I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Undemocratic

democracy 2

SHS Happen-

ings continued 2

Dateline

Aug—Sept

1956

3

Been to Vegas 4

Four’s a

Charm 4

Officer Down 4

Starving in

Town 5

US Mail of

Yesteryear 5

SHS 75 Years

Ago 5

So You Think

You Know Stratford

6

So You Think

You Know Stratford

7

S T R A T F O R D H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y U P D A T E

CUPHEAG CORNER A U G U S T - S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1

M A R K T H E

D A T E S :

October 24th &

October 31st

“Strange Strat-

ford” bus tours,

1:30 & 4:00 from

Perry House.

October 31st

“Specters Galore

from Forest to

Shore” walking

tour.

Goody Bassett Ice

Cream Social,

Historical Society,

October 31st, 1-3.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY HAPPENINGS

Directors: Carole Fanslow Margo Paquette Stephanie Philips

John Sober

Historical Society Officers 2021-22

President Gail Liscio Vice President David Wright Treasurer Shirley Clevenger Recording Secretary Amanda DeBiase Corresponding Sec’tary Christine Duffy

Chairmanships: Building Committee Roger Salls Education Committee (Vacant) Finance Committee (Vacant) Gardens Committee Kevin Moore Governance Committee Barbara Firisin Grounds Committee Kevin Moore Hospitality Committee Pamela Hutchinson Host-Hostesses Committee Barbara Firisin Membership Committee Christine Duffy Newsletter Committee David Wright Programs Committee Gail Liscio Publicity Committee David Wright Research Committee Gina Pezzullo Statistics Committee Georgene Fasanella Ways & Means Committee (Vacant)

Th

e

Capt. David Judson House c.

1750

2021-22 Meeting

Calendar

Saturday November 13th 2pm

Sunday January 30th 2pm

Sunday March 27th 2pm

Sunday May 22nd 2pm

All meetings are free and open to the general public. Please bring a friend! Donations are gratefully

accepted.

nastasia Mills Healy is an award-winning travel writer formerly on staff at Condé

Nast Traveler, Fodor’s, and Travel Agent. She’s written for publica-tions including Time Out and From-mer’s and she’s a proud member of professional organizations including the Society of American Travel Writers. “Stasha” has been to 64 countries (goal is 100) and all 50 U.S. states. Stasha Healy has produced every type of communication imaginable including websites, marketing emails, ads, speeches, brochures, press releases, and annual reports. Her superpower is understanding an intention and carefully crafting the ideal message for the intended audience. She can also manage communica-tions: scheduling, sending, analyzing.

A Clients include major travel compa-nies, nonprofits, and small business-es. (Foregoing from Stasha’s web-site). Stasha is a world traveler, but she’s a relatively new resident of Connecticut. What Stasha learned early on was there was much about Connecticut that is “hidden in plain sight.” She’ll be sharing some of her many Connecticut discoveries dur-ing her presentation. Secret Connecticut: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Ob-scure tells 84 surprising stories such as the Connecticut residents who were president before George Washington, flew before the Wright brothers, and inspired the character of Indiana Jones; where you can go on safari or race a chariot; and how we ended up with America’s small-est Native American reservation.

SEPTEMBER’S GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Saturday, September 25th, 2:00 pm, Stratford Library, 2203 Main Street

Anastasia Mills Healy (photography by Annie Watson) author of Secret

Connecticut.

________________________________

◊ ____________________________

"Even if all that has come down to us by report from the past should be true and known by someone, it would be less than

nothing compared with what is unknown … How puny and limited is the knowledge of even the most curious!”

Michel de Montaigne, 1585 ________________________________

◊ ____________________________

Ice Cream Social October 31st.

(“Spooky” ice cream photo from

www.biggerbolderbaking.com).

Historical Society Happenings

continue on page 2.

P A G E 2

T H E C U P H E A G C O R N E R V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1 T H E C U P H E A G C O R N E R

UNDEMOCRATIC TOWN DEMOCRACY

V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1

Prior to 2005, Stratford’s town motto had been: Strat-ford. A Town for all Sea-sons. Traces of the former motto can still be located around town. Some residents, tongue-in-cheek, contrived a derivation on that theme which was: “Stratford. A Town for No Reason.” In 1921, for many town residents, Stratford was, indeed, a town for no reason. Opinions on the future of town were basically divided between four schools of thought: 1) merge with Bridge-port because taxes were too high and services provided for the taxes paid were too mea-ger; 2) create a new town charter which would bring Stratford’s government into the 20th century; 3) merge with Bridgeport because it would be much more condu-cive to commerce; and, 4) do nothing because Stratford was just fine the way it was. To understand where Strat-ford stood in 1921 it’s im-portant to understand that all town business was conducted via a New England style town meeting. Stratford’s town hall could only accommodate about 200 attendees. This type of town meeting served Stratford fairly well as long as Stratford was a town of few residents. However, in 1921, Stratford’s population was approaching 15,000 residents and popula-tion growth was explosive. Additionally, Stratford wom-en had never been welcomed to town meetings. Town

meetings were largely the province of the men in town. Town meetings were usually filled with those who arrived early to vote against anything that did not suit the personal interests of the attendees. Speeches given during town meetings frequently droned on endlessly often completely unrelated to matters at hand. Some of the younger men just returned from the war, along with some of their el-ders, realized that most Strat-ford residents no longer had a voice in their town’s govern-ance. Donald and Frank Sam-mis, along with other Stratford men who wished to have Strat-ford continue to exist as a town separate from Bridge-port, crafted a new town char-ter featuring, among many other things, a Council-Manager form of government. Donald Sammis had done a great deal of research on the subject of town governance and found that a Council-Manager government form was succeeding very well for very many towns in many parts of America. Open, local meetings were held all over town to discuss the proposed charter. The meetings began in 1920 and continued on through 1921. Most Stratford residents real-ized something had to change in Stratford’s government and had to change soon. During 1921 alone, a pro-posed tax to buy a new fire truck, to aid the starving poor in town, to pay the school

teachers, and to hold a town election on the proposed char-ter were all voted down by the early arriving naysayers at the town meetings. There had been two large fires in town during 1921, including the Cen-ter School fire, yet, those at-tending the town meetings where a tax was proposed to buy a functional fire truck saw the naysayers defeat the pro-posal for a tax increase. Stratford’s proposed charter was revolutionary in that it allowed for a recall vote on town council members and proposed that women have an equal say in town government and elective offices. (We have posted a complete copy of the 1921 Town Charter on the home page of our newsletter website along with the opin-ions of many living in town at the time as to the need for the new charter). Leading up to the vote on the charter, no one new what the outcome would be. Many thought the vote would fail. No one could predict how the newly enfranchised women would vote. As it turned out, the women overwhelmingly voted to preserve Stratford as an independent town and to clear from office all those men who were making life in Strat-ford undemocratic and unrep-resentative. It would take a recall election, the first of its type in Connecticut, to finish transforming Stratford’s gov-ernment.

Town Meeting in the old

town hall. The Bridge-

port Herald, July 10,

1921.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY HAPPENINGS Continued from Page 1

We have many activities coming up over the next sev-eral weeks. We have one more Lighthouse Open House scheduled for Saturday, Sep-tember 18th at 1pm. Mary Ann Vlahac and the Town’s Economic Develop-ment Department will be host-ing “Strange Stratford Bus Tours” on Sunday October 24th and October 31st. The cost for the bus tours will be $15 and the proceeds will be donated to the Historical Soci-

ety, the Perry House and the Friends of Boothe Park. On Sunday, October 31st, the Historical Society will be sponsoring a Goody Bassett Ice Cream Social. You may decorate your ice cream with candy “creepy crawlies” and learn more of Stratford’s two accused witches. At 1pm and 3pm on Octo-ber 31st the Historical Society will be sponsoring “Specters Galore from Forest to Shore.” The program will begin at the museum with a brief slide show of some of

Stratford’s most haunted plac-es followed by a walking tour of the “haunted” houses in the neighborhood surrounding the Judson House. On Saturday, November 13th, we will be observing the centennial of today’s Washing-ton Bridge. The bridge opened to traffic in November of 1921 and a large parade proceeded from Devon, across the Wash-ington Bridge, south on Main Street, and terminated at Academy Hill. Join us as we reflect on 100 years of the fifth Washington Bridge.

