USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > The story of Bridgeport > Part 16
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A prominent division under the Military Relief Committee was the American Red Cross nursing service. A local chapter had been organized in 1911 with Eliza Lavery as chairman. When the United States entered the World War in 1917, there were just 22 nurses in the local organization. Almost overnight the figure jumped to 85.
Forty three nurses were appointed to military service; 20 were not eligible. The latter were en- rolled in the Home Defense Corps.
A First Aid Department was established under the chapter, with Dr. H. Willard Fleck as chairman. When he was called to service, Mrs. Fleck took charge. The Junior Red Cross Auxiliary was formed in September, 1917.
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There were also the Minute Women with Mrs. Fleck as head and Miss M. Dotten Gros Claude as campaign manager.
Today, the Bridgeport Chapter of the American Red Cross is under the direction of Miss Amelia C. Wenderoth, executive secretary.
A Comfort Club was organized in October, 1917 to send gifts of cigarettes, candy and knitted gar- ments to the boys in France. Mrs. Charles Sprague was first president. The club was disbanded in 1919.
Bridgeport also had its Home Guard units, subse- quently known as State Guard units. Attorney Clifford B. Wilson of Bridgeport was colonel of the Fourth Military district which included Bridgeport and the other cities and towns in Fairfield county. There were cne or more units in each town. Stephen G. Cronan was lieutenant colonel, and he succeeded Colonel Wilson when the latter resigned shortly after the World War. He in turn was succeeded by his lieutenant colonel, Louis J. Herrmann. The staff comprised Captain Henry C. Stevenson, Captain J. H. Callahan, Captain J. Alex H. Robinson, Captain Donald Macintyre, Captain Frederick W. Wren and Captain William E. Seeley, all of Bridgeport.
Army offices and naval offices were set up in sev- eral of the larger war plants in Bridgeport, and the naval offices in the Lake Torpedo Company, the American Can Company, and the American and British Company boasted a number of yeomanettes.
ARMISTICE
With much ncise and gusto, Bridgeport celebrated the Armistice, signed at 5:40 a. m. November 11, 1918.
The city was awakened in the early hours by the tooting of whistles, the ringing of bells, the blowing of horns and the booming of guns and cannon. Be- fore daybreak, every factory whistle where steam was up, was blowing strong. The beautiful chimes at St. John's Church , Park and Fairfield Avenues, were tunefully pealing long before daylight.
The first marchers came parading the central thoroughfares shortly before six o'clock. Men did not take time to fully robe themselves but donned great- coats to cover their underclothing and went forth for a before-breakfast demonstration in that garb, despite the chill air.
Schools closed; factories closed; stores closed; hanging out signs "Closed-Celebrating Liberty"
Nobody wanted to work and few did. By noon, the city was celebrating a complete holiday.
Every organized band and drum corps in the city was on the streets and everyone was parading. Early in the forenoon, the Howland Dry Goods Company marshalled its forces into Cannon Street for a parade, each participant carrying a flag. Hundreds of work- ers from the Remington Arms Company fell into line.
Gaily decorated automobiles of wild, happy people filled the streets. Farm wagons with wheel spokes wrapped in gay bunting, joined the parade. Several hundred students from the Bridgeport High School marched behind a band. Employes of the Union Metallic Cartridge Company lined up with banners, behind a hastily arranged band made up of men with cartridge buckets of tin and metal hammers.
Traffic was a hodge podge. Everyone was yelling and shrieking and hooraying. Patriotic drapings hung from every window and every pole; flags were at a premium; confetti and cut up paper floated from the office buildings and store windows; paper stream- ers hung across trolley and light wires in hit or miss array.
Saloons closed at 11 o'clock in the morning. Most of the stores were closed by 10, the clerks parading on foot, or filling trucks and buses, waving flags and banging tin cans. The celebration continued far into the night.
Two days afterward, November 13, an official victory parade was staged in Bridgeport. Almost 15,000 took part, the parade being so long that it took two and a half hours to pass a given point. More than 100,000 witnessed the spectacle.
The first ship to bring overseas troops back to the United States was the Canopic at Boston, December 11, 1918. The ship tied up at her Charlestown dock at nine in the morning with 1,067 men aboard.
A large number of Bridgeporters who had gone to Boston the night before, were present when the ship came in and joined in bombarding the boys with cigarettes and candy. The boys, who were clinging to every part of the ship, greeted the local delegation with wild cheers and whistling.
