Digital Commons Network^™

Peterson, Robert, Mark Naison

Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

Interviewee: Robert Peterson

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Kathleen Palmer

Date of Interview: August 5, 2009

Summarized by Michael Kavanagh

Born in Brooklyn, December 18th 1926, Peterson has lived in the Bronx most of his life. His Father’s parents were first generation European immigrants from Sweden and Norway, respectively. They both settled in Yonkers, NY, where they first met and later got married. In 1895, Peterson’s father was born in Yonkers, NY. At the beginning of World War I, his father joined the United States Navy as a ship navigator. When World War I ended, his father returned home and worked …

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 …