The Little Liberia Bridgeport Project

It is no surprise that Ethiope, a thriving African American Community in Bridgeport made the decision to call itself “Little Liberia” in 1848. About a year earlier, on July 26^th 1847, Liberia declared its independence and became the first sovereign nation founded by freed African slaves on the African continent. These were exciting times for people of color all over the Americas and the Caribbean. The possibilities were endless. Black led nations, first Haiti and now Liberia, represented the hopes and aspirations of people of color everywhere. This was especially true for this small Connecticut community, no stranger to the freedom movement. Jehudi Ashmun the first governor of Liberia was from New Haven,Connecticut. Eight years earlier the captured Africans, Cinque and his band from Africa had been acquitted of mutiny on the Amistad, again in New Haven. There were whispers that the Underground Railroad had established routes right through this community although no one would affirm or deny.

The sea working in cahoots with the slave traders had facilitated the forcible transportation of millions of Africans, generations of men, women and children to these shores. Now with bloodlines from all over Africa, this community, a mixture of freed slaves and newly arrived Africans made their living from the sea. A different kind of freedom drew them here; financial freedom. Homes, schools, businesses, churches, and even the first public library in Bridgeport provided evidence that given the chance to reach their God-given potential these people could flourish like all men for all men are created equal.

Mary and Eliza Freeman, two sisters with no ambitions for fame were part of this community. They were free-born sisters from Derby Connecticut who became successful landowners and later purchased adjoining properties in the “Little Liberia” community in Bridgeport. They worked in New York City and used their homes as rental properties. Mary bought out Eliza’s heir’s interests in her properties after her death and went on to purchase many other properties and amassed a fortune in the process.

Like all of us, Mary and Eliza Freeman just wanted a good life where they could thrive, prosper and make the best of their talents. These were ordinary women who were extraordinary in that they unwittingly left a legacy that now keeps the light of that community flickering after over 150 years. It is said that after Phineas Taylor Barnum of PT Barnum fame, Mary Freeman was the second wealthiest person in the city of Bridgeport.

One hundred and sixty four years later and four years after another momentous event in African American History, the historic election of Barack Obama,  another generation of the African Diaspora represented by descendants of that “Little Liberia” community, the Caribbean, Liberia, The Congo, Cote D’Ivoire to name a few have banded together to fan the flames from the embers left by Mary and Eliza Freeman. This time however, in a country led by an African American President and under the auspicious leadership of the ABCD Corp and Ms. Maisa Tisdale these ordinary people have launched the Little Liberia Project.