December 26, 1918, America's battle fleet steamed into New York harbor, in the midst of a snowstorm. The home coming fleet included Admiral Mayo's flag- ship the "Pennsylvania" and nine other dread- naughts.
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1 836 THE STORY OF BRIDGEPORT
From this time forward the "boys" commenced returning to Bridgeport in small and large groups; al- though it was many months, years for some, before all were home again.
WAR MEMORIALS
During the ensuing years, war memorials were erected in various parts of the city and in 1918, Victory Bridge and Vic- tory Drive at Beardsley were completed under the direction of Henry Cliffe, superintendent of parks. The bridge spans the road- way which enters the park from East Main Street and is 125 feet long.
The bridge did not cost the city more than $10,000, for the sketch was made in the office of the city engineer, in charge of Alfred H. Terry, labor JB was composed mostly of park employes, and the material was mostly local.
May 31, 1919, an honor roll in memory of deceased ex-service men and women of the World War was dedicated and placed in the lobby of the city hall. Fourteen years later the tablet was placed outside on the city hall green, the tablet being set in the face of an eight ton boulder brought to the city from the Fairchild Wheeler Park golf course, where it had been buried in a small ravine. Thomas Sabatino of Bridgeport sculptured the faces of a soldier, a sailor and a marine, on one side of the boulder. The tablet was dedicated in its new site October 29, 1933. The list of veterans on this honor roll will be found in the latter part of this chapter.
In May, 1929, the Harry W. Congdon Post of the American Legion gave a captured German artillery field-piece of the 77 millimeter type to the city and it was placed in Seaside Park.
A captured German mortar presented by the Raymond W. Harris Post, V.F.W. stands on the lawn of the county court house on Golden Hill Street.
DOCTORS AND NURSES
Bridgeport sent its quota of doctors and nurses to the front.
The following were physicians from Bridgeport
who served in the World War: Dr. Charles H. Sprague, Dr. Frank Stevens, Dr. Fred Adams, Dr. George Garlick, Dr. James Warren Knepp, Dr. George Hawley, Dr. Owen James Groark, Dr. Cornelius Conklin, Dr. Henry Bertram Lambert.
Dr. Maurice Lionel Cheney, Dr. James Patrick McManus, Dr. John Gabriel O'Connell, Dr. Richard O'B. Shea, Dr. Clifton Clark Taylor, Dr. Bartholo- mew Charles Pasuth, Dr. Edward Russell Roberts. Dr. Stanton Reinhart Smith, Dr. Fessenden Lorenzo Day, Dr. Charles J. Leverty.
Dr. James Douglas Gold, Dr. Harry Willard Fleck, Dr. Benjamin Brooks Finkelstone, Dr. Marcus Carl Beck, Dr. Laurence E. Poole, Dr. Edward Francis McGovern, Dr. Daniel Cleveland Patterson, Dr. John T. Powers, Dr. John Shea, Dr. Joseph Francis Watts.
Dr. Arthur Scrimgeour, Dr. Alfred Kornblut, in the navy; and Dr. Joseph Foley, an interne at St. Vincent's hospital who died in service.
Forty three nurses were appointed to military service, two of them dying in service. The complete list included :
Frances M. Cochran, Margaret Stuart, Nancy J. Molumphy, Johanna L. Sogaard, Cora D. Nichols, Mary A. Cody, Mary C. Baron, Catherine McGurty. (Note: Died in service while serving with Base Hos- pital No. 54 in France.)
Mary L. Flannagan, H. Elizabeth Maiden, Ruth Widinghoff, Elizabeth B. Roth, Grace C. Tooker, Marion E. Johnson, Kathleen V. Coll, Mary C. White, Minnie C. Kantack, Deborah R. Nelson.
Florence E. Douglass, Albina Montana, Martha J. Doyle, Margaret T. Fairbairn, Helen M. Godsee, Anna F. Light, Catherine B. Salmon, Nellie Reilly, Florence M. Lewis, Bertha B. Linn.
Ethel B. Bassett, Agnes E. Gustafson, Margaret P. Ingraham, Alice M. MacKenzie, Elizabeth L. Dowkes, Clara V. Lindquist, Catherine Laguire, Kate Toomey, Grace L. Sirene, Catherine E. Burke.
