Through the years, the town of Westport has both been home to actors and directors as well as the backdrop for both the big and small screen. Films like The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit from 1956 and 2018’s Land of Steady Habits used Westport as a foil to explore hidden themes of the somber side of suburban life.
Outside of town cameos, The Westport Historical Society has had its own share of roles as “character actor.” Happily, our parts have largely been of the comic sort.
It may come as a surprise to many
but at Westport Historical Society we like nothing better than to laugh at
ourselves. Stop by on any given day and what you’ll notice after you enjoy our
eye-opening new exhibits, engaging programs and newly renovated gift shop is
the fun banter, the laughter and general high spirits. Even though we’re always
working hard to fulfill our mission in the best 21st century style,
we have a lot of fun too.
We take our mission very seriously. Ourselves? Not so much. (Anyone who follows our Instagram account Betsy_and_Sam will tell you that.)
That’s why nobody is getting a bigger laugh at the current send up of the Society (Rebranded as the “Westport Historical Guild”) on ABC’s hit comedy, American Housewife. A regular feature of the current (and past seasons) the “Guild” is a passion of the main character’s husband, Greg who is ever at the ready for a re-enactment or an onion pie baking contest (an homage to the town’s onion farming history.)
Certainly, the Guild’s denizens are over the top. One member has a humidor especially for his 18th century pantaloons collection. Others engage in a friendly game of “mead pong” at the Guild’s annual gala in a barn that looks suspiciously like the interior of our own Cobblestone Barn.
(As a point of historical fact, mead
is so 12th century—not our
sort of thing at all. Honey beer,
though, that’s another story! Make sure to check out our Garden Cocktail Party
June 8th to try some.)
If we’re honest we can certainly see a bit of ourselves in these portrayals. The show is informed by the memories of its writers– former Westporters who, presumably, hit the Historical Society in elementary school for an annual tour. Who among us hasn’t met a history buff with such exuberant passion for his or her subject that they border on the comical. Sometimes, we are guilty of that ourselves.
Lucy posing as the Minute Man Statue
And since history is our bag, I’d be remiss not to point out that our comic chops go way back. In the late 1950s the hit show I Love Lucy decamped from New York City to Westport, where Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo tried to acclimate to suburban life including joining the Westport Historical Society. (It should be pointed out that in Desi Arnaz portraying a Cuban immigrant band leader, Ricky Ricardo, as married to all-American girl Lucy, in I Love Lucy was groundbreaking in its own way.)
The Historical society along with our friends at the Westport Garden Club and the Westport Woman’s Club also get the Lucy treatment the series as America’s beloved redhead turns the town upside down with her zany antics.
In the show’s final episode, Lucy accidentally backs over the beloved Minute Man statue, causing her to wail in a frenzy “I’ll be drummed out of the Historical Society!”
It is true that we’d never find the
destruction of the Minute Man a laughing matter but drumming Lucy out of WHS?
Never!
“We the undersigned residents of 22 ½ Main street, respectfully petition the town government to help us secure decent, low-rent housing for ourselves and our families.” As reported by the Westport Town Crier on December 22nd 1949, these words formed a petition from the residents of the building which housed 70 people including four WWII veterans which was presented to the Westport Board of Selectmen.
In honor of Black History Month, we will look into the plight of the residents of 22 ½ Main Street. These residents made up the lion’s share of Westport’s African-American population, many of whom had been in the community since the 18th century when their ancestors were enslaved. The building at 22 ½ Main Street was the epicenter of a neighborhood that existed in alleyways between Elm Street and Main street with “1/2” numbers for their street addresses. The residents of 22 ½ Main Street represented citizens originally from the South who had come north to communities like Westport to seek work in what later became known as the Great Migration.
It was a community that fought to survive in the heart of Westport, despite those who sought to exile them.
The Town Crier reported that 70 people were living at 22 ½ Main Street, and just a few months earlier in March, a doctor who had been sent to the housing complex reported that he found 24 people living in 25 rooms. Dr. C. W. Gillette had been assigned to ascertain whether the complex were the source of a public health menace by First Selectman Albert T. Scully. It seems that “concerned citizens” of the town were worried about overcrowding and unsightly conditions in the courtyard off Main Street.
The town prosecutor’s office initiated complaints via a declaration of violations which stated that “a serious condition, perilous to their health and morals and to the town as a whole,” exists at 22 ½ Main Street. Although the statement was harsh, it didn’t mention slum conditions in any other part of town.