Specters and More From

Forest to Shore Walking

Tour, October 31st.

The Bridgeport Farmer,

March 21, 1921.

Interior of Town Hall c

1910.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1

Stratford Theater c 1934

NOW SHOWING AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1956

You may view a slideshow of

our collection of newspaper pho-

tos from August and September

of 1956 on the home page of our

newsletter website:

www.stratfordhistoricalsociety

.info.

August 5th Trapeze Gina Lollobrigida, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis

August 12th Rawhide Years Tony Curtis, Colleen Miller, Arthur Kennedy

August 19th The King & I Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner

August 26th Moby Dick Gregory Peck, Richard Basehard, Leo Genn

September 2nd The Fastest Gun Alive Glenn Ford, Jeanne Crain, Broderick Crawford

September 9th Away All Boats Jeff Chandler, Julie Adams, George Nader

September 16th The Proud and Profane William Holden, Deborah Kerr

September 23rd The Burning Hills Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood

September 30th High Society Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra

DATELINE STRATFORD AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1956

Longbrook Tournament Day. Ed Shivel running the bases. From the Stratford News, August 23,

1956.

David Wooster Junior High first day of school 1956. From The Stratford News, September 6,

1956.

Holy Name of Jesus girls’ softball team. From The Stratford News, September 6, 1956.

Stratford Ordinance Committee in session. From The Stratford

News, August 30, 1956.

The Stratford News August 2, 1956

The Changing Scene Around Town

At various points around town, the thruway construction has changed the quiet atmosphere to a mass of bang-ing noises. Trucks are transporting all sorts of materials. Men are digging, welding, erecting bridges, in order to complete this roadway. It’s going to take time, but soon the scene will change.

The Stratford News

August 16, 1956 Town Passes Pin-ball Law

An ordinance regulating pin ball machines and other mechanical amusement devices, and prohibiting persons under 16 years of age or younger from playing them unless accompanied by their parents was adopted Monday night by the Town Council. The ordinance had been proposed by the police Department last fall.

The Stratford News

August 23, 1956 Longbrook Park 1956 Champs in Recreational Competition

The town championship banner was awarded Longbrook Park Playground at Tournament Day exercises, marking the closing of the 1956 summer town recreational program. Second honors went to the playground children from Lordship and third place to Nichols Ave., the 1955 champion. Town Manager Harry B. Flood and Recreation supervisor James Penders presented the awards.

Sunday Herald August 26, 1956

Houseman Gets 3-Year Pact at ‘Shakespeare’

John Houseman has been offered a three-year contract as full-time artistic director of the American Shakespeare Festival Theater and Academy, it was learned yesterday.

Houseman, director of this Sum-mer’s Festival at the Stratford-on-Housatonic theater, will oversee both the acting company and the school for training young Shakespearean per-formers on a year-round basis.

Sunday Herald

September 2, 1956 Refugee from Russian Terror Starts New Life in Stratford

A White Russian refugee from red Soviet terror, now living in Stratford, had a tearful but happy family reunion this week. Vladimire V. Yurkevitch, who served as an officer in the White Russian Army during the civil war there, brought back from New York four smiling faces to his home at 496 Sec-ond Av. on Aug. 25. . . .A many faceted individual, Yurkevitch, now a laboratory technician at Vitramon, Inc., a manufacturer of electrical equipment in Long Hill, says he always “wished to come to Ameri-ca. In Europe, we heard such wonder-ful stories about the opportunities offered here.”

The Stratford News September 13, 1956

Crowd of 1,000 Watch Ground Breaking at Holy Name

More than 1,000 people watched ground breaking ceremonies Sunday for the eight-room elementary parochi-al school in the Holy Name of Jesus Church yard. The first shovelful of dirt was turned by the Most Rev. Lawrence J. Shehan, Bishop of Bridgeport, after blessing the ground upon which the school will be built.

