Watch Your Step

TIA PHOTO - HSOB

         

Bloomfield Civic Center, 84 Broad Street

More Magic Lantern Slides: The Town Improvement Association (TIA) - Their Photographs and Their Accomplishments: An Inspirational Story about Bloomfield’s Environmental Activists of 1907

Presented by
Rich Rockwell


The Town Improvement Association (TIA) was created in 1907 with the goal of beautifying the town. Members and Officers over the years are a who’s who of prominent Bloomfield families including Mrs. Harry E. Richards, Mrs. David Oakes, Mrs. Frank Oakes, Mrs. Allison Dodd, Mrs. John Dodd, Mrs. Edward Baldwin, and Mrs. William R Broughton.

The TIA appeared regularly before Town Council and the Health Department advocating for eliminating trash dumps around town, cleaning up tenements, keeping the streets clean, regulating trash pickup, and protecting the Green and its shade trees. And they didn’t just complain about the deplorable conditions; they did fund raisers and beautification projects including landscaping at schools, railroad stations and the Green, and helping to preserve and expand open spaces.

This program will present the collection of magic lantern slides the TIA created from 1912 to 1916 to illustrate deplorable conditions around town, and to showcase their accomplishments. The presentation includes then-and-now photo comparisons, captions prepared by Frederick Branch and additional historical information about the TIA.