August, 2009
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More Brooklyn Navy Yard Stories
Building 128; Image courtest of BNYDC Flickr
Here are a few more clips from the BHS Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project:
Abraham Weintraub (b 1910) worked as a chipper and a caulker in the Navy Yard during WWII. This clip is from an interview conducted in 2008:
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Frank Siragusa (b 1928) started working as a painter n the Navy Yard during WWII when he was just 16 years old because he was too young to join the Navy. This clip is from an interview conducted in 2008:
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Leonard Beck (b 1928) describes his father’s work as a tailor in the Navy Yard during WWII. This clip is from an interview conducted in 2008:
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And here’s another clip from a 2008 interview with Ida Pollack (b 1922) and Sylvia Honigman Everitt (b 1921) who grew up together in the Bronx and worked together as welders in the Navy Yard during WWII:
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These, and over 40 more interviews from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project will soon be available for listening in the Othmer Library. Also, some of these oral histories will be featured in the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s new visitor center opening in 2011.
Brooklyn Summer H.E.A.T. Reflections
Today’s post is written by Evan Threadgill, who worked at BHS this summer through the Borough President’s Office program, Brooklyn Summer H.E.A.T. Evan is entering his junior year at East NY High School of Transit Technology. BHS is proud to participate in this program and gives tremendous thanks to Evan for all his hard work!
Today is my last day working at BHS, and the time that I have been here has been great. Everyday since the first day I started has given me more and more experience in the museum and the office environment. I was able to see how a museum operates behind the scenes in the office area. It’s not all easy I guarantee you that, but it was still a great experience and a pleasure to have been working here. Working along with Janice, Andrea and everyone else here at BHS has been wonderful. I’ve been in an office environment before when I was much younger at my mothers’ job, but I have never been opened up to it as I was here, and I am glad to have gotten this job. Hopefully next summer I will be able to get a job close to this one that I have had the privilege of working at.
Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral Histories
USS New York leaving the ways; Image courtesy of BNYDC Flickr
Since 2007, BHS and the Brooklyn Navy Yard have collaborated on an oral history project interviewing people who worked in the Navy Yard during WWII. BHS also interviewed WWII Navy Yard workers in 1987 – 1989 and we have digitized those cassette tapes to make the interviews accessible. BHS is a leader among archives who give researchers access to the actual audio/video of the interview rather than just the transcript. It’s one of the ways BHS furthers the mission to “make the vibrant history of Brooklyn tangible, relevant, and meaningful” today.
Here are a few clips from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project:
Carmela Celardo Zuza (b 1924) worked as a welder in the Navy Yard during WWII. This clip is from an interview conducted in 2008:
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Lucille Gerwitz Kolkin (1919 – 1997) worked as a shipfitter in the Navy Yard during WWII. This clip is from an interview conducted in 1989:
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Ida Pollack (b 1922) and Sylvia Honigman Everitt (b 1921) both worked as welders during WWII. In this clip, from an interview conducted in 2008, they remember the strong language heard in the Navy Yard:
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These, and over 40 more, interviews from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project will soon be available for listening in the Othmer Library.
Secret Bookstore on Montague
Housing Works on Montague
Book-loving staffers at BHS were sad to see Heights Books move off Montague Street a few months ago. Though still nearby at 120 Smith Street, it’s a little far to walk during lunch. Luckily for those of us in the know, there’s a tiny little-known “bookstore” hidden inside of the Housing Works Thrift Shop at 122 Montague. Okay so our savvier readers probably already knew about this “secret” spot, but, as Biggie says, “if you don’t know, now you know.”
I was mostly inspired to write this post because of the phenomenal deals I’ve gotten at Housing Works recently. A week ago I got a brand-new, shrink-wrapped Public Art Fund catalog Plop for $8 (It retails for $49.95, but is sold out on a couple popular online sites). Today I got a 2009 New York Times Almanac for $2!
I try to pop in as frequently as possible to check out the Newly Arrived section, but the art section and the two shelves dedicated to U.S. History are also favorites. There’s plenty of fiction and all kinds of other great book gift ideas in there too. Most paperback fiction (I spotted Middlesex and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime) is $2.
Bookstore Within a Store
Although the entire books section at Housing Works is about the size of a large closet or a Manhattan bedroom, there’s a ton of excellent stuff in there. It comes mostly from “donations from folks right in the neighborhood,” said Josh, one of the friendly staffers. It also feels great to support Housing Works whose thrift shops are just one small part of an organization which provides “lifesaving services, such as housing, medical and mental health care, meals, job training, drug treatment, HIV prevention education, and social support to more than 20,000 homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS.”
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In other Brooklyn bookstore news, I’ve just heard (one minute ago over twitter) that the Greenlight Bookstore which is soon to open in Fort Greene has just gotten their building permit approved by the City. Congrats to them! Those of us at BHS who are Fort Greeners are particularly excited about this imminent addition to our neighborhood.
Here’s a shot of one of my favorite grafitti pieces in Brooklyn (I see it every time I bike over the Manhattan Bridge): R E A D!