African American Studies Commons^™

David, Patricia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewers: Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Interviewee: Patricia David

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury

Patricia David was born inBirmingham,Englandin 1959. Her parents were both born inDominicain the French West Indies and immigrated toEngland. After Patricia was born her father came alone to theUnited Statesand lived inQueens. He then became a superintendent of a building in theSouth Bronxand then Patricia and her siblings moved along with their mother into the ground floor apartment onTremont Avenue. Her mother basically took over superintendent duties so that her father could work to provide extra income. Many of the other apartments in the building were occupied …

Lake, Olivia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Natasha Lightfoot, Mali Olatunji

INTERVIEWEE: Olivia Lake

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Olivia Lake (aka “Mama Lake”) was born in Antigua in 1905. Her parents were cotton and cane farmers. She remembers little of her upbringing in Antigua, but she moved to Trinidad to live with her father when she was 18 years old, after the death of her grandmother. She worked as a servant in a household there and was married there. In 1931, she moved to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in order to join her mother. In the DR, Lake worked as a clothes washer. She …

Capers, Valerie Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Valerie Capers

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon, Dawn Russell

Date of Interview: December 14, 2006

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Valerie’s parents grew up in Harlem. Her maternal great grandmother came to Harlem from Virginia. After the couple was married they moved to the Bronx. She thinks that many newlyweds at the time would move from Harlem to the Bronx. When she was born, the family was living on 168^th street between Union and Prospect Avenue. While she was living there, she lost her sight. When she was young she lost her vision. She had pink eye that …

Rooks, Valerie, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Valerie Rooks, born on July 29, 1954, grew up in the Sedgwick Housing Projects of the Bronx. Her parents, Helen Eugenia Hagen and Robert Lee Dillard, raised in Connecticut and Georgia respectively, moved into the project in 1952. Rooks recalls spending summers with her father’s family in Savannah Georgia in her preteen years. The Dillards worked several jobs to support their five children. In addition to working for the post office, her father took on odd jobs including cab driving and mechanic work. Her mother too held various part-time positions such as working for the board of elections, the census …

Melendez, Benjamin, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

In this moving interview with the Bronx African American History Project, Benjamin Melendez, speaks with Dr. Mark Naison about his life, which has taken him from gang member to community organizer who now tries to educate young men and women about the dangers of the lifestyle that he once led.

Born in 1952 on the island of Puerto Rico, Melendez moved to New York when he was just eight months old, jumping from place to place in New York City before settling in the Bronx in 1964. Living on Stebbins Ave between 163^rd and 165^th streets in Morrisania, …

Lawrence, Rosalind, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Rosalind Lawrence

Interviewer: Dr. Brian Purnell

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Rosalind was born on November 26, 1956 in the Bronx. She grew up in the Sedgwick Houses. Her mother was born in Connecticut and her father was born in Georgia. Her parents moved from Prospect Avenue to the Sedgwick houses and saw it as moving up. The Sedgwick houses were originally for Veterans, and because her father was in the Korean War, they were able to move into the Sedgwick housing projects. They had a roomy 2 bed room apartment. Most of African Americans living in her building were …

Swerdlow, Marian, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Marian Swerdlow was born on November 8^th, 1949. Her mother was born in the Bronx, and her father’s family emigrated from Russia and lived on the Lower East Side. After marrying, they moved to a small house in Morrisania, at 3660 Park Avenue. Marian’s parents were active members of the communist party, although Marian herself did not find this out until she became involved in Vietnam protests and her parents informed her of their political inclinations.

Marian and her family lived as one of the only white families in their area, although Marian did not grow up with …

Byron, Cyril, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Dr. Cyril O. Byron was born atLincolnHospitalin theBronxonApril 15, 1920. His parents moved fromJamaicatoNew Yorkin the early 1900s. His father, who had been chief chef on Marcus Garvey’s ship, cooked for severalNew York Cityrestaurants and hotels, and founded Byron Caterers, one of theBronx’s largest black owned catering services. His mother did housework for prominentNew York Cityfamilies. Both were politically active, and his mother was a staunch follower of Marcus Garvey. His father was also superintendent for various buildings in which the family resided in theBronx, and Byron recalls doing much custodial work in the buildings with his brother.

In his …

Speller, Kathryn, Mark Naison

Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP)

Interviewer: Brian Purnell, Princess Okieme

Interviewee: Kathryn Speller

Date of Interview: September 23, 2006

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury, January 31, 2006

Kathryn Speller grew up in what was referred to as welfare island, and then moved to the Bronx in the 1950’s. While growing up in the city, she experienced the racial segregation that limited what areas she was allowed in. She described the racism she experienced in not being allowed in certain places or having to enter buildings through the servants entrances.

