Retired New Haven police officer Jeffrey Fletcher recently opened the Ruby and Calvin Fletcher African American History Museum in Stratford, CT.
The museum displays artifacts and relics Fletcher’s parents, Ruby and Calvin, collected over decades that reflect the African American experience in our country beginning with slavery and moving through the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights movement.
The museum is small but the collection is large, more than 4000 items, so the exhibits are limited. The good news is they are just a preview. The museum is in the process of moving and expanding the exhibits with a projected re- opening in 2023.
As noted on the museum’s home page, the exhibits may make for uncomfortable viewing but the visuals are a way of showing the reality of what many may have only read about or seen in movies.
Admission is free (donations are welcomed) and hours are limited. Visit the website https://www.africanamericancollections.com/ for details and a brief slide show of some of the exhibits.