Margaret A. McGrady, Helena T. Kelly, Emma E. Evers, Catherine M. Grady, Emily N. Porter.
Ullie Stowe, an army nurse, died in service, Sep- tember 21, 1918.
VETERANS' POSTS
Since the World War, a number of veterans' posts and auxiliaries have been formed.
The Harry W. Congdon Post, No. 11, American
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1836 THE STORY F BRIDGEPORT
Legion was organized in 1919. The unit was named in memory of Harry W. Congdon who died in ser- vice. After engaging in every one of the great battles fought by the Americans, being breveted for the Croix de Guerre and other medals, and cited by General Edwards for gallantry in action, Corporal Harry W. Congdon of Bridgeport was killed in action, November 10, 1918, less than 24 hours before the signing of the armistice.
Congdon was a former stock clerk in the Loco- mobile Company. He left two brothers, Raymond and Thomas and three sisters, Mrs. L. W. Leiss, Mrs. John Mead and Mrs. John Hanley.
The present Harry W. Congdon Post is located at 307 Golden Hill. Harry Barske is commander for 1936. The auxiliary of the Congdon Post was or- ganized December 7, 1922. Mrs. Ella Carpenette is president for 1936. The auxiliary was formed by Mrs. Fanny Crosby who was also its first president.
A Catherine McGurty chapter was organized in connection with the Congdon Post shortly after the World War in honor of the nurse who died in service. The chapter included both nurses and yeo- manettes. It has since been dissolved.
Recently, a tree was dedicated to Catherine McGurty in the memorial Elm Tree Row on the lawn of the government hospital at Newington.
The Bronson Hawley Post, No. 134, American Legion, was organized March 8, 1934, when the charter was granted. The Post was named in honor of Bronson Hawley, killed in action, August 23, 1918, during the Flanders drive. Before entering the war, Mr. Hawley had a farm on Toilsome Hill. He was the younger of four brothers. Samuel, Alexander and Dr. George Hawley survived him.
The Hawley Post is located at 1430 Main Street. Benjamin W. Graham is commander. The auxiliary was also organized March 8, 1934. Mrs. Olga Herman is president.
The Disabled American Veterans Association, W. W. of Bridgeport now at 164 State Street, was organized on April 13, 1922. It is named the John Banville Chapter No. 3 in honor of the soldier of that name who died in action. Walter Thayer was first commander. Anthony Corb is commander for 1936. The auxiliary was organized in October, 1930 with Mrs. Rachael Smith as the first commander. Mrs. Anna Parquette is present commander.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Raymond W. Harris Post No. 145 was organized May 26, 1919. John Nicholson is the present commander. The auxiliary was organized April 6, 1920. Miss Betty Kelley is president for 1936. The post and auxiliary meet at 164 State Street. Post was named after Raymond Walter Harris, first soldier of the Ameri- can Expeditionary Force to make the supreme sacri- fice. He was employed by the N. Y., N. H. and Hartford R. R. Co.
The Bridgeport Chapter of the Yankee Division (YD) Veterans' Association was first organized in 1919 and was reorganized on April 1, 1935. Robert Reyburn is president today, 1936. The auxiliary was organized in May, 1936. Mrs. Charles Bonner is president.
The National Association of Naval Veterans was organized in 1887. Bridgeport Fort No. 5 was ad- mitted to the National Association, March, 1933. Present commander is Frank J. Kelly. Two or three months after the organization of the Post, the auxil- iary was formed. Mrs. Margaret Kleiner is the present head. Thomas W. Toothill is chief yeoman for the fort and Mrs. Cecily Kelly is chief yeoman for the auxiliary.
After the World War, the home guard units which later became state guard units, formed a veterans' association of the state guard. The local chapter was known as the Frederick J. Breckbill Post of the Connecticut State Guards Association. Francis Munich is commander and George Seltsam, secretary.
The Polish Army Veterans Association of America, Post No. 24, Inc. was organized in Bridge- port in 1920 and reorganized in 1924. Stanley Plonski is now commander. The Polish Army Vet- erans Association, Ladies Auxiliary No. 23 was or- ganized in June, 1930. Mrs. Mary Uliasz heads the auxiliary at the present time.
