression in National Association circles, and he was signed to the Boston Red Stockings in 1872. Throughout several seasons, O’Rourke often stood near the top of the league in terms of hits and runs.
With the disbanding of the National Association and the birth of the National League in 1876, O’Rourke was signed to the Boston Red Caps with a salary of $1,600. Despite his Irish upbringing, which was stereotypically associated with violence and drunkenness, O’Rourke’s esteemed oratory skills began to grow during this time, providing the game with an unusual high-brow intellect, a disassociation with alcohol and tobacco, and a new face of the professional baseball player.
As an example of his oratory skills, while O’Rourke was captain and manager of the Buffalo Bisons during the 1881 season, he replied to shortstop Johnny Peters's request for a $10 advance by saying:
<blockquote>“The exigencies of the occasion and the condition of our exchequer will not permit anything of that sort at this period of our existence. Subsequent developments in the field of finance may remove the present gloom and we may emerge into a condition where we may see our way clear to reply in the affirmative to your exceedingly modest request.”</blockquote>
By 1885, during offseason with the New York Giants, O’Rourke enrolled in law school at Yale, from which he graduated in 1887. In 1892, O’Rourke had his last season with the major-league, but his association with baseball was far from over. In 1896, O’Rourke assembled eight Connecticut teams into the Naugatuck Valley League, and for eight seasons, O’Rourke played on the Bridgeport Victors’ lineup (the team changed the name to the Orators in 1898 in his honor). In 1902, he helped found the minor league National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues, while also serving as the Bridgeport fire commissioner from 1901 to 1903.&nbsp;
On September 14, 1912, as Connecticut State League president, O’Rourke put on the baseball pads for the final time, catching nine innings with the New Haven Wings in a game against Waterbury. He was 62 years old.1
<h4>Inscription on the Historical Marker</h4>
‘Orator Jim' O'Rourke, son of Irish immigrants, was a professional baseball player, scholar, and civil rights activist. The Bridgeport native had the first base hit in National League history on April 22, 1876. He played for eight different major league teams during 23 seasons; While a player for the New York Giants, the team paid for Jim to attend Yale Law School, from which he received his law degree in 1887. Noted for his command of language, Jim used his eloquence to entertain teammates and confound opponents.&nbsp;
In 1895, Jim helped to organize the Connecticut State League. He owned, managed and played catcher for several local teams. and hired Harry Herbert, Bridgeport's first African-American resident to play professional baseball. In 1898, Jim built a minor league stadium, Newfield Park, on his family's farmland in the city's East End; the site is still in use as a city park. At age 54, Jim caught a complete game for the New York Giants. He played in his final professional game in New Haven at age 62. His brother and son also played major league baseball.&nbsp;
James H. O’Rourke was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.&nbsp;
(South face)
<blockquote>“We have been given the best of support by the people of Bridgeport. They want a baseball team and I intend to give it to them.”</blockquote>
(North face)
<blockquote>“Baseball is for all creeds and nationalities.”2</blockquote>

James Henry O’Rourke is known as one of the most colorful, popular, and accomplished baseball players of the late-19th century. He is widely known for obtaining the first recorded base hit in National League history in 1876, and throughout his career, O’Rourke would play with eight different profession teams during 23 seasons. In addition to baseball, O’Rourke was a law graduate from the Yale Law School and known as an eloquent orator, which even led to his nickname, “Orator Jim.” 

By 1895, James O’Rourke helped organize the Connecticut State League, in which he owned and managed several teams. For one of these teams, O’Rourke hired Harry Herbert, Bridgeport’s first African-American resident to play professional baseball (as the son of Irish immigrants, a heavily disparaged community at that time, this was just one of his many contributions to the quelling of stereotypes in the sport of baseball). O’Rourke also built a minor league stadium, Newfield Park, in Bridgeport’s East End and made many other contributions to baseball in Bridgeport, New Haven, and throughout Connecticut (as well as the New England area). He played his last game with the New Haven Wings on September 14, 1912, at the age of 62.

