President’s Week Programs Planned At Barnum Museum

BRIDGEPORT — During President’s Week, The Barnum Museum will be open all week long, including Monday, February 21, offering featuring three floors of fascinating exhibits that illustrate the extraordinary life of Phineas Taylor Barnum.

“William Brinley’s Amazing, All-New Miniature Circus and Wild West Show” is on display on the museum’s first floor, in the People’s Bank Gallery. The exhibition features 5,000 painstakingly hand-carved figures and circus equipment, covering 1,100 square feet. The holiday week is a perfect time to take in this extraordinary exhibit.

In addition, the museum features hands-on crafts and circus-related activities for children, included for the price of admission.

In recognition of Black History month, the museum will host a special lecture on Wednesday, February 23, at noon. Gerald Parks, the GE manager of fair employment practices, will lecture about the 19th Century African-American inventor and Bridgeport resident Lewis Latimer.

Mr Latimer was the son of freed slaves who taught himself drafting, electrical engineering, foreign languages, and a number of musical instruments. He helped Alexander Graham Bell patent the telephone and invented, among other things, a long-life filament that improved Thomas Edison’s practical light bulb.

Mr Latimer also wrote poetry and plays, painted portraits, and taught German immigrants English.

While Mr Latimer is best known for his work with electricity, he also invented other devices including a toilet for railway cars and an early air conditioner.

The lecture is included with museum admission (or free for those who will be attending the lecture only) and all attendees will receive a coupon for 10 percent off any gift shop purchase made on the day of the lecture. Guests may bring their lunch; complimentary coffee and tea will be provided.

The Barnum Museum, at 820 Main Street in Bridgeport, can be reached by calling 203-331-1104. The museum is handicapped accessible.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 4:30 pm; and Sunday, noon to 4:30.

Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and college students, $3 for younger students, and free for ages 4 and under.