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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Cruz, Marilyn, Bronx African American History Project
Cruz, Marilyn, Bronx African American History Project
Oral Histories
Interviewee: Marilyn Cruz
Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Princess Okieme, Andrew Tiedt
Date of Interview Novermber 3, 2005
Summarized by Alice Stryker
Marilyn was born in Harlem. Her mother’s family immigrated to Harlem from Barbados and her father’s family was from the south. She grew up attending St. Ambrosse church, which was attended by many people from the Caribbean. While in Harlem, she attended PS 113 for grade school and remembers playing in Central Park.
The Basian side of her family was very mixed. She believes her great-grandfather may have been white, but she is unsure. The family really never discussed …
Brath, Elombe, Bronx African American History Project
Brath, Elombe, Bronx African American History Project
Oral Histories
Interviewers: Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon
Interviewee: Elombe Brath
Date of interview: 21 June, 2005
Summarized by: Craig Teal, 26 March 2007
Elombe Brath is a longtime political activist in New York City who is one of the founders of the Jazz Arts Society and was active in organizing some of the first cultural pageants in New York City in the 1960s. Born on September 30, 1936 in Brooklyn, Elombe grew up in Harlem and in Hunt’s Point on 751 Kelly Street between Longwood Avenue and 156th Street. His family moved into a crossroads area of the Bronx that was …
Washington, Valerie, Bronx African American History Project
Washington, Valerie, Bronx African American History Project
Oral Histories
Valerie Washington is a lifelong resident of the Bronx, whose parents were both born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. She grew up on Wells Avenue, then 1098 Simpson Street where her parents were the superintendents of the building. She says there were no other African-American families in the building, and this was common in the area for the superintendents to be African-American with mostly white Jewish tenants. She attended PS 20 where she was placed in the top classes from the very beginning of her education. She then attended Herman Ritter Junior High and then Washington Irving High School in 1953, …