Why Bridgeport?
A cold rainy night proved perfect for a lesson on Bridgeport.
Eric Lehman is the Director of Composition at the University of Bridgeport.
His latest book, Bridgeport, Tales from the Park City, was the topic of discussion at the Barnum Museum on Monday Night.
Why Bridgeport? Lehman explained it began with those green birds. You know, the Monk Parakeets. When he moved here from Pennsylvania he didn’t know very much about Bridgeport, but when he began to do some research about the squawkers, he became fascinated by all the stories he was finding.
He figured he could write 10-12-20 different stories about the colorful city, and that’s what he did.
Tales from the Park City is written in a narrative style and tells stories ranging from Tom Thumb to the famous Frisbie Pie Company to… phonographs? The Columbia Phonograph Company was on Barnum Avenue — A Bridgeport tidbit I never knew!
Here’s another one: The birth of Dental Hygiene–yes, clean teeth were born in Bridgeport. It was the thought of Dr. Alfred Fones — “Why not stop the decay in teeth before it’s started, rather than acting as an undertaker.” During WWI that the first dental hygiene class was held, and Irene Newman became the first dental hygenist.
(Dr. Alfred Fones)
These and many other stories drive the hopes of Author Eric Lehman that he has added something to the history of Bridgeport by his having written them.
(Eric D. Lehman)
“Who knows what the 21st Century will bring to Bridgeport?”
“It will be written by generations to come!”
