Digital Commons Network^™

Brown, Roscoe, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison

INTERVIEWEE: Roscoe Brown

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Roscoe Brown is the head of a Center for Urban Education at CUNY. He grew up in Washington, DC during the Great Depression. Educated at Dunbar high school in DC and Springfield College in Massachusetts, Brown joined the Tuskegee Airmen in 1943. At Springfield, Brown was one of only 15 black students. He studied Pre-Med and played football, basketball and lacrosse—in fact, he was one of the first black lacrosse players in America.

Brown flew 68 missions with the airmen, and participated in the longest mission of all time: a …

Greene, David, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

David Greene is a teacher and football coach at Scarsdale High School in Westchester County. He was born on November 3^rd, 1949 in Los Angeles Ca. His mother was a Russian immigrant who had come to the Bronx when she was 14 years old, and his father, who lived in Harlem, was of Austrian, Hungarian, Polish, and Russian descent. His mother worked in the fashion industry as a model, and his father worked as a trucker. David’s mother was a down-to-earth Russian Jewish woman who spent all her time working and managing her household. She was suspicious of …