The lower areas of Bridgeport were mainly made up of freed slaves and runaways from the south. Some of the first to settle made up the family of the Freemans, getting their last name from being newly freed slaves. African Americans started to settle in the south east end of Bridgeport around the same time Bridgeport was forming in 1821.
The two houses known as the Freeman houses are located in Little Liberia, and are the oldest surviving homes built by African Americans in Connecticut. The Freeman sisters, Mary and Eliza, were born in Derby, Connecticut in 1805 and 1815, and they bought the land and built in 1848, but rented them out until they moved back in 1855 and 1861.
The two houses known as the Freeman houses are located in Little Liberia, and are the oldest surviving homes built by African Americans in Connecticut. The Freeman sisters, Mary and Eliza, were born in Derby, Connecticut in 1805 and 1815, and they bought the land and built in 1848, but rented them out until they moved back in 1855 and 1861.
The south east end of Bridgeport was so known as Little Liberia because of the concentration of blacks, and their identifying with the newly forming colony of Liberia. It was settled before 1848, when slavery was completely abolished in Connecticut. It was not common for blacks to settle in communities to further themselves socially and economically.
The community of Little Liberia first started to bloom with the formation of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. This was followed by a school for the colored children of the freed slave residents.
A story of a slave getting the respect he deserves … 200 years later.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/52996512#52996512
The community of Little Liberia first started to bloom with the formation of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. This was followed by a school for the colored children of the freed slave residents.
A story of a slave getting the respect he deserves … 200 years later.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/52996512#52996512