The Jewish War Veterans of the United States, Bridgeport Post No. 88 was organized in January, 1935. David B. Saltman is the present commander. Dr. S. Howard Cohan of Bridgeport is state com- mander. Attorney Charles S. Brody of Bridgeport is deputy judge advocate general in the National Association. The auxiliary was formed June 23, 1935. Miss Kate Rosenbluh heads the auxiliary.
The Italian American World War Veterans, Inc. was organized in 1933, the first meeting being in
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April, 1933. Pasquale Diorio was the first com- mander. Angelo Percy is the present commander. The boys call themselves American Veterans O.I.E. (Of Italian Extraction)
HONOR ROLL
The following are the names of World War veterans listed on the Honor Roll tablet on the city hall green. The names of Ludwig Bohman and Daniel J. Callahan have been deleted by this author, as they are both alive, as was mentioned earlier in this chapter
James, Agnew Matthew Gerra Walter G. Altman Joseph Gianelli
Martin A. Anderson
Angelo Graiuni
Thomas Armstrong
Willis W. Goodrow
Ignatz Baltonsaita
Bronislaw Gzunk
Marston Edson Banks
Robert B. Hall
John H. Morrison
George Smith
John J. Banville
Howard B. Hull
Stephen Mrasko
Frank Snyder
Charles H. Bast
Garnet Hands
James Mulligan
Edwin F. Stanton
Edward Becker
Gray Hanrahan
Daniel Murphy
John M. Steele
Edward E. Belden
Carl S. Hansen
Jeremiah E. Murphy
John M. Stengel
Samuel Belinski
Raymond W. Harris
F. J. Neubauer
William T. Stillman
Edward Bennett
Charles C. Hartman
James J. Norcia
Clarence R. Benson
Bronson Hawley
Joseph O'Beirne
Joseph Bertany
Thomas P. Healy
Henry J O'Hara
Chick Biolopas
David E. Heaphy
Howard Olmstead
Walter C. Sussybski
George N. Bonomo
Herbert F. Heggie
Robert J. O'Mara
Raymond Tingard
Charles Bromley
William Henry Heid
George R. Osborne
Charles D. Thayer
Frank W. Burke
James F. Hickey
Apostolos Paris
George Tohornc
Kasimer Butkevich
Cristobol R. Hidalgo
Francisco Pappalo
John J. Travers
James Butler
Floyd G. Hiltz
Lawrence Patrick
John Vaughn
William R. Carroll
Clarence Hurd
Ronald M. Peck
Gaetano Vindigni
Joseph Cassidy
Emil Jessen
Joseph Penza
Frederick W. Voight
Michael E. Cerretťa
Gustav A. Johnson
Peter S. Pero
Earl Madden Vunek
Carleton B. Chase
Harold C. Johnson
John Pettus
John Walker
Henry C. Clark
Victor E. Joinville
Edwin Bror Pierson
Albert Waller
Miss Louise Clericuzio
Ernest Jones
John G. Pino
Frank Wargo
Harry M. Clifford John H. Collins
John J. Keane
George Pohorenez
Joseph C. Wellwood
Richard Cochrane
Daniel J. Kelly
John A. Constein
Field W. Kelly
Edward J. Cook
George William Kelly
Edward J. Cosgrove
Joseph A. Kelly
Robert Henry Cowles
Wladyslaw Kempski
Thomas H. Crowley
William Kennedy
William J. Cumming
Joseph Kielar
William A. Kilroy
John E. Cunningham Angelo Cupiccia
Vincent King Alex Kivacs
Frederick B. Demming
Walter K. Knight
Alexander Dobrzicki
Peter Kochiss
Robert F. H. Dobson
Frank P. Kogel
William Dodes
John S. Kolesar
Christoh Drclapas Charles Dunn
John Kranyak
Arthur W. Edward
Alexander Kwash
Thomas R. Ellis
Frank Lada
Forest E. Ellman
Patrick F. Lally
Thomas Ellsmore Frank Enfanti
Domenio Luchiano
Joseph P. Fitzsimmons
John W. Lynch
William Fitzsimmons
Samuel Magilnick
Archie Fortin
Mario Magini
Walter D. Frazier
Undine Mainiero
Stephen W. Galla
George Manual
Joseph Marcello
Wilson Marshall, Jr. Edward J. Martin Aloy Mastroni Peter McDermott
Patrick J. McGuinniss
Katherine McGurdy James M. McLevy John Ward McLarney
Joseph McMahon Otto McManus
John B. McNamara
Robert McTavish
Hector N. Menard
Stanley Mikucionis
Cristos Millios
Edgar Mills
Charles Mitchell
James J. Moore
John F. Sheskey
Michael Montanaro
John E. Simko
Herbert Monty
Reginald P. Simpson
John P. Morrissey
Joseph A. Sjovall
Thomas M. Morrissey, Jr.
