African American Studies Commons^™

Norman, Gene, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Gene Norman’s family first moved to Clairemount Parkway and Third Avenue in the Bronx. He was an only child and his father was not living with him. His mother worked as a housemaid and later as a nurse. The neighborhood was predominately African-American and he attended PS 23 and PS 9. These grade schools had tracked ability levels, which were determined by standardized testing. He was always in the “1” classes and noticed that there were significantly less African-Americans in those classes. He attended Junior High School 52 and noticed a change in the makeup of the student body. Students …

Cruse, Harrison Jr., Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Harrison Cruse, Jr.

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Harrison Cruse, Jr. was born on August 10, 1935 in Morningside Heights, Harlem. His mother’s family was originally from Virginia and North Carolina but decided to move north during the 1920’s after experiencing an increasingly racist and violent climate due to activity by the Ku Klux Klan. His father was African American and Native American and had grown up on an Indian reservation with his mother in Roanoke Virginia. His father served in the First World War and later joined the Northwestern Railroad where he worked for many years. …

Altschul, Barry, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Born in 1943, Barry Altschul grew up in the West Bronx in the forties and fifties. Altschul is a jazz drummer who first learned to play the drums at age eleven. He grew up playing shows in the Bronx and Harlem while also attending “jam sessions” where he received pointers from jazz musicians such as Philly Joe and Art Blakey.

Altschul attended elementary school at PS 70, junior high school at PS 117, and then attended Taft High School. Altschul’s elementary school’s ethnic makeup was mostly white, whereas in high school Altschul recalls that the student body was 21% black. …

Marshall, Gloria And Marshall, Ronald, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Ronald’s parents moved north during the Great Migration in the 1930’s. His father got a job with the US Postal Service at a New York Post Office and heard that the Bronx was a nice place to live, so he decided to move the family to 3^rd Avenue in the Bronx. From 3^rd avenue, the family moved to Union Avenue between 166^th and 167^th. Gloria’s family moved from Manhattan to the Bronx in the early 1940’s to Franklin Avenue between 167^th and 168^th. Her family moved to the Bronx because her father …

Bailey, Shirley, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

112^th Interview

Interviewee: Shirley Anderson Bailey

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison

The interview took place April 26, 2005

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 1-17-07

Shirley Anderson Bailey’s family, consisting of her mother, younger brother and herself, moved from Harlem to the Bronx in 1942 when Bailey was seven years old. Bailey’s family happened to move to the same area of the Bronx with some of their neighbors from Harlem. Bailey’s father was away trying to find work in Connecticut because of the Depression and Bailey’s mother took night classes and was one of the few working women in the neighborhood. Most …

Ketcham, Malik And Ketcham, Rose, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Dorothy moved to the Patterson Houses in 1950 from Brooklyn. At the time, she was married with two children. They saw moving to Patterson as a stepping-stone to greater things. Rose also moved there in 1950 from Queens with one child. Both of these families were part of the first group to live in the new projects. People were very friendly. The husbands would go to work and the mothers would go to a play yard and socialize. The building was also very safe.

Dorothy and Rose’s children went to Catholic school. Dorothy’s at St. Rita’s and Rose’s at St. …

Jones, Pete And Blow, Kurtis, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Pete DJ Jones moved to the Bronx in 1970 to Anderson Ave and 164^th street, where he still lives. He initially was a basketball player and moved to NYC for better playing opportunities. Kurtis Blow first heard Pete in the early 70’s. He was amazed at the fact that Pete was using two turntables, instead of 1, which was traditionally used, and that music was continuously playing.

In North Carolina, Pete fooled around with record players and microphones and would “play DJ”. He eventually started playing at parties. When he moved to the Bronx he …

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 …

Archible, Leroi, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Leroi Archible [Interview 1]

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Jim and Kevin

Transcriber: Gregory Peters

Date: 01/26/2004

Summarized by: Daniel Matthews

Leroi Archible is a Bronx community leader, youth athletics coach, political organizer, and long time Bronx resident. He was born in Memphis and lived in Lola, Kentucky during his high school years. His father emigrated from St. Ann’s in Jamaica in 1928, and his mother was born in Tennessee. He grew up visiting his Jamaican relatives in Morrisania, and he moved to the Bronx after he left the Marine Corps. Archible attended Kentucky State from 1947-1950. He met his …

Henderson, James, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

James Henderson was born and raised in the South Bronx during the 1940’s and 50’s. He attended Morris High School during the 1950’s and graduated in 1957. During these years Morris High School was home to many musical talents who were from Henderson’s neighborhood. Groups like The Chords, a group who later became popular for their hit Sh-Boom, lived around Henderson’s block and attended many of the same classes. Henderson was also influenced by music during his youth. He collected jazz records and went to various popular jazz clubs on Boston Road like Goodson’s, Club 845, and the Blue Morocco. …

Brathwaite, Kwame, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

112^th interview of the Bronx African American History Project

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon

Interviewee: Kwame Brathwaite

The interview took place May 17, 2002

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 11-29-06

Kwame Brathwaite, a longtime activist, photographer and expert on the history of jazz in NYC was originally born in Harlem, and his family moved to the Bronx in 1943 when he was five years old. Brathwaite's parents are both from Barbados, but they met in Brooklyn. His father was a tailor who owned several Dry Cleaning businesses, which kept him constantly busy, and his mother was a homemaker who …