Family Treasures Could Solve Mysteries

In the attics and basements of Norwalk lie the city’s more recent history. Norwalk Museum curator Susan Gunn Bromley believes many local families have treasures from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that would help the museum document the area’s history. The Museum is asking the community to share family keepsakes.

“We are looking for anything that characterizes the life, culture and individuals of our community,” said Bromley.  Photographs, birth certificates and land records are of keen interest, of course, but so are items like old ceramics, programs from events and school sports uniforms.

One of the museum’s treasures, Bromley said, is a  wooden sauerkraut fork that was handmade in the 1880’s. Owned by a mother of ten who arrived in Norwalk from Hungary, the fork is lovely to look at but it also helps document the immigrant experience. Bromley said the fork is exactly the type of artifact the museum is seeking. “We don’t want to take anything away from a family that cherishes it,” said Bromley. “Even if we could take a photograph of something it would be good for our research.”

The experiences of immigrants is of special interest to the Museum. The staff is seeking to gather the reasons why people chose to settle in Norwalk. Was is it a job opportunity? Extended family? What were the daily lives of the recent immigrant families? The artifacts will help them tell these stories.

Another priority of the museum, Bromley said, is expanding the documented history of Norwalk’s black community. While names can generally be used to identify a European family’s roots, much of the history of the early African-American residents remains unverified. Family keepsakes and written records would enable the museum staff to confirm tales that Bromley says have circulated through town for years. “It is a rumor that, in the early days, slaves and free blacks were buried outside the city walls,” said Bromley. “But we can’t prove it.”

The Norwalk Museum is owned by the city and entrusted to preserve the history of the whole community. Donations and gift shop sales supplement their funding. With the exception of the curator, the staff is all volunteer.  Admission, though, is free and open to all.

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