African American Studies Commons^™

Bonneau, Jackie Smith, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Jacqueline Smith Bonneau

Interviewers: Mark Naison, Robert Gumbs, Robin Kelley

Transcriber: Patricia Wright

Date of Interview: February 5, 2004

Summarized By: Eddie Mikus

Jacqueline Smith Bonneau is a resident on Lyman Place who has resided in the Bronx since the 1940s. She is especially notable due to the fact that she is the niece of Thelonius Monk, a famous musician. As such, she is able to provide a personal insight into Monk’s life.

Bonneau moved to Lyman Place from Home Street when she was a young child. She was the daughter of a Pullman porter and a woman who …

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. …

D'Augustino, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewer: Mark Naison

Interviews took place on September 30, 2003

Summarized by Alice Stryker

This interview is broken into 3 sessions. The first two are with an anonymous woman called “woman 1” and the third session is with an anonymous woman called “woman 2”.

Woman 1, who we later learn is Mrs. Jones, moved to the Bronx in 1947 to Oak Tree Place and Belmont where they were the only black family on the block. She was initially from Georgia, but moved to New York City when she was very young. Her husband was born in Harlem. They went to …

Coolie, Derrick, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Derrick Cooley

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison

Date of Interview August 27, 2003

Summarized by Christian Rivera

Derrick Cooley, a counselor, from the Butler houses ( E. 170^th Webster, South Bronx) grew up during the crack epidemic of the 1980’s. He experienced the interaction of drug dealers and drug addicts within the Butler house community. Furthermore, he witnessed the tragic effects of the urban drug culture through violence, rising high school dropout rates, and the influence of local Number Wholes.

The crack culture changed the priorities of the neighborhood youth. The youngsters were more interested in earning a dollar …

Davis, Ronald And Davis, Sara, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Ronald Davis, a long time Bronx activist, grew up in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. He lived on Washington St. then moved to Jefferson Pl. and finally Shakespeare Ave during the 1970's. He participated in the Harlem Riots in 1964. Ronald Davis was kicked out of two public high schools and spent four and a half years in prison due to gang involvement and "jitterbugging." After time in jail Mr. Davis received a bachelor of arts from Adelphi University and a master of arts from Columbia University. Also, he was a part of many African American political organizations during …

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 …

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, Bronx African American History Project, Mark Naison

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 …

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 …