Remembering Bridgeport’s “Little Liberia," and the impact of Conn.'s tobacco industry on the great migration

By James Szkobel-Wolff,

Zshekinah Collier, Khalilah Brown-Dean, Catie Talarski

Published February 2, 2022 at 12:31 PM EST

A group of prominent Black residents of Little Liberia in Bridgeport, Connecticut, pose for a photo on the steps of one of their homes.

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Residents of Little Liberia in the South End of Bridgeport, CT. Courtesy of The Mary and Eliza Freeman Center.

The Mary and Eliza Freeman Center

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The second panel of the Martin Luther King in Connecticut Memorial on display at the Simsbury Free Library.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

This Episode Originally Aired on June 9th, 2021

February is Black History Month in America. To celebrate, we revisit an episode on Black history from last year.

It may not be well known that by the American Revolution, Connecticut had the largest number of slaves of all the New England states. In fact, slavery in Connecticut did not officially end until 1848 – the last state in New England to do so.

This week on Disrupted, the forgotten story of the free city of "Little Liberia". And how Connecticut tobacco farming impacted a young Martin Luther King Jr.

GUESTS:

Maisa L. Tisdale: President and CEO of the Mary & Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community.
Dr. Stacey Close: Associate Provost and Vice President of Equity and Diversity at Eastern Connecticut State University and co-author of the book ‘African American Connecticut Explored’.

Disrupted is produced by Catie Talarski, James Szkobel-Wolff, and Zshekinah Collier. And special thanks to Reverend Philippe E. C. Andal for helping us voice the great Martin Luther King Jr.

Disrupted is also available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!