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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Colorful Bridgeport
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260903T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260903T203000
DTSTAMP:20260922T092721
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SUMMARY:Bridgeport Baseball
DESCRIPTION:Bridgeport Baseball! The Great American Pastime in the Land of Orator O’Rourke. Free admission. Donations welcome in support of the Barnum Museum. \nBefore baseball became America’s national pastime\, it was a local game shaped in fields\, parks\, and neighborhoods—including right here in Bridgeport! \nJoin baseball historian and poet Michael Bielawa for a journey through the city’s rich baseball heritage\, from early post–Civil War clubs and East Side “muffin” teams to industrial leagues and the rise of professional play near P.T. Barnum’s Winter Headquarters. \nAs part of Connecticut’s America 250 celebration\, step into Bridgeport’s 19th-century fields\, parks\, and neighborhoods\, where baseball began as a local game and evolved into an enduring symbol of American identity. \nDiscover how Seaside Park and Bridgeport’s working neighborhoods helped fuel a new culture of recreation and community life – one that mirrored the rapid growth of baseball itself across nineteenth-century America. From early local clubs and factory teams to spirited neighborhood rivalries\, the game became woven into the daily life of the city. \nWithin this evolving landscape\, young players like Jim O’Rourke – one of baseball’s earliest stars and a National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee – emerged from local fields to help shape the sport’s earliest professional era. From amateur beginnings to national prominence\, Bridgeport offers a vivid window into the transformation of “baseball” into America’s game. \nThrough this rich local history\, Michael Bielawa reveals how Bridgeport became a microcosm of baseball’s evolution—and why its story belongs firmly within the larger narrative of the sport in America. \nPlease contact the Barnum Museum at info@barnum-museum.org or call 203-331-1104 for more information. https://ctvisit.com/events/bridgeport-baseball-great-american-pastime-land-orator-orourke \nFor more information about CT250 Events: https://ctvisit.com/ct250 Connecticut offers a vibrant mix of ways to join in the revelry of this profound milestone\, inviting residents and visitors to experience this state’s rich history and the people\, places\, and events that helped shape the nation.
URL:https://www.colorfulbridgeport.com/event/bridgeport-baseball/
LOCATION:The Barnum Museum\, 820 Main Street\, Bridgeport\, Connecticut\, 06604\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260820T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260820T203000
DTSTAMP:20260922T092721
CREATED:20260714T040545Z
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SUMMARY:Becoming Tom Thumb
DESCRIPTION:Becoming Tom Thumb: Charles Stratton\, P.T. Barnum\, and the Dawn of American Celebrity\nBarnum Museum\, 820 Main Street\, Bridgeport\, CT 06604\nFree admission (donations welcome in support of the Barnum Museum) \nThe remarkable rise of the world’s first global celebrity. \nJoin award-winning author Eric Lehman for a look at this extraordinary partnership. Long before film\, television\, or social media\, Barnum and Stratton created a cultural phenomenon that captivated audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and helped define celebrity as a powerful force in the rapidly emerging world of popular entertainment. \nAs part of Connecticut’s America 250 celebration\, explore how Bridgeport-born Charles Stratton – later famously known as General Tom Thumb – and Connecticut showman P.T. Barnum transformed entertainment and helped shape the modern concept of celebrity. \nDrawing from his acclaimed book Becoming Tom Thumb\, Lehman tells the story of Charles Stratton and the legendary showman who transformed him into an international sensation. From Barnum’s American Museum to the royal courts of Europe\, their partnership helped establish a new public fascination with fame\, performance\, and personality. Tom Thumb became a worldwide attraction\, charming presidents\, captivating royalty\, and drawing crowds wherever he appeared – demonstrating that modern celebrity was already taking shape in the nineteenth century. Lehman traces how Tom Thumb and P.T. Barnum redefined the boundaries of fame itself\, and how their story continues to resonate in contemporary culture. \nEric Lehman is the author or editor of twenty-three books. Becoming Tom Thumb received the Henry Russell Hitchcock Award and was selected by the American Library Association as one of the year’s outstanding university press books.
URL:https://www.colorfulbridgeport.com/event/becoming-tom-thumb/
LOCATION:The Barnum Museum\, 820 Main Street\, Bridgeport\, Connecticut\, 06604\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260716T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260716T203000
DTSTAMP:20260922T092721
CREATED:20260707T021649Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260714T040036Z
UID:10003059-1784226600-1784233800@www.colorfulbridgeport.com
SUMMARY:P.T. Barnum: Before the Circus\, Before the Fame\, Before the Legend
DESCRIPTION:Every legend has an origin story. As part of Connecticut’s America 250 celebration\, this program explores the childhood influences that helped transform a curious Connecticut boy into one of America’s most recognizable figures. \nBorn in Bethel\, Connecticut\, on July 5\, 1810\, Phineas Taylor Barnum spent his formative years in the small farming community that would help shape his imagination\, ambition\, and entrepreneurial spirit. Join the Barnum Museum and Bethel Town Historian Patrick Wild as we return to Barnum’s earliest years to explore the family\, people\, places\, and experiences that influenced the future showman. Through local stories\, historical records\, and insights into early nineteenth-century Bethel\, discover how the lessons Barnum learned as a boy – including the whimsical influence of his grandfather Phineas Taylor\, his earliest business ventures\, and his reverence for the democratic ideals of a young and emerging nation – helped lay the foundation for the man who would become America’s Greatest Showman and leave an enduring mark on American culture and entertainment. \nAdmission\nFree admission – Donations welcome in support of the Barnum Museum
URL:https://www.colorfulbridgeport.com/event/p-t-barnum-before-the-circus-before-the-fame-before-the-legend/
LOCATION:The Barnum Museum\, 820 Main Street\, Bridgeport\, Connecticut\, 06604\, United States
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