By Rit Carter

1971 was an exciting year. 

Walt Disney World opened in Florida.

The 26^th amendment lowering the voting age to 18 was ratified.

And as part of the Apollo XIV mission, NASA astronaut Alan Sheppard hit a golf ball on the moon.

The Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Orioles and the Milwaukee Bucks were world champions in the three major U.S. sports.

The Who, The Doors, The Allman Brothers, Carole King, Led Zeppelin, and Marvin Gaye reached new heights musically by releasing seminal albums into the pop culture ecosystem. 

In Connecticut, gambling was legalized, the legislature passed an income tax for 46 days and the average temperature was 50.3 degrees, .3 degrees higher than usual.

Meanwhile, in Bristol, Frank Longo became Bristol’s 13^th mayor.

St. Paul’s baseball team captured the first of its two consecutive CIAC Class B championships.

And community leaders and influential city residents established the Bristol Historical Society (BHS) to preserve and protect the city’s heritage and historical artifacts. 

That first year BHS presented programs about the Leatherman, clockmaking and held a heritage exhibit.

In the five decades since those formative days, BHS has spent considerable time acquiring, collecting, preserving, and displaying Bristol’s intrinsic treasures while continuing the traditions of programs and exhibitions important to the community. In that vein, it has become home to the Bristol Sports Museum and the Memorial Military Museum.

As 2021 comes to an end, the following programs will close out the Bristol Historical Society’s 50^th year: