African American Studies Commons^™

Hill, Elighu Eldrid, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Eldrid Hill

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Niason, Ricardo Soto-Lopez, Dana Driskell

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Eldrid Hill is a former lieutenant of the New York City Fire Department who has been a long time resident of both Harlem and the Bronx. He has also been deeply involved in local politics and urban planning and a member of Community Board 3 in the Bronx for several decades. Hill was born on July 12, 1928 in Harlem. His mother was from the Dutch side of the island of St. Martin while his father was from St. Kitts. His father was an alcoholic …

Nesbitt, Robert, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Robert Nesbitt (b. January 8, 1924) was a soldier in the Tuskegee Airmen unit during World War II. He was born in Harlem, on 125^th St. and Broadway, the son of an ex-military father from South Carolina and a mother from North Carolina. During this time, Harlem was fairly integrated: his neighbors included blacks as well as Irish, Jews, and Italians. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Corona in Queens, to an almost universally black neighborhood. Unlike many young African-American men, Nesbitt attended high school at Haarem high, where he developed a passion for mechanics …

Brown, Roscoe, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison

INTERVIEWEE: Roscoe Brown

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Roscoe Brown is the head of a Center for Urban Education at CUNY. He grew up in Washington, DC during the Great Depression. Educated at Dunbar high school in DC and Springfield College in Massachusetts, Brown joined the Tuskegee Airmen in 1943. At Springfield, Brown was one of only 15 black students. He studied Pre-Med and played football, basketball and lacrosse—in fact, he was one of the first black lacrosse players in America.

Brown flew 68 missions with the airmen, and participated in the longest mission of all time: a …

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 …

Mills, Kenneth, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Jazz pianist Captain Kenneth Mills grew up on Kelly Street in the Bronx. His family moved from Manhattan to the Bronx in the early 1940s. He attended P.S. 39, Junior High School 52, and Morris High School alongside several renowned artists, activists, and politicians, including Eddie Palmieri, Elombe Brath, and Colin Powell. When Mills’ family moved to Kelly Street, the neighborhood was predominantly Jewish. There was very clear ethnic division in housing. Specific strips of houses were inhabited by particular ethnic groups. Despite ethnic partitions in his neighborhood, Mills’ educational and musical spheres were integrated.

Mills’ piano talent surfaced early …

Mills, Kenneth, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Jazz pianist Captain Kenneth Mills grew up on Kelly Street in the Bronx. His family moved fromManhattanto theBronxin the early 1940s. He attended P.S. 39, Junior High School 52, andMorrisHigh Schoolalongside several renowned artists, activists, and politicians, including Eddie Palmieri, Elombe Brath, and Colin Powell. When Mills’ family moved toKelly Street, the neighborhood was predominantly Jewish. There was very clear ethnic division in housing. Specific strips of houses were inhabited by particular ethnic groups. Despite ethnic partitions in his neighborhood, Mills’ educational and musical spheres were integrated.

Mills’ piano talent surfaced early in life. At age three, he surprised friends …

Alexander, Earle, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

143^rd interview

Interviewee: Dr. Earle Alexander

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison, Dawn

Interview took place February 6, 2006

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 12-20-06

Dr. Earle Alexander is a distinguished psychologist born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx. Alexander’s mother immigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad and his father from Grenada. His parents met in New York and had three children together; Alexander is the middle child of an older sister Elma and a younger brother Dawn. As the Harlem education system deteriorated, Alexander’s parents decided to move the family to the Bronx in the mid-1930s. The family lived on …

Coleman, Dennis And Mcfeaters, Harriet Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison, Natasha Lightfoot, and Claude Mangum

Interview took place on January 26, 2005

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Harriet McFeeters was a teacher, administrator, staff developer, and Assistant District Superintendent in the New York School System and originally from the Bronx. She begins by talking about the way in which the Bronx schools became integrated. Dennis Coleman says that they had to try and come up with a number of new ways attempt to comply with the federal laws on integrating schools. One of the ways they integrated the schools was through rezoning. In addition to the need …