Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Everette Brown, Jacqueline, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

Interviewees: Jacqueline Everette Brown

Interviewers: Mark Naison

Date: August 2020

Summarized by Trystan Edwards

Jacqueline Everette Brown was born in the Bedstuy community of Brooklyn, New York. She fondly recollects her childhood as one of three girls in her family. Her mother and father migrated to New York from Georgia during the great migration in the late thirties. Brown and her family moved back to Georgia in the early 1950’s. It is during this time that she faced more overt racism, evidenced by her having to ride in the back of the bus. Nevertheless, Brown and her family quickly adjusted. …

Jackson, Sheila And Ann Myers, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

Interviewees: Sheila Jackson, Ann Myers

Interviewers: Mark Naison, Saudah Muhammad, April Fowler

Transcriber: Christian Contreras

Bronx African History Project founder Professor Mark Naison discussed with two members of the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha- Sheila Jackson and Ann Myers. The sorors (members of a sorority) pledged to the Eta Eta Omega Chapter (or Bronx AKAs) in 1978. During the interview, the sorors covered their biographies, the Eta Omega chapter's community projects, and the evolution of their branch and the AKA sorority as a whole.

Biographies:

Sheila Jackson was born in the Harlem Hospital and has one older sister. For …

Belton, Frank Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Frank Belton was raised in the Morrisania neighborhood of the South Bronx from the time that he was 9 years old. He was born in Harlem, then later his family moved around a bit before settling in a home on Chisholm Street in 1948. Although he had lived in the city when he was younger, he had his first experiences with Puerto Ricans when he moved to the South Bronx. Chisholm Street had a fairly mixed population, but his schools were mostly made up of Puerto Ricans. He says that this mixing of racial backgrounds did not affect relationships between …

Belton, Frank Interview 2, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Frank Belton was raised in the Morrisania neighborhood of the South Bronx for most of his life. He left in January of 1960 to attend Morgan State College, now Morgan State University, and returned to the South Bronx after receiving his degree in June of 1965. In the first interview session Frank discussed growing up in the Morrisania neighborhood. In this session he talks about his return to the South Bronx and the changes that he noticed.

When Frank returned from Morgan State, he moved only a few blocks from his parents home on Chisholm Street, to Teller Ave and …

Carr, Sylvia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Racial dynamics of the Bronx was the central theme of this interview. There was a consensus shared amongst each interviewee that the Bronx during their childhoods was a racially heterogeneous area. The area known as Fish Avenue were Sylvia Carr grew up was primarily composed of very well off blacks. However, the blacks who lived in this area were lighter skinned as each interviewee pointed out. Each participant acknowledged a certain light skinned v. dark skinned power dynamic. Indeed, some of those interviewed were able to “pass” and were often mistaken for white. In addition to the presence of blacks …

Ahmed, Ramatu, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Ramatu Ahmed

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison

Date of Interview: March 10, 2010

Summarized by Sheina Ledesma

Ramatu Ahmed is a leader in the Ghanaian community in New York City. She is currently a committee member of the National Council of Women of the United States and the Harlem Hospital’s Medina Clinic but is actively involved in many other projects and organizations that are working towards the improvement of the lives of women who live in both Africa and America. One of her greatest passions is bringing awareness to the issue of the lack of availability of higher education for …

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. …

Yartel Iii, Nan, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Nan Yartel III was born on the 15^th of an unmentioned month in 1965 in a village called Amatsou in the West African nation of Ghana. He attended primary school from 1971 until 1981. He is a member of the Fanti ethnic groups, one of the many different ethnic groups found in Ghana.

As a member of the Fanti people, he was able to obtain the position of chief, which enabled him the opportunity to finish his secondary education and thus came to the United States to do such that. He completed his education back in his homeland of …

Wallace, Kojo, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Born September 16, 1985, Wallace grew up with his family in Tarkwa, Ghana. In 1988, his father immigrated to the United States and has worked as a taxi driver. His father is also a leader within the Ghanaian community in the Bronx. In 2006, Wallace immigrated to the Bronx with his siblings and has been living with his father on Sedgwick Avenue. He will be attending medical school in the September 2010. He has an older brother who is talking college classes and is also in the United States Navy, a sister who is working to become a nurse, and …

Brown, Genevieve, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Ms. Genevieve Smith-Brown

Interviewer: Dr. Brian Purnell

Date: April 19, 2008

Summarized by: Estevan Román

Ms. Genevieve Smith-Brown is (was) a resident of the Bronx. She was a very involved community activist, volunteered her time for Seabury Daycare, policy board member Model Cities program of the and President of the Mid-Bronx Desperadoes organization.