While looking to move into the Bronx, Kathryn experienced a lot of difficulty in finding apartments available …

Ford, Bernadette, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Inerviewee: Bernadette Jackson Ford

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Date of interview July 28, 1006

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Bernadette begins the interview by talking about her parents coming to New York. Both grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and met when they were younger. Neither one of them said that they felt the sting of segregation, and were in New York when most of the civil rights activities were occurring in Birmingham. When they moved to New York, they moved to Harlem with her father’s cousins.

She is the oldest of three and was born in 1958. She …

Chappell, Marguerite, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Marguerite Chappell grew up in the Morrisania area of the Bronx. Her mother was from Atlanta Georgia, and her father was from South Carolina. Her parents moved to New York City for more work, like most other people, she says. They first moved to Brooklyn, and when the Forest Houses were completed, they moved to the Bronx. Her mother worked as an educator at P.S. 140 in the Bronx and she was also a paraprofessional. She describes her mother as one of a group of people who helped reshape the face of her neighborhood, and Marguerite saw her as an …

Schlitten, Don, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

No abstract provided.

White, Nat And Drayton, Bernard, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Nat White and Bernard Drayton were the men responsible for producing a series of jazz concerts at the Blue Morocco in the 1960’s. The Blue Morocco was located on Boston Road and 167^th, but today no longer exists. The two men worked for Del Shields who was a DJ for WLIB FM, playing all jazz for 12 hours after midnight. Del knew Sylvia and Joe Robinson who owned the Blue Morocco. They began recording these jazz concerts on Monday nights for WLIB FM radio around 1964 and continued until 1967. While these jazz concerts were successful, it was …

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 …

Milano And Singleton, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Ms. Milano and Ms. Singleton are the Principal and Vice Principal of P.S. 153 in the Co-op City section of the Bronx. Ms. Milano grandparents were born inItaly, but her parents were raised inAmerica. Ms. Milano’s father was born and raised on115th Streetand Hone and her mother was born and raised onBathgate Avenueand181st Street. Milano’s parents married and moved toGlover Street, nearWestchester AvenueandHavemeyer Avenue. After Ms. Milano was born, the family moved to thePelham Parkwaysection of theBronx. Ms. Singleton parents originate fromSouth Carolina. Her mother moved toCentral Islip,Long Islandand her father was living inHarlem. After Ms. Singleton’s parents were married, …

Martinez, Tony, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Tony and his family immigrated to the US as refugees from Cuba in 1966. When the family moved to the Bronx, they were living in an apartment in a cardboard factory. His father was also a worker at a cardboard factory in Long Island City. Unfortunately, when he immigrated, he spoke no English and was consequently put into the special education class at PS 26. One teacher that particularly inspired him was Mr. Krinler. He was able to teach Tony and because of Mr. Krinler’s efforts, Tony was moved into the top class of his grade. When he was in …

Hines, Eric And Johnson, Lance And Wheeler, David, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewers: Brian Purnell, Mark Naison, Princess Okieme, Dolores Munoz

Interviewees: Eric Hines, Lance Johnson, Joshua Wheeler

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury

Eric “DJ Cool Clyde” Hines and Lance “DJ Lightnin’ Lance” Johnson were both born and raised in theBronxin the 1960’s. Eric Hines was born July 31, 1966 and grew up in the Soundview section of theBronx, in the Skylar House. Lance Johnson was born August 6, 1962 and was raised mostly in the Lafayette-Boynton Avenue Houses betweenStory AvenueandBoynton Avenue. Both men briefly discussed their childhoods and the negative environments of drugs and gangs that attracted many children their age. Hines …

Is The Civil Rights Movement Really Dead: The Social Philosophy Of Congressman John Lewis, Kevin Hoover

African & African American Studies Senior Theses

The path from rural Pike County, Alabama to the floor of the nation's Capitol was one litters with hatred, bigotry, and injustice for John Lewis; however, it was this true American hero who helped pave-over this scarred road with tolerance, truth, and compassion in the hopes of building "The Beloved Community." Born the son of two sharecroppers 1940, John Lewis entered a world which subjected him to the harshest times of segregation and souther racism. Over the next sixty-six years of his life, Lewis would dedicate himself to not just the cause of black Americans, but moreover, to the cause …

Conzo, Joe Jr., Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Joe Conzo, Jr.

