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Stamford Residents Want To Create Museum Of Black WWII History

Two residents of Stamford, Connecticut, want to make their city the home of a museum dedicated to black World World II veterans. The Museum of Black WWII History would be the only one of its kind in the country.

Mabel Jorgensen is a lifelong resident of Stamford. She frequently visits the Stamford Government Center, and one day, she noticed a monument for residents who fought in World War II. But one important name was missing.

“My brother is a WWII veteran. And it just dawned on me while I was sitting there, I went through them. And I don’t see his name.”

Jorgensen reached out to the local government to find out why. She was told they used old high school yearbook biographies to identify the city’s veterans.

“I went through my yearbook, too. There are quite a few African Americans that are in the book. Why didn’t someone contact me and ask me for the information? I just think no one has fought for it.”

Jorgensen was determined to share their history.

In 2008, she heard about a Black World War II Museum in Bennington, Vermont. She decided to pay it a visit.

That was when she met Bruce Bird, a military historian, who opened the museum in 2006. He says he studied the American military for 50 years before he learned about black military service.  

“I discovered that 1.1 million blacks served in the Second World War. I figured if I didn’t know anything about it, nobody knew about it. And I also figured that they did their part, and they should get credit for it.”

Jorgensen was stunned when she saw the museum.

“I froze. I mean, I actually could not believe what I had seen. Especially the women. He had this area just for women. And I said, oh my God. And I walked through everything, and I’m saying, unbelievable. So I said, you need someone to help you.”

The museum was underfunded and eventually forced to relocate. Jorgensen saw this as the perfect opportunity – she asked Bird to move it to Stamford.

“Stamford needs a museum for the young people, for the children, because they don’t teach the history in school. I am a high school graduate, and I did not know about my people.”

Bird hoped they would find a new building quickly, but he says many doors have been closed. The city offered a space that he says was too rundown to use, while buildings of comparable size have been too expensive.

The two have hosted several fundraisers in the hopes that they can afford a building soon. In the meantime, they run a pop-up museum in the place where Jorgensen was first inspired, the Stamford Government Center.

Jorgensen says she and Bird will continue to push for the museum. She says it’s a tribute that her brother and all black veterans deserve.