The Barnum Museum has a diverse collection of artifacts as well as an archive of manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera. From centaurs and mermaids to items associated with General Tom Thumb and Jenny Lind, our collections are a veritable warehouse of wonders. However, we also have items associated with the history of Bridgeport, particularly as it relates to the growth of local industry and business. 

Thanks to grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and CT Humanities, hundreds of items in our collection have been professionally photographed and digitized. To access and browse our digitized assets, please visit Connecticut Digital Archive or Connecticut Collections. We continue to research, update, and add to these databases. In addition, the multi-year, interdisciplinary, and international research project on Ipy, the 4,000 year old Egyptian mummy who is resident in our museum, is available on our YouTube Channel on a playlist called Discovering Ipy’s Mummy. Our documentary, entitled Uncovering the Secrets of an Egyption Mummy and Coffin, was featured at two documentary film festivals and was the recipient of two Telly awards!

For information on obtaining permission to reproduce Barnum Museum images or collections materials, please contact Dr. Daryn Reyman-Lock at dreymanlock@barnum-museum.org. 

Explore more of The Barnum Museum’s Collections!