Digital Commons Network^™

Crier, Arthur, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Arthur Crier

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Summarized by Concetta Gleason

Crier is an organizer of the Morissania Review and a leading figure in Doo-Wop and Rhythm and Blues in the Morrisania community. Crier was born in 1935 in Harlem, but raised on Prospect Ave in the Bronx. His mother was from the South, specifically North Carolina, which is where he currently resides. He attended a mixed elementary school and also played street games with the other children on the block. The schools were very good and teachers genuinely cared for their students. The neighborhood was safe and the families looked …

Bataan, Joe, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

173/4(?)^th Interview

Interviewee: Joe Bataan

Interviewer: Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon

Interview took place June 12, 2006

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 2-1-07

Bataan Nitalano’s mother is African-American and his father is Philippine. His father joined the navy and did a lot of seasonal work as a short-order cook. Bataan would see his father only six months of the year. His racially mixed family was a rarity in Spanish Harlem where he grew up. His father was Catholic and his mother encouraged his attending Church. Although the neighborhood was mostly Spanish, there was a lot of Blacks, Chinese and Jewish people …

Baily, Mary, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

158^th Interview

Interviewee: Mary Bailey

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Interview took place April 21, 2006

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 1-17-07

Bailey is a retired nuclear Medicine Technologist and grew up in Morrisania. Bailey’s parents are originally from South Carolina, but she was born in Harlem on 138^th Street. When she was six years old, the family moved to the Bronx. Bailey was baptized, but not necessarily raised with a Catholic upbringing because her mother had some issues with the Church after St. Augustine’s refused to enroll Bailey in their school. The family originally moved to Boston Road, but then …