The strength of our collection

The Westport Museum for History and Culture manages extensive collections including archives, costumes, objects, and art which are used by curators, scholars, and educational institutions to foster historical exploration through the use of primary resources.

A Telling of History

The Westport Museum is in the process of a multi-year cataloging of its archival holdings with the aim of making resource guides and finding aids available for research use. 

It is our goal to describe our historic records and holdings in a way that both accurately reflects the historic record while remaining respectful to those represented in the collections particularly those from underrepresented communities including Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and other marginalized groups. Despite this, researchers may come across language describing period records and within them that today we consider racist, xenophobic, homophobic, sexist and ableist in nature. Read the rest of our Statement on Potentially Offensive Language in Westport Museum’s Finding Aids and Resource Descriptions.

Finding Aids

Our archival collection houses a library of books on Westport, Fairfield County, and Connecticut history, genealogy records and more. Our temperature-controlled vault contains collections of papers and documents on all areas of Westport history: maps, photographs, family histories, house histories, and much more. To begin using our records, start with our Westport Record Group Listing file.

Full finding aids for specific collections are available for download. Click each guide below to access the record group.

Summary finding aids can be found at Connecticut’s Archives Online.

Subject Guides

Our BIPOC Subject Guide presents information on resources in our Archives that document the experiences and representations of African American, Native Americans, and other people of color in Westport and in Connecticut at large from the colonial era to the present. These resources reveal the stories, experiences, and history of these traditionally excluded voices.

Using our Research

Our collections are available by appointment upon request for researchers. If you cannot research with us in person, our staff and volunteers can perform research for you.

If it is determined that it will take more than 15 minutes of research to attempt to answer your request, you will be informed that payment of a research fee is required based upon the extent of the research project. If a fee is required, you will be informed of the amount and your request will be assigned a queue number upon payment of any applicable fee.