Outside of Bridgeport Bluefish Stadium, a memorial to James O’Rourke shows the baseball pioneer making that first hit with the National League. Inscriptions around the memorial tell O’Rourke’s history with baseball; on its north face, O’Rourke’s most endearing quote is inscribed, reading, “Baseball is for all creeds and nationalities.”

James Henry O’Rourke Memorial

The Mary and Eliza houses are the last residences to endure the changes of the Park City over the years. These homes are located on the south-end of Bridgeport just past Seaside Park. This area was were the majority of free African Americans in Bridgeport took residence. This part of Bridgeport was also known as Ethiope. It was settled around 1828.&nbsp; &nbsp;Little Liberia was part of the Underground Railroad. The underground railroad was not under ground or a railroad. They were intricate locations all over the United states, Canada and other locations that gave fugitive slaves a place to hide and take shelter while they made their way to freedom.&nbsp; It was a very dangerous road to travel. There were still bounties out for runaway slaves and for the people who harbored them.&nbsp; Part of the Underground Railroad cut through Long Island Sound.&nbsp; Whalers and seaman would stash them on their boats across the sound into the south-end of Bridgeport. Mary and Eliza were the sisters that lived in this thriving community. The Alexander Duncan Hotel, used to reside next to Eliza Freeman’s house. It was one of the most prominent establishments of Little Liberia’s. It was a seaside resort for prosperous African Americans. Their brother Joel Freeman was a prominent member of the Black community. He was a witness to community marriages , assisted in financial acquisitions and also the executor of states of the deceased. Many of the people of this community were seaman and whalers. The residents of this small community were refugees and freed slaves from southern states and some of the area's native tribes. As of February 1999, their homes were added to the National Register of historical places.

Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses are the last two houses built by freed African American Slaves.  Free African-Americans founded a community in the city. When the railroad from New York to Bridgeport was completed the sisters purchased adjoining lots and constructed these homes. Mary was known as one of the wealthiest women in Bridgeport. They were the also the sisters of Joel Freeman a prominent African American who helped his community gain a foothold in the South-end of Bridgeport, Ct. also known as " Little Liberia" or "Ethiope".

Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses

&nbsp; Bridgeport is a notable city in history we have famous entertainers, politicians, military figures, and businessman. Seaside park&nbsp;originally was the hosting location for the 17th Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army, it was designed by a the famous architect&nbsp; Frederick Olmstead, and Calvert Vaux. It was an idea that was sparked after the war and contributors like P.T. Barnum had a hand in its development which is no surprise.&nbsp; Elias Howe Jr. helped established the 17th infantry and contributed a majority of his wealth to the cause. &nbsp;In 1867, after the Civil War, Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux were commissioned to design the park. Frederick was an early and important activist in the conservation movement. He&nbsp;served as a Private in Company D, of the Regimental Postmaster Corps. The 17th Connecticut Infantry Company D was organized on August 28, 1862, under the command of Col. William H. Noble. There is a statue of Elias Howe Jr. just past the front entrance of the park located on Howe Drive. The statue that was left at this site commemorated the fallen soldiers and sailors that helped to mold this country.&nbsp; Its all pieces to a puzzle, and every piece helped to shape our history. During the conservation movement, also known as the "nature conservation", parks and recreation were seen as important to our environment. P.T. Barnum a famous showman, politician, and devoted resident of the Park City was one of the many who saw the need for more parks due to the growing population.&nbsp;He ,among other contributors, gave their land to expand the site. Thomas Ball an American sculptor and musician sculpted Daniel Webster which is located in Central Park also sculpted P.T. Barnum's monument in 1893.

Seaside Park is a historical location in Bridgeport, Ct. It was the original training ground of the 17th Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. The 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was designed by famous architects Calvert Vaux, and  Fredrick Law Olmstead (designers of Central Park in New York City). Park of these 325-acres  were donated by the famous P.T. Barnum and other contributors. 

Historical Tour of Bridgeport, the Park City

Klein Memorial Auditorium

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information