African American Studies Commons^™

Hodge, Ray, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Ray Hodge’s family came to the Bronx in 1947 to Prospect Avenue. His parents came to the Bronx from St. Croix. The family was one of the first to move into the Patterson Houses in 1950. They moved into the side of Building 291 on East 143^rd street, facing PS 18. Many families viewed moving into these new housing projects as moving up in the world. There was a real sense of community; everyone kept the building it clean and looked out for all the children.

He attended PS 18 and had a good experience there. He says that …

Dukes, Nathan, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

In the interview granted by Nathan Dukes to AAHP, the interviewee discusses the community life style in the Patterson Houses during 50s, social issues such as drugs, numbers runners, religion, racism within the African American community in Patterson Houses.

In the first part of the interview, Nathan Dukes talked about the closely relationship of all families living in Paterson Houses and the kind of economy that the community was involved at the specific time he covered all the occupations that young people, fathers, and mothers that were tenants of the Paterson Houses were involved. According to him, while the kids …

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 …

Smith, Carolyn & Jack, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Carolyn Smith was born in Metropolitan Hospital and lived in Harlem until around the age of 6 when she moved to the Melrose Housing Development in the early 1940’s. Her mother and a community of friends she grew up with in Hell’s Kitchen would all move around together. They moved around in Harlem a few times before settling in at Melrose. Carolyn discusses a common theme among those who grew up in this time of a sense of community where people in the neighborhood would watch others children. When they moved to Melrose it was a new housing project and …

Smith, Candace, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Candace Smith was born and raised in the Bronx. From what she recalls her family lived on the top story of a two family home in the Tremont neighborhood until moving to the Patterson Houses in 1957 when she was around age 8. The home in Tremont was in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood and she does not recall there being any other black families in the neighborhood. On the other hand, when they moved to the Patterson Houses, she does not recall any white families in the neighborhood there. Both of her parents had also grown up in the Bronx, …

Calderon, Nicholas Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison, Noel Wolfe, Dawn Russell

INTERVIEWEE: Nicholas Calderon

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Nicholas Calderon (b. 5/12/1986) is a rapper from the South Bronx. He is also the founder and owner of Take Money Records. He was born in the Taft Houses in East Harlem to a Puerto Rican father and an African-American mother. Because his mother was a crack addict and his father was a heroin addict, he began living with his grandmother at the age of two. He was raised in the Beekman Housing Project in the South Bronx, near St. Mary’s Park. Calderon was …

Callender, Mike And Caines Jr., Robert And Caines, Robert And Howell, Melvin And Johnson, Keith, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Mike Callender (b. 1/21/1963) grew up in the Patterson Houses and was deeply involved in DJ culture. He had access to many records, so he was a great resource for DJs who were looking for fresh beats to spin with. He was also a friend of Robert Caines, Sr. (DJ Rockin’ Rob), and he also did some DJing himself.

Robert Caines, Jr. (DJ Flawless, b. 1/23/1983) grew up in the Mott Haven projects, near the Patterson Houses. He is DJ Rockin’ Rob’s son, and accordingly, was introduced to Djing at a very young age. He first started experimenting with a …

Questell, Americo And Connie, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

141^st Interview

Interviewee: Connie and Americo Questell

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Date of Interview: January 30, 2006

Connie Questell’s parents met while working as a maid and a butler for a family in New Rochelle. When she was born, in 1943, her parents were living on Boston Road, in the Bronx. Her mother was from Georgia and her father was West Indian. Americo was born in Puerto Rico. His mother is Puerto Rican and his father is Dominican. In 1949, his family moved to East Harlem, he was 9. After he got into a fight in …

Blakeney, James, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

James Blakeney is a long time Bronx resident who grew up in the Patterson Housing Projects. His parents were sharecroppers from North and South Carolina. Neither of his parents received an education beyond the 6^th or 8^th grade. His father fought in World War II and then returned to the states to live in Queens, where James lived for three years, before moving to the Patterson Houses. His father worked at the mess hall of St. Albans Neighborhood Hospital and left the family, as many fathers were beginning to do, when James was ten years old. Mrs. Blakeney …

Fleet, James, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

The Fleet family moved to the Patterson Houses in the Bronx in the fall of 1956 from Harlem. He says growing up there provided for a very healthy and nurturing childhood. His father, Bittie Fleet a noted jazz musician, abandoned his music career in the early 1950’s to work in a department store, while his mother stayed at home with the children.

He had been aware of his father’s jazz career from an early age. He learned to play on his own, without lessons of any form. His claim to fame is that he was the person who influenced Charlie …

Mincy, Kenneth, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Kenneth Mincy grew up in the Patterson Houses in the late 1950’s. He felt very safe and loved. His mother was a nurse’s aid at a local hospital and while she was working a woman from their building would come up and watch him. Although there were many ethnicities in the building he lived in, everyone helped each other in taking care of the children.

He tells an interesting story about riding and studying subway maps at 4 years old. By this time, he was already and avid reader and feeling bored with his education in kindergarten. Because of this, …

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. …

Carson, Ron, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Ron Carson

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Ron Carson’s early child hood was spent on Tinton Avenue near 1163^rd Street. His father moved to there from Virginia after his military career ended. The neighborhood was very diverse and he remembers experiencing a strong sense of community.

In 1953 the family was forced to move to the Patterson Houses because their neighborhood was being demolished to make way for the Forest Houses. Although the Patterson Houses did not have a bad reputation, the family was scared of the move. He was scared of changing schools as …

Best, Gloria And Best, Adrian, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewees: Gloria and Adrian Best

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison

Date of Interview: July 1, 2003

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Gloria Best lived in the Bronx for most of her life and lived in Manhattan only for a short while when she was a child. When she moved back to the Bronx, she was 12 years old and moved to Union Avenue. She attended Morris High School and attended Zion Apostolic. Morris High School as well as the neighborhood she lived in at the time were predominately white.

Her husband was in the military and when they initially got married they …