Town officials couldn’t get behind any of the various solutions offered over the years, though the “slum conditions” of 22 ½ had been considered a problem since before WWII. The idea of closing the building was often proposed, but the town officials didn’t know where the residents would then live, so they kicked the proverbial can further down the road for the next group of people to try to solve.
Through all of the controversy, the building’s owner, Mr. Peter Guglieri, said that he had offered to make whatever improvements to the building that the town officials would suggest, if they would only assure him that the current tenants wouldn’t be moved out after the improvements were made. He also stated that he didn’t know of any violence or illegal activity occurring on the property. So the question of conditions “perilous to the morals of the town”, as the prosecutor’s office stated seems questionable at best.
The few records and newspaper articles that exist about this settlement seemed to indicate the residents were hardworking, God-fearing folks that were just trying to get by in a town that was caving into the pressures of a Jim-Crowe era society. In several city directories, the Antioch Baptist Church, sometimes listed as the “Westport colored church” was at 28 Main Street or 22 ½ Main Street. The pastor was listed as a resident of New York and it is surmised that he may have been a traveling preacher that would commute to Westport for the weekly services.
In December 1949, an RTM meeting was held and a heated debate ensued about public housing and who would be eligible to apply. A group of African Americans, mostly those living at 22 ½ Main Street attended the meeting and their elected spokesperson was Mrs. Roscoe Richardson. She was at first rebuffed by the moderator, but after the crowd began to chant “let her speak,” her statements were heard. She described their living conditions as a “slum”.
The Housing Authority Chairman, Mr. Charles Cutler, answered Mrs. Richardson’s speech by stating that the “Negro delegation” would be eligible to apply for the rental of units in the new housing project, after the needs of veterans were taken care of, and further he said that two of the forty-two families being considered were “Negro families.” From the Town Crier’s reporting, this seems to have been enough at the time to satisfy the crowd.
This political cartoon accompanied an opinion piece in the January 26th, 1950 edition of the Westporter-Herald
In the article, Mr. Barmmer points out that the Fire Department could condemn the “shacks” and then a Federal grant could be applied for to pay for building new housing on the same or similar site. He goes so far as to posit the question “if a fire was to break out there tonight when all occupants were asleep – we wonder how many would escape alive?” Just 8 days later, a fire broke out in the section of the building used as the Antioch Baptist Church. Everyone made it out alive, but most of the structure and nearly all of the residents’ possessions were destroyed. Had one of the residents who lived adjacent to the room from which the fire emanated, Mr. Robert Hall, not awoken, the outcome could have been much different.
In the January 26th 1950 edition of the Westporter Herald, a political cartoon depicting those residents of 22 ½ Main Street as “enslaved” to the “slum housing” appeared along with an opinion piece written by Russell Barmmer about what could be done do provide low cost housing to those residents.
Jack Johnson, a resident at 22 ½ Main Street holds the hose while he, a firefighter and town prosecutor Alan H. Senie assist to douse the flames in the room of Robert Hall who discovered the fire.
When Westport Historical Society asked if the Fire Department could find any records from the time about a fire investigation at the property as arson, none could currently be found. This may be because they did not survive the test of time, or perhaps that no real investigation was done. Because this area was considered a blight on downtown, it seems many saw the fire as a “good riddance” situation.
Newspaper accounts paint the picture that the people living at 22 ½ Main Street recognized that their living condition was poor, that the owner of the building knew it, and that the town leaders knew it as well. It’s a sad comment on history that the only “solution” came via the destruction of the building.
Some families stayed in the unburned portion of the building for several months trying to find alternate housing but, in the end, almost every single person who had lived there moved on.
Mrs. Sheila Johnson gave an interview to the Westporter-Herald which appeared in the May 25th, 1950 edition of the paper, in which she says “I guess Westport has finally succeeded in getting rid of us… well, I hate to leave the Town, my Mother lived here 20 years you know and I have been here 18 years. But maybe it’s for the best. There’s no use staying where you’re not wanted.”
This heartbreaking statement echoes through the years. These Westporters only wanted to live in clean, affordable housing. Was that really so much to ask?
To learn more about the history of African-Americans in Westport please visit our online exhibit portal featuring the award-winning exhibition Remembered or email archives@westporthistory.org with questions or to schedule a research appointment.
