Archives & Library Special Collections
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Call Number: 1976.001
Extent: 1.75 Linear feet, in four manuscript boxes and three audio cassette tape boxes
The Long Island Historical Society initiated the Puerto Rican Oral History Project in 1973. Using funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, over seventy-five interviews were conducted documenting the experiences of Brooklyn residents who arrived from Puerto Rico between 1917 and 1940. This collection includes recordings and transcripts of interviews conducted primarily between 1973 and 1975. Also included are newspaper clippings, brochures, booklets about Brooklyn’s Puerto Rican community, and administrative information on how the project was developed, carried out, and evaluated.
Recordings of these interviews and accompanying transcripts are available in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library.
Names:
- Acosta, Flora, 1894-1975
- Colon, Jesus, 1901-1974
- Cruz, Celia
- Dennis, Antonia
- Grevi, Santiago
- Kelly, James
- Weber, Louis
- International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union
- La Prensa
- Long Island University
- Museo del Barrio
- New York City Public Schools
- Pfizer Inc.
- Puerto Rican Merchants Association
- Puerto Rican Writers Association
- Puerto Rico Winter League (Baseball league)
- Universidad de Puerto Rico . Centro de Investigaciones
- Acosta, Magda, 1905-
- Acosta, Ramon, 1880-
- Acosta, Rosenda, 1908-
- Ally, Trina, 1921-
- Armas, Encarnacion, 1910-
- Arroyo, Angel M., 1912-
- Arroyo, Carmen R., 1909-
- Barreto, Jaime
- Bermudez, Justina, 1921-
- Bonilla, Carmelita, 1908-
- Carrasquillo, Magdalena, 1910-
- Carrero, Jean, 1914-
- Colon, Ramon, 1900-
- Correa, Elba
- Cortes, Esther M., 1910-
- Cortiella, Mayda
- Cresente, Mercedes
- Cresente, Pedro
- De Jesus, Pastor, 1889-
- Diaz, Mercedes
- Estepa, Julio, 1918-
- Ferrell, Julio, 1893-
- Festa, Josephine, 1927-
- Figueroa, Rosario, 1902-
- Fontanez-Soto, Santiago, 1905-
- Fortun, Maria, 1899-
- Garden , Maximina, 1914-
- Giboyeaux, Jose Ramon, 1901-
- Gonzalez, Carmen, 1926-
- Guanhill, Elizabeth, 1924-
- Guanhill, Pedro, 1915-
- Hernandez, Julio, 1925-
- Hernandez, Luis, 1920-
- Homar, Lorenzo
- Hostalaza, Emilio, 1900-
- Irizarry, Honorina Weber, 1906-
- LaRosa, Ramon, 1898-
- Larrequi, Dicky, 1927-
- Loperena, Felix, 1906-
- Maisonet, Jovita, 1904-
- Malabe, Orlando, 1919-
- Marinez, Gumercindo, 1935-
- Marrero, Luis, 1901-
- Marti, Anaberta, 1915-
- Marti, Nereida, 1934-
- Martinez, Gregorio, 1906-
- Medina, Felipe, 1896-
- Melendez, Angel, 1897-
- Melendez, Filomena, 1885-
- Mercado, Peter O., 1909-
- Mongtignier, Gilbert, 1938-
- Mulero, Mildred, 1928-
- Negron, Sophie, 1891-
- Oliveras, Edna Rosado, 1934
- Padron, Lucila
- Perez, Nick, 1905-
- Plasencia, Gonzalo, 1909-
- Pratts, Francisco, 1902-
- Ramirez, Encarnation
- Ramos, Juan, 1908-
- Ramos, Maria C.
- Rivera, Cecilia, 1903-
- Rivera, Monte
- Rivera, Pedro
- Rivera, Tomas
- Rodriquez, Juana Weber, 1897-
- Rodriquez, Maria, 1911-
- Rodriquez, Pedro, 1912-
- Rodriquez, Ramon, 1902-
- Rosado, Roberto
- Ruiz
- Santiago, Georgina, 1890-
- Santos, William
- Sepulveda, Ernesto, 1903-
- Simmons, Rafaela, 1903-
- Tapia, Carlos
- Tejada, Gloria, 1925-
- Torres, Clemente, 1905-
- Torres
- Torres, Olga, 1917-
- Vazquez, John
- Vazquez, Juan, 1912-
- Velasquez, Carolina, 1911-
- Vice, Celia M., 1913-
- Villa, Betty, 1919-
- Hunter College. Centro de Estudios Puertorriquenos
- New York City Community College. Puerto Rican and Latin Studies Program
Places:
- Astoria (New York, N.Y.)
- Bay Ridge (New York, N.Y)
- Bronx (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Bushwick (New York, N.Y.)
- Cobble Hill (New York, N.Y.)
- Flatbush (New York, N.Y.)
- Flushing (New York, N.Y.)
- Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.)
- Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)
- Ponce (P.R.)
- Puerto Rico
- Red Hook (New York, N.Y.)
- San Juan (P.R)
- San Lorenzo (P.R.)
- San Tulce (P.R.)
- South America
- Staten Island (New York, N.Y.) — Maps
- Sunset Park (New York, N.Y.)
- United States — Emigration and immigration
- Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- El Diario La Prensa
- Armed Forces
- Citizenship — New York (State) — New York
- Depressions — 1929
- Factories — New York (State)
- Korean War, 1950-1953
- Local transit — New York (State) — New York