Take a Turn Through Little Liberia:
A Collaboration with the Housatonic Museum of Art. Bridgeport, CT
Drawings on paper and digital drawing
Winter 2021

"Take a Turn Through Little Liberia" was created by the HMA Peer Docent Program with students from Beardsley School, Geraldine Johnson School and John Winthrop School with Artist in Residence, Paula Frisch. Support provided by the Werth Family Foundation and Housatonic Community College Foundation.

This project was organized through the Housatonic Museum of Art in Bridgeport, CT.  In the mid 1800's there lived a thriving community of Free Blacks and Native Americans in what is now known as Bridgeport's South End. It was called Little Liberia. Only two houses from that period remain standing. They were owned by Mary and Eliza Freeman, sisters and business women. Those structures have become the focus of renewed energy to raise awareness for the rich history of the area. This map and matching banners highlight specific people and places from Little Liberia's most active period.

The Peer Docent program focused on a curriculum of local history along with 19th century fashion and architecture. Students imagined what it might have looked like to walk down those streets. They designed outfits and buildings based on what is known about the layout Little Liberia. Their drawings were digitized and combined to create a walking map and 10 banners which are installed on lampposts in downtown Bridgeport, beginning Spring 2021. For more information about HMA www.HousatonicMuseum.org