Interviewer: Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon, Marvin Cabrerra

Interview on May 9, 2006

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Joe Conzo is the first hip-hop photographer and was born February 6, 1963. His grandmother Evelina Antonetty was a community activist. She moved from Puerto Rico to the Bronx and immediately got involved with politics in the 1950’s. She started the United Bronx Parents. His entire family, starting with his grandmother, stayed in the Motthaven area of the Bronx and all attended P.S 25. He grew up in the St. Mary’s Projects on 149^th street. Music played a very …

Theresa, Loretta, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Her mother and father were from St. Croix, Virgin Islands and St. John’s, Antigua respectively and they met at St. Mark the Evangelist School. They both graduated from St. Mark’s Elementary School, and they married when they were about 18-19 years old. The family lived initially in Harlem but when her parents separated, she moved with her mother to the Bronx, which she felt was “less crowded … just so bright and so beautiful.” She joined the Franciscan Handmaids of Mary, after some sisters from the Oblate Sisters of Providence from Maryland visited the Blessed Sacrament Sisters, and a nun …

Lightfoot, Joceyln, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Jocelyn Lightfoot

Interviewer: Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Jocelyn Lightfoot was an immigrant from Antigua and was born on October 6, 1946. She was number 4 out of 7 and her father was a mechanic and her mother a housewife. She had a very strict upbringing and did not go to many parties. For social activity, her family often went to picnics. She went to Christ theKingHigh School, which was a Catholic school although her family was Anglican. She first visited theUSin 1968. She was able to visit theUSfrequently because of her job with an …

Sabb, George And Mubarak, Naeme, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewees: Naeme Mubarak and George Sabb

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison and his Spring 06’ Oral History of the African American Experience Class

Date of Interview: April 23, 2006

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Naeme Mubarak and George Sabb are siblings who grew up on Boston Road in the Bronx. Their mother and father were originally from South Carolina and migrated to New York City during the early 1930’s. Their first stop was Brooklyn and they moved around quite a bit in the following six years until they finally settled on Boston Road in 1941. Their father worked in a steel mill …

Baily, Mary, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

158^th Interview

Interviewee: Mary Bailey

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Interview took place April 21, 2006

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 1-17-07

Bailey is a retired nuclear Medicine Technologist and grew up in Morrisania. Bailey’s parents are originally from South Carolina, but she was born in Harlem on 138^th Street. When she was six years old, the family moved to the Bronx. Bailey was baptized, but not necessarily raised with a Catholic upbringing because her mother had some issues with the Church after St. Augustine’s refused to enroll Bailey in their school. The family originally moved to Boston Road, but then …

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 …

Sanderson, Shelley, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Shelley Sanderson, a Spanish teacher in Co-op City, grew up in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. Sanderson spent her early elementary school years in the late 1950s living in her maternal grandmother’s apartment on Boston Road, which was shared amongst twelve family members. She explains that children in the family were independent and responsible, and that neighbors looked out for one another and the children. Girls and boys played outdoor games such as jump rope and Johnny on the Pony respectively, and boys’ stickball games were big neighborhood events. Music was a constant presence in Sanderson’s life growing up. …

Merchant, Jimmy, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Jimmy Merchant (b. 1940) is an original and founding member of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and he also has a career as a visual artist. Merchant grew up in Harlem and the Bronx, the son of a shoe-shiner and “street man” from the Bahamas by way of South Carolina and a mother from Philadelphia. His father was frequently absent, since he made a meager living as a shoe-shiner and a numbers man. He also had problems with gambling and alcohol, and Merchant recalls that he and his mother would see his father about once a week. His mother worked …

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 …

Rhoden, Everard, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Everard Rhoden (b. 1943) is a lifelong educator who hopes to embark on a second career as an entrepreneur. Originally from Jamaica, Rhoden immigrated to the US in 1954 to join his mother, who had immigrated in 1952. His mother worked as a live-in assistant in Queens at first, and then Everard and his mother moved to the Longwood section of the Bronx. At the time, the neighborhood was quite diverse, including Jews, Hispanics, Italians, African-Americans, West Indians, and Irish. Over time, the neighborhood became more homogenously black. Growing up, Everard was involved in gangs, although their activities were fairly …

Paris, Cecil, And Paris, Mazie And Paris, Arthur, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Mr. Cecil Paris and Mrs. Mazie Paris is an older couple whose families both emigrated from the West Indies to New York City in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Cecil’s mother began her life in America as a resident of the west side of lower Manhattan. She later moved to Harlem, where Cecil spent most of his youth. While his mother struggled to support the family by taking up domestic work, Cecil went to public schools in the area. Shortly after graduating from Textile High School, a vocational school for the textile trade, Cecil enrolled into City College. …