African American Studies Commons^™

Simmons, Victoria, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Victoria Simmons-Good grew up in the Patterson Houses. Her parents moved to the Bronx from Harlem for the affordable housing options offered in the Bronx. He earliest memory is from attending PS 18, which was located near her building. On her way to school, she and her friends would always stop at a Candy Store and eat sweets for breakfast. She also remembers attending a day camp during the summer with fellow children living in the Patterson Houses. She also remembers the music her parents listened to, which was mostly Motown and doo-wop.

She grew up in the Patterson houses …

Everich, William, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

This is a very personal account of Mr. Everich's youth and his involvement in collectives and as a community activist. His parents are Ukraninan and he grew up in the Bronx, in a mixed neighborhood. His father was a violent man, beating his wife and children. He was also a racist man and it was this attitude, juxtaposed with the kindness of the very neighbors that he criticized, that convinced the young William of the injustices of prejudice. Everich discusses his school days and the games they played in the neighborhood, from wiffle ball to building scooters from milk crates. …

Robinson, Robert, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Robert Robinson (b. 8/11/1943) is a former public health specialist for the Center for Disease Control. The son of a bartender father from West Virginia and a mother from Massachusetts, Robinson was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx, on Stebbins Ave. During this time, the Stebbins Ave neighborhood was inhabited mostly by blacks and Puerto Ricans, and the two cultures remained relatively aloof from one another. Robinson recalls that there was some limited gang activity in the area: some local toughs from the surrounding areas would sometimes rough up the young people on Stebbins Ave, which did not …

Nobile, Joe And Hewitt, Kim, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Kim Hewitt and Joe Nobile are principals in elementary schools in the New York Public School System. Kim Hewitt was raised in the projects of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, the daughter of Brooklyn-raised parents of Southern stock. At the time she grew up, New York was not yet beset by all the problems of gangland violence and the crack era, so Hewitt remembers her upbringing as almost entirely positive, safe, and nurturing. The community was very close-knit, families and friends looked out for one another, and there was a vibrant sense of community in the projects. Hewitt was raised when hip-hop …

Mercado, Albert, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

When he was young in the Bronx he says it was a lovely area. There was a good mix of groups, but “everyone got along.” After junior high, he attended Art and Design in Manhattan, but he experienced prejudice there Latinos or African-Americans were in the minority there, so he transferred to Manhattan Vocational Tech. He stayed there a year but left because there was a lot of gang activity. He then attended DeWitt Clinton. He lived in the Bronx and the area had become very dilapidated - “it looked like if someone ran through there and just bombed it …

Brindle, Donna, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewers: Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Interviewee: Donna Brindle

Date: May 23, 2005

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury

Donna Brindle was born in 1953 in the Bronx and lived on Intervale Avenue until around the age of 11. Her parents initially moved to the Bronx because other friends of theirs were, and those socializations became an important part of Donna’s upbringing. Both of her parents were musicians, her father was a concert pianist and one of the founders of The Symphony of the New World in the 1950‘s. Her parents were also politically active. Her mother worked with NAACP as well …

Hope, Bertha, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Bertha Hope

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Bertha grew up in Los Angeles California to parents who had a background in music and the music business. Her parents met when her father casted her mother as a dancer for the production “Showboat.” While her older sisters were young, they and her mother traveled around with her father, who was on a concert tour. The family settled in Los Angeles and her father’s connections to the music industry grew.

She got the majority of her music training in public schools. She was very talented and learned many …

Davis, Ronald And Davis, Sara, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Ronald Davis, a long time Bronx activist, grew up in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. He lived on Washington St. then moved to Jefferson Pl. and finally Shakespeare Ave during the 1970's. He participated in the Harlem Riots in 1964. Ronald Davis was kicked out of two public high schools and spent four and a half years in prison due to gang involvement and "jitterbugging." After time in jail Mr. Davis received a bachelor of arts from Adelphi University and a master of arts from Columbia University. Also, he was a part of many African American political organizations during …