Paul Henry Quinn
Stanley Rhodes Edward Richards Clifford Robarts Edward J. Rogan William F. Roller Harry B. Romm Paul Ross
Edmund B. Rowe Anthony Sadowski William J. Sauer
Fred C. Schneider
Harold Schowers
Walter Sebiske
Rudolph Seitzberg Rency Sequin Effin Shatanetz Samuel Sherman
The following Bridgeport boys were among those decorated or cited for bravery during the World War:
Patrick J. Darragh
John A. Jurenos
Walter Plucker
John Webber
Harry W. Congdon
Robert L. Kellner
Jay Pollins
Charles A. Weston
Dominic Pompelli
Harry White
John C. Pratt
James A. Przekop
Merritt Wood John Zembo
Patrick J. Clark, private, Distinguished Service Cross; John Duly, sergeant, Distinguished Service Cross; Orie H. La Croix, corporal, Distinguished Service Cross; Marc V. Launcelot, sergeant, Distin- guished Service Cross; Anthony M. Wallace, cor- poral, Distinguished Service Cross; James F. Clark, corporal, Distinguished Service Cross and two cita- tions; Harry W. Congdon, private, Distinguished Service Cross and two citations; John E. Conroy, private, two citations; Hugh J. Lawlor, private, two citations; Joseph Smith, private, citation.
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Adrian Slootmaker
Miss Ullie A. Stowe
William Strovinski Joseph Sullivan
William Korzevich
Russell E. Lockwood
1836 THE
STORY
OF BRIDGEPORT
1936
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
F IFTY Broadway stars, including Mae Murray, "Torchy" Hines, Lou Tellegen, Nita Naldi, William Collier, Jr., and Toto the famous clown, paid homage to Sylvester Z. Poli, beloved New Eng- land showman, at the grand opening of the Palace theatre in Bridgeport, the night of September 4, 1922.
The opening of the Palace was Poli's crowning triumph in Bridgeport. A long and colorful thea- trical history preceded this achievement.
Back in the Puritan days, little in the way of amusement was allowed; dramatic lectures and
the credit for organizing the first theatrical house. Segee owned the old Steamboat Hotel on State Street near Main, and it was upstairs, over the hotel, where the first shows were given. The theatre was called Franklin hall. Then, in 1870, the enterprising young man built his opera house near the old Steamboat Hotel.
The Segee Opera House, Bell's Museum, and the Ghost Shows provided mcst of Bridgeport's enter- tainment until Edmund V. Hawes built the Hawes Opera House in 1877.
MAUDE ADAMS AND JOHN DREW
To Smith's Colonial Theatre, 847 Main Street in 1902, came these famous stage stars. They are shown above in a scene from "Rosemary" hit of 1896.
"moral plays" marked the beginning of the show business in Bridgeport. In 1852, the citizens saw their first circus. In 1870, the first theatre in the community was built.
To Lewis Christian Segee, son of a Hessian, goes
P. T. Barnum entered the theatrical picture in 1883 when he built Recreation Hall, known in successive years as the Theatre Belknap, Proctor's Grand Opera House and as "The Audi- torium."
The Auditorium didn't make money and was sold to Edward C. Smith of New York in 1897 for $1700. Smith brought some "live" shows to town and when "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was given, 12,672 persons attended in three days.
At the height of Smith's suc- cess, Sylvester Poli entered the scene. Poli's progress to leader- ship in the show world may be termed one of the romances of American business. Coming to this country as a poor boy, he earned his first dollars by his re- markable talent as a sculptor, his wax figures finding a ready mar- ket in New York. From the opening of his first theater in Chicago in 1888, followed by houses in Canada, Detroit, Buffalo, and other points, to his invasion of New England, his career has been one of complete success.
