Browse Items (908 total)

As a signer of the Constitution and as first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton’s signature carried particular weight. A prolific writer, Hamilton constantly wrote letters, composing on a portable desk when he travelled. Some of his…

Architect Cameron Clark kept these framed photographs of Ronald Reagan’s visit to Fairfield’s Town Green during the election season of 1984. The upper photograph was autographed by Ronald Reagan.

A highly-educated lawyer and colonial leader, Ludlow’s signature marked key documents, including the land purchases that established the towns of Fairfield and Norwalk. His highly ornamented signature has led later generations to puzzle over whether…

Artist Liz Squillace transformed the Broad Street steps from Elm Street to Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport into a brightly-colored mural. The pattern represents a strand of DNA, reflecting the city of Bridgeport and our shared humanity. The work…

Wooden school desks have long been a favorite place to carve one’s initials or secret messages, showing the next generation of students that “I was here.”

This is the headstone of Sarah Burr, who died in 1723 at the age of 16. Her father Peter Burr died a year after her, and his headstone is nearly identical, standing in the Old Burying Ground near the Museum’s driveway. Symbols used in headstones…

Part of a rock outcrop located near King’s Highway,
this ledge was a favorite playing spot for Southport
boys in the mid-19th century. Between 1857 and
1863, the field was known as “The Boys’ Lot” and
the rock as “The Boys’ Rock.” The boys carved…

Instead of dropping a text or leaving a voicemail,
people in the 19th century often left a card after a
social visit, to express condolences, or to convey
thanks. These cards were literally a way to say:
“I was here.” If the recipient was not…

This family register displayed a record of birth,
marriage, and death, serving as a record of the cycle
of life for the Jennings-Howell family of Southport.
The print would have been mass produced, very
often part of a family Bible, and the…

Abigail Nichols of Fairfield worked this linen
sampler when she was 9 years old, embroidering
several alphabets as well as numbers, and the
17th-century verse:
“Our days begin with trouble here
Our life is but a span
And cruel death is always…