STRATFORD — Newtown Allies For Change (NAFC) recently visited The Ruby and Calvin Fletcher African American History Museum in Stratford.

While the National Museum of African American History and Culture remains peerless, The Ruby and Calvin Fletcher museum is the only African American history museum in Connecticut.

“So much of what we do at NAFC centers on education,” said board member Wendy Leon-Gambetta. “There is nothing like a field trip to get people listening and learning. We wanted Newtowners to have the opportunity to learn some history that they most likely never learned in school. We can’t fully understand the state of our current society without understanding our past.”

How the museum came to be is a fascinating story. When Jeffrey Fletcher’s mother passed away in 2006, she left him with hundreds of African American artifacts she had collected over her lifetime, beginning in the Jim Crow days of her childhood in South Carolina. She held a deep belief that it was important to preserve history.

Fletcher was initially stymied over what to do with such a large collection, but when the veteran New Haven police officer was contemplating retirement, he decided sharing his mother’s passion would be his next calling. That journey eventually led to the decision to create The Ruby and Calvin Fletcher African American History Museum, which opened in October 2021.

“People call to donate their collections and artifacts from all across the country,” Fletcher told NAFC. “In addition, we acquire items from estate sales and auctions.”

Those who curate the museum are grateful to work with well-known antiquities appraiser Guy Ferraro, owner of Atlantis Antiques International in Branford.

Fletcher, now the executive director of the museum named in honor of his parents, has grown his mother’s original collection to include more than 160 thousand pieces, much of which is in temporary storage. Since outgrowing its space, the museum regularly switches out exhibits so that visitors can always be learning something new.

Lynn Edwards, a Newtown resident who participated in the NAFC field trip, reported that “despite its relatively small footprint, this museum displays an amazing number of educational and thought-provoking artifacts and exhibits. I spent one and a half days at the African American museum in DC, but I still saw and learned different and important things about slavery and the African American experience in 90 minutes at this museum in Stratford.”

Some of the exhibits and artifacts that made a lasting impression on those who visited include the immersive experience of sounds and lighting meant to illustrate aspects of the living conditions on slave ships; multiple displayed spiked metal neck restraints used on slaves; a jar of jelly beans to depict the Jelly Bean Test used for voter suppression in the Jim Crow era; and signage depicting Black children and adults as cartoonish caricatures.

There was one story that gave NAFC Board member Laura Main goosebumps.

“One of the artifacts at the museum was a Ku Klux Klan robe. Mr Fletcher shared that the museum had obtained it when someone left a package on the doorstep with it, containing a note which read, ‘Your family can tell this story better than mine,’” Main recalled.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have this amazing resource so close to Newtown,” added Leon-Gambetta. “Mr Fletcher welcomed NAFC very warmly and was extremely generous with his time. We are grateful for the experience.”

NAFC is already planning to organize another tour in the near future, when the state’s only African American History Museum opens its new, larger location.

Summer programming at the museum will include an antiques appraisal event on July 12 for those wishing to have family heirlooms appraised and a partnership with the NBA and WNBA Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend in August. The museum will also be involved in local events recognizing America’s 250th birthday.

Located at 952 East Broadway in Stratford, The Ruby and Calvin Fletcher African American History Museum is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 am-3 pm. To learn more visit africanamericanmuseumct.org or contact the museum at jeffrey@africanamericancollections.com or 203-375-1102.