The Stratford News September 20, 1956

Connecticut Yankees Visit Television City

CBS television played host to the “Connecticut Yankees,” Drum & Bugle Corps of the Anderson-Dunn-Hotchkiss American Legion Post 42, when they toured Television City, world’s largest single television plant, during the American Legion Conven-tion in Hollywood.

The Stratford News September 20, 1956

Curfew Law Hearing is Octo-ber 1

A curfew ordinance prohibiting a person under 16 years of age from being on the streets after 11 p.m. unless accompanied by a responsible adult was adopted this week by the Town Council for its first reading and a public hearing was arranged. The Council action came despite an opinion of Assistant Town Attorney Theodore I. Koskoff that such legisla-tion is illegal unless the Council is willing to declare that an emergency exists in which the Police Department is unable to cope with the situation. “I do not believe such a condition exists,” he said.

Sunday Herald September 23, 1956

Clearwater Defeats Cardinals by 2 to 1

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The Clear-water, Fla., Bombers, who lost in the finals last year, handed the defending champion Raybestos Cardinals their first defeat in the 1956 World soft-ball title tournament by a 2-1 score last night. ...The Cardinals will play again today against the winner of the Auro-ra, Ill., Sealmasters vs. Springfield, Mo., News Leader Parrots game last night, which followed the Cardinal contest.

P A G E 4

T H E C U P H E A G C O R N E R V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1

Josephine Salerno

T H E C U P H E A G C O R N E R

“BEEN TO VEGAS”

V O L

my performance of “Twelfth Night.” The student performance was given for the benefit of actors in the regular company, the staff and members of the Ladies Guild. Many attending the guild's 15th annual party for the staff and cast expressed surprise upon seeing the head on its ac­customed place. Police said it was irreplaceable and no monetary value could be given. Katherine Hepburn had starred in Shakespear's [sic] “Merchant of Venice” and many other pro-ductions at the theater over the years. A museum of costumes she has worn in past performanc-es is nearby.

the American Shakespeare Festi-val Theater Friday. The bust of the star, who once reigned as Queen of the Nile in Shaw's "Antony and Cleopatra," had mysteriousty [sic] disap­peared from its niche in the thea-ter lobby about a week ego. An unidentified person, belived [sic] by witnesses to be an actor, walked into the lobby with the sculpture under his trench coat. The bust was returned to its niche wearing a sign which read, “I’ve been to Vegas.” A spokes-man said the nose was chipped and the head was loose. Minutes before, the missing work of art had been the topic of conversation among members of the theater staff before an acade-

Over the years, some really valuable artifacts have gone missing from the town: “Kate’s (Katharine Hepburn) Cottage” for one. It’s never clear how these artifacts disappear, or why. However, even for Strat-ford, this Hartford Courant news item is especially curious. As far as we can determine, this news item appeared in no local Stratford or Bridgeport newspapers.

The Hartford Courant August 28, 1971

Stolen Bust of Hepburn Back in Theater Niche

STRATFORD - Katherine Hep-burn, cast as Cleopatra (in bronze), returned to the lobby of

IF THREE’S A CHARM, WHAT’S FOUR? are very proud over the event. They can now boast of a larger population and they think that it will add to the glory of the town to have it spread broadcast over the country that four children have been born at one birth in its limits. Mr. Stickles is proud of his little ones, and while he may not be well supplied with this world's goods he will do his best to raise the quadruplets and hopes that the number will not be increased at the next birth. His farm is certainly fruitful in raising a family if not in raising vegetables. Sadly, Mrs. Stickles, and one of the quadruplets, did not survive.

children instead of one made their appearance in the Stickles home. Even this did not disheart-en the proud father but when they came four at a time he began to figure how long he stand that racket on the income from his farm. Friday his wife gave birth to four little ones, three of which are girls and one a boy. The largest child weighed seven pounds. The smallest five, and the total weight of the four is twenty-four pounds. The children and mother were reported to be doing well last night and Dr. Lewis, the attending physician, thinks that he will have no difficulty in saving the mother and the little Stickles. The old residents of Stratford