Ms. Genevieve Smith-Brown, formerly Genevieve Smith-Brooks was born on July 12^th, 1937 in Anderson, South Carolina. In a town where most of the African-Americans were sharecroppers, Genevieve’s parents were one of the few African-Americans that owned a farm in Anderson, South Carolina. This farm …

Mcgee, Mildred Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Mrs. Mildred McGee was born June 29, 1927 and married to Judge Hansel McGee. Also interviewed here are her daughter Dr. Elizabeth McGee and Mr. Leroi Archible. In the first session, Mrs. McGee provides details of her education, her parents’ backgrounds, living in Harlem, the Bronx, Washington DC and moving back to the Bronx. She also describes her husband’s childhood and his education. She attended an elementary school where there were no African-American teachers and she had only one African-American teacher in Junior High who taught Social Studies. The students also learned how to sew, cook and housekeeping at school. …

Caines, Robert Jr., Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Oneka LaBennett, Mark Naison

INTERVIEWEE: Robert Caines, Jr. (a.k.a DJ Flawless)

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Robert Caines, Jr. (aka DJ Flawless) was born on January 23, 1983, and grew up in the Mott Haven Projects in the Bronx. He is the son of Robert Caines, Sr. (aka Rockin’ Rob.) At the time of interview, he was unemployed, but had recently been working for the Scratch DJ Academy. Robert, Jr. was raised by his mother and his grandmother. Although his father was often absent, Robert, Jr. became interested in hip-hop by listening to his father’s music tapes. His mother, …

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 …

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 …

Cunningham, James And Cunningham, Margaret, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewees: James and Margaret Cunningham

Interviewers: Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Date: January 9, 2006

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury

James Cunningham was born in the Bronx in 1918 and describes what life was like in his household and his neighborhood. His father was a light-skinned black man who was considered colored while in WWI, and later when he moved to New York City to work as a customs inspector he was able to pass as white, which likely helped him to acquire that position. James attended PS 23 elementary school in his neighborhood around 167^th street, where he was …

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 …

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 …

Washington, Valerie, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Valerie Washington is a lifelong resident of the Bronx, whose parents were both born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. She grew up on Wells Avenue, then 1098 Simpson Street where her parents were the superintendents of the building. She says there were no other African-American families in the building, and this was common in the area for the superintendents to be African-American with mostly white Jewish tenants. She attended PS 20 where she was placed in the top classes from the very beginning of her education. She then attended Herman Ritter Junior High and then Washington Irving High School in 1953, …

Coleman, Dennis And Mcfeaters, Harriet Interview 2, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Dennis Coleman is a longtime Bronx activists, political leader, and educator. This interview examines his experiences with the Board of Education in the Bronx. Coleman served in the New York State Senate from 1955-1956 and was on a committee that examined different education programs throughout the state, especially in inner city schools. When he returned to the Bronx, he was appointed to serve on a local Board of Education in 1966.

Coleman discusses the 1968 Bronx Teachers strike, specifically the actions of teachers on both sides of the picket line, the issues, parental involvement, and the participation of advocacy groups, …

Brown, June, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

88^th Interview

Interviewee: June DeVonish Brown

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Interview took place November 21, 2004

Summarized by Concetta Gleason 2-08-07

June DeVonish Brown’s mother was born in Freetown Village in Antigua and her father as born in Barbados. Brown was born in 1921 in Harlem Hospital. Her father was a jeweler and a superintendent, and her mother was a homemaker. In 1929, Brown and her family moved to the Bronx with her five siblings into a three bedroom apartment. Brown’s father was a Garveyite. Both her parents emphasized the importance of being educated and politics was always discussed at …

Nicholas, William And Nicholas, Margery, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

William and Margery Nicholas are a husband and wife who are also longtime Bronx residents. As such, they stand as examples of the many families that make up the Bronx African American population. The Nicholas’ come from different backgrounds (as William was a Negro League baseball player and Margery became a teacher). Despite their different life experiences, however, they have enjoyed over 62 years of marriage.

William Nicholas played baseball variants such as stoop ball and stick ball. However, he was also a member of organized teams, such as those sponsored by his schools, PS 51 and Textile High School; …

Wattly, Wayne, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Wayne Wattly was born January 5, 1974 in St. Kitts in the West Indies. As a kid, his family would visit an aunt in New York almost every summer. Wayne and his sister always enjoyed their visits to New York and he says he thought of New York as a grand place that he just had to get to. In the summer of 1989 the Wattley family moved to New York permanently. They moved to the South Bronx between Castle Hill and Soundview. His parents left behind careers they had both had for over 20 years to give their children …

Tyson, Cyril Degrasse, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Cyril Degrasse Tyson was born in Harlem in the early 1930’s and frequently moved around Harlem and eventually made his way into the Bronx at an early age. He discusses his family history and when his parents first moved to New York. His parents were both born in the West Indies on the island of Nevis and moved to New York after the first World War. They moved to an area of Manhattan which was referred to as the San Juan Hills at the time. He describes it as a pocket of blacks from the south and West Indies, Puerto …

Melrose, Arnold And Melrose, Evelyn And Teasdale, Ethel, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Evelyn Melrose was born in 1926 and at the age of 3 her family moved from New Haven, CT, to Washington Avenue and Claremont Parkway in the Bronx. Her father accepted a job for the US Government Post Office on Tremont Avenue and was able to live in the apartment on Washington Avenue because he agreed to be the Super and care for the building. This was how black families were able to get apartments in all white buildings at the time, only if they were the Supers of the building. His position with the government allowed him to still …

Jackson, Bessie Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Bessie Jackson is the President of the Bronx branch of the Society for the Association for the study of African American Life and History, founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1915. Jackson came to the Bronx without any family relations in 1946 and finished High School. Jacksonthen returned to her home state ofAlabamato attend Alabama State College, but by 1949, she had returned to and settled in theBronx.

Jacksonwas born and raised on her family’s farm inDallas County,Alabama. She did not begin school until she was six years old, but illness also held her back in first grade. However,Jacksonalways …