Poli bought the Hawes' Opera House on Fairfield Avenue at auction in 1902 and called the theatre, his first in Bridgeport, "Poli's". Later, the name became
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"Plaza Theatre". A gas station and parking place now hold forth where the famous building once
BUFFALO BILL
Bridgeport knew this historic character when he made his home for several years with the Barnum and Bailey circus at the winter headquarters on Railroad Avenue.
stood, south side of Fairfield Avenue near Middle Street.
The present Globe theatre at 1270 Main Street was the first show house built by Poli in Bridgeport. This also took the name "Poli's Theatre". It was opened in 1912 during Christmas week.
At that time the shows were all vaudeville and Poli played practically every vaudeville headliner of the time, including Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Gus Edwards, Russell Brothers and Fisher and Carroll.
Bridgeport was now revelling in a variety of enter- tainment which included not only vaudeville at the Poli theatre but drama at the Colonial theatre, under the direction of Edward C. Smith who brought Julia
Marlow, Ethel Barrymore, Maude Adams, Maxine Elliott and John Drew to town.
Nor must "Buffalo Bill" and his wild west show be forgotten, for the latter, whose real name was Col. William F. Cody, lived in Bridgeport on two differ- ent occasions, the first time in 1901 and the second time from 1906 to 1908. He made his headquarters at Barnum and Bailey's winter quarters on Railroad Avenue.
Sylvester Poli opened his Palace theatre at 1315 Main Street in 1922, and the same year, also opened the Majestic, almost next door, at 1347 Main Street.
For many years Louis M. Sagal was manager for S. Z. Poli, and showmen in the Poli theatres in Bridgeport, New Haven, Meriden, Hartford, Spring- field, Waterbury and Worcester, sincerely mourned the passing of this kindly figure in December, 1935.
During the next few years, the Poli theatres oper- ated under various managements.
In 1928 William Fox bought the Poli theatres for $28,000,000. Matthew L. Saunders, manager of the Poli theatre, who was connected with S. Z. Poli al- most from the beginning, was appointed city manager of the four Bridgeport theatres, Palace, Majestic, Globe and Lyric.
July 12, 1933, Poli bought the theatres back and they became known as the Poli-New England Theatres, Inc., with Herschel Stuart as general manager.
In November, 1933, Loew's, Inc., took over the operation of the Poli-New England Theatres, Inc.,
"A PERFECT SCREAM
James and Bonnie Thornton, well known vaudeville headliners, "brought down the house" when they played the Poli circuit in the early 1900's.
and Harry Arthur then headed the chain as general manager. He was later succeeded by Harry F. Shaw, the present general manager.
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1936
Bridgeport now has 23 theatres, all of which are movie houses with the exception of the Park Theatre which is now showing a stock company.
There are 17 neighborhood theatres: four Loew houses, Poli-Palace, Majestic, Globe and Lyric; one Warner Brothers' theatre the Cameo, at 343 State Street, built in 1925; and the Park theatre.
The Poli-Palace theatre is the largest in the city and has a seating capacity of 3700. Matthew L. Saunders is manager.
HOSPITALS
The urgent need of an institution for the care of accident cases and serious illnesses, brought about the founding of the Bridgeport Hospital on Grant Street in 1878.
To Dr. George F. Lewis goes credit for first at- tempting to satisfy this need, for at his suggestion a bequest was inserted in the will of his aunt, Susan Hubbell who left approximately $19,000 and a deed for land on Mill Hill Avenue, for the founding of such an institution. Catharine A. Pettengill and Frances E. Pomeroy also made donations and these three women are recorded as the "founders" of the Bridgeport Hospital.
The hospital was opened in 1884, treating its first patient, November 12, 1884. The first year just 148 patients were cared for. Last year, 1935, a total of 10,024 patients were treated.
Before the opening of the Bridgeport Hospital, patients had been cared for in the basement of what is now police headquarters on Fairfield Avenue. There, the department of charities and the "emer- gency hospital" were housed.
P. T. Barnum was the first president of the new hospital and Dr. George F. Lewis was the first phy- sician in charge. The hospital grew fast : a surgical ward, and a children's ward were added, an isolation cottage for contagious diseases was opened, and in 1900 the nurses' dormitory on Grant Street was finished. An X-ray department, a research labora- tory, an operating suite, and a maternity building, were followed by the erection of a new nurses' home on Mill Hill Avenue in 1915. A radium department was added in 1916. The last addition included the maternity department, the children's ward and the dining rooms, in 1931.
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