Bridgeport Herald August 30, 1896 Four of a Kind

O. H. Stickles is a very success-ful farmer who resides on Clap-board hill, in the quiet town of Stratford, and is not only raising large crops but a large family as well, and if the family continues to increase in the future as rapid-ly as it has in the past, he will be compelled to try his hand at raising mortgages on the farm to keep the little Stickles that contin-ue to come into his family. If they come one by one the fanner might be able to stand it, but they do not come singly. The first three did, but when the time for the fourth increase in the family came around two

OFFICER DOWN AUGUST 1946

Bust of Katharine Hep-burn in Cleopatra cos-

tume. Photo from http://www.acgart.gr/ACG-

COLLECTION/ARTISTS/R/RicF/RicF1960cleo.htm

Bridgeport Herald, August 30,

1896

William Schreiber.

Photo from Officer Down Me-

morial Page.

Off icer Schreiber was wounded July 15, 1946 while attempting to arrest burglary suspects at Domenick’s Res-taurant, 140 Boston Avenue.

The Stratford News August 2, 1946

Patrolman Schreiber Dies Of Wound—Funeral To Be Held In St. James'

Church Saturday Complications attacked Patrol-man. William F. Schreiber over last week­end and he died in Bridgeport Hospi­tal at 2 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. His funeral services are to be

held Saturday morning. The three men arrested on July 15, following the burglary of Domenick's Grill whcih [sic] led to the shooting of Officer Schreiber, were arraigned in the Stratford Town Court at noon on Thursday, formally charged with murder in the first de­gree and remanded to the county jail in Bridgeport without bail. A week ago Mr. Schreiber seemed to be on the road to recovery from his dangerous wound, barring complications. The complications which came involved the lungs and kidneys. For two days before his demise

on Wednesday his condition was regarded as serious. ...Officer Schreiber was an alumnus of Harding High School and of Ohio University. He was an excellent football and baseball player...He was appointed a patrolman on April 2, 1942, and was absent in the Navy from August 10, 1943, to August 18, 1945, being a petty officer 1/C. Officer Schreiber's estate will derive a substantial sum from the workmen's compensation insur-ance policies which the town carries. Underwriters estimated roughly yesterday that such com-pensation may reach $6,000.

The Bridgeport Evening Farmer

August 11, 1921

WHAT IT COST TO SEND

MAIL IN OLDEN DAYS

If you are one of the people who

look up from your bank book and then

begin to talk about the “good old

days” when a dollar was still worth a

dollar and a square meal could be

bought for a quarter [sic], if you read

in the papers a few days ago that

Congress is contemplating raising the

price of stamps to three cents instead

of two, you probably became rather

indignant at the idea. But consider the

history of stamps for a minute.

In those same far-famed good old

days of low prices, at the time when

your grandad was penning love letters

to grandma, it cost him ten cents for

each letter if it had to travel over

300 miles and three cents if it went

less than that distance. Until 1860

nothing but letters and printed mat­

ter were transported by the post

office and as late as 1863 there

were only 49 cities in the country

which had free delivery.

Some letters were recently found

in Stratford in an old house that was

being cleaned. They dated from

early in the last century to about

1840 and showed very well how let­

ters were sent in those days. No

envelope was used, the writing paper

being folded in such a way that the

outer face was left blank for the

address, and then sealing wax was

placed on it to keep it closed. There

were no stamps then, in fact prepay­

ment by means of stamps did not

come into use here until 1856. In­

stead the letter was carried to the

post office, usually only one in a city,

and there it was paid for according

to the distance it had to go. From

Stratford to New Haven cost 10

cents and from New Haven to

Charlestown, S. C., required a 25

cent fee. These prices gradually

were lowered as the department

developed and as the transportation

facilities of the country improved, but

it was not until 1883 that the uni-

form rate of two cents for a letter

any place within the United States

went into use.

As it was agreed that this mon-ey would not be accepted unless the drive was a success this amount will have to be refunded. The only hope for the town poor is that the selectmen will meet in special session and levy an addi-tional tax of one mill to cover the emergency. All during the winter the selectmen have been doing all in their power, and it seems probable that this action will be taken to relieve the suffering. From certain quarters there has been [sic] complaint upon the part of a select few because Stratford got such “shameful publicity.” The truth was spread about in hopes that the wealthy and healthy would help the needy...

predicament for some days, at least. The charity commission that undertook to handle the situ­ation, which is critical, re­gardless of reports to the contrary, have about decided to throw up the sponge. Hopes that a fund of $20,000 to take care of the situation could be raised by voluntary subscrip-tion from those of the town able to give without depriving them-selves of food and shelter, have been shattered. The charity commission met in executive session last evening, and found each other to be a discouraged and disgusted lot. Efforts to date have brought forth about $5,200, just about a fourth of the amount needed.

Following the end of World War I, war production ceased leading to plant closings and many layoffs. Dozens of fami-lies in Stratford were effected leaving hungry children who alternated school attendance and daily food consumption with their siblings. We have published all of the articles related to these poor families and posted them to our news-letter website.

The Bridgeport Times May 20, 1921

There are 485 people in Strat-ford today, without funds, without means of support, and without food, and it begins to look as though they will remain in that

Stratford school youngsters enjoying a lunch of milk and sandwiches which is served every day. Photo from The

Bridgeport Times, May 19, 1921.

485 STRATFORD PEOPLE WITHOUT MONEY OR FOOD P A G E 5 V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1

poles into a travois for transporta-tion before the paleface came out of the rising sun and put the curse of the horse and wagon on him. The general topic for the evening announced by Mrs. Georgiana T. Greeley, chairman of the program committee, is I Remember When. Mrs. Frank R. Sammis, curator of the society, has a very distinct re­membrance of those days when bags were manufactured here (about the time that the Rev. Dr. Burchard unwittingly made certain the election of Grover Cleveland as president) and will tell about that important small industry. Mrs. Vanderbilt will read published com-

ments about the old names of Strat-ford streets. William Howard Wilcoxson, gen-eral historian of Stratford by consen-sus, will hark back to the days when the Housatonic River was free and will brief the history of the shad industry here before man killed it by throwing dams across the stream. A special exhibit of articles made of mother of pearl will be arranged in the General Hawley Room for the meeting. Officers will be elected after the report of the Nominating Commit-tee, of which James A. Mallett is chairman. Annual reports will be made by

STRATFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY 75 YEARS AGO

WHAT IT COST TO SEND MAIL IN THE “OLDEN DAYS”

Stratford’s Post Office 1803-1857

as rendered by Edward Lamson

Henry c 1860.

the president and the several other officers, and by the committee chair-men: Donald S. Sammis, Mrs. Harry A. Burnes and Mrs. Frank H. Fargo, vice presidents; Miss Cornelia B. Thompson, recording secretary; Miss Harriet B. Blakeman, corresponding secretary, and John W. Richardson, treasurer. Chairmen—Mrs. Robert N. Brock-way, Membership; Mrs. John W. Richardson, Publicity; Mrs. Harold C. Lovell and Mrs. Roy C. Sanborn, Hospitality; Mrs. Frank R. Sammis, and Mrs. Maynard S. Wallace, House.

The Stratford News September 20, 1946

Musty Tomes Being Searched Ahead Of Histori-

ans' Meeting Atomic bombs, robot airplanes, inter-planetary rockets and other modern pests will be ignored when the Stratford Historical Society holds its annual meeting in Judson House on Academy Hill Friday evening of next week. President Merritt D. Vanderbilt will guide his fellow-historians into the past ages of the horse and buggy and other present curiosities — per­haps into the days when the con-tented Amerind lashed a couple of

The article shown below was

published in the August 30th,

1956 edition of The Stratford

News. The challenge issued in

the article was for readers to try

and guess the location of each of

the featured Stratford scenes.

Some of these scenes are fairly

obvious. Some are much more

obscure. We thought it would be

fun for those of you with long

Stratford memories to challenge

yourselves with these scenes. The

answers are on page 7. Howev-

er, it would be no challenge at all

if we just gave you the answers,

so we printed the answers upside

down and backwards. You’ll

need to hold page 7 up to a mir-

ror to reveal all seven answers.

Good luck.

SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW STRATFORD... P A G E 6 V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1

The Stratford News August 30, 1956

Here are a few scenes at random around town of familiar and well known spots and land marks. See. how many you may recognize. Admittedly, they are shot from odd, intriguing angles, but they all have been with us for quite some time. There are no prizes to go with suc-cess, but it may be fun for you to see if you can guess more, than your neighbor. The answers are printed upside down (and backwards, on page 7,) to make it harder for you to peek.

1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

Of course, what fun would it be

if we didn’t attempt to replicate

the scenes on page 6 with the

same scene as it appears today.

As best we could, we photo-

graphed page 6’s scenes from the

same angle today. Then, just to

make these contemporary scenes

correlate as best we could with

their historic image from page 6,

we transformed the current pho-

tos into black and white newspa-

per prints. Taking some of these

photos, today, was particularly

challenging since some of the

buildings shown on page 6 no

longer exist.

SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW STRATFORD... P A G E 7 V O L U M E I V , I S S U E 1

1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

7. ANSWERS

1. The rear wall of the westbound

railroad station looking west.

2. Granite Pulpit in the Sunken

Garden at Boothe Memorial

Park.

3. Flagpole on the front wall of the

Post Office (today’s Ole Dog

Tavern).

4. Stained-glass window of the First

Methodist Church facing Main St.

5. The Honor Roll board in front of

the Town Hall from the Town

Hall steps.

6. The outside balcony of the

Shakespeare Theater.

7. Entrance to High School Gymna-

sium on King St.

967 Academy Hill Rd

P.O. Box 382

Stratford, CT 06615

Phone: (203) 378-0630

Fax: (203) 378-2562

E-mail: Judsonhousestfd@aol.com

newsletters@stratfordhistoricalsociety.info

Stratford Historical Society

Our mission is to preserve, protect, cherish, and celebrate the history of the Town of Stratford.

www.stratfordhistoricalsociety.org

hose of you night owls who were able to stay awake for The Late Show, or

you insomniacs, no doubt recall David Letterman’s Top 10 lists. Letterman’s top tens were regularly reported on by other media sources as well. Letterman has sauntered off into retirement, but it occurred to us that it might be education-al to create some Stratford Top 10 lists. For instance, what are the Top 10 Stratford political events? "President (Timothy) Dwight (of Yale and William Samuel Johnson colleague), in 1789, writes: Stratford is better built than either Fairfield or Norwalk...The inhabitants have long been agitated by religious and political controver-sies.”

Number 4 is a very strange story of a 1955 police “sex scandal” which nearly cost Town Manager, Harry Flood, his job. This is a story of Stratford town politics at their most abject. On September 22, 1955, the following story appeared on the front page of The Stratford News.

PROBE GIRL'S SEX CHARGES LEVELED AGAINST POLICEMEN

T “Town police officials this week have been investigating a complaint by a 16-year-old Pennsylvania girl charging that several mem-bers of the police force had intimate relations with her while she was visiting here this past summer...Also involved in the case is a 16-year-old Stratford girl who is also said to have been intimate with several Stratford police officers.” That story was bad enough, but it got worse; 1956 was an election year. The Town Council had been decidedly Repub-lican for generations. The town Demo-cratic party sensed an opportunity to paint the Republicans in a bad light by accusing them of not desiring a proper “peoples” investigation into the police officer’s misconduct. Sadly, Town Manager, Harry Flood, being a member of the town’s Republican party, became the convenient target on which to pin the police investigation’s lack of transparency. Harry Flood was loved and respected by nearly everyone in town. He’d served the town well in many capacities through the years and was undeserving of the brow beating he received from those

THE STRATFORD TOP 10

To view past editions of our UPDATE newsletter, and/or to view current as well as historical photo slide shows and videos, visit

www.stratfordhistoricalsociety.info.

seeking to find fault with the police inves-tigation. Ultimately, the Democrats dismissed Harry. Harry refused to vacate his town manager office. Ultimately, the case went to the State Supreme Court and Harry was vindicated, but not before most of Connecticut was made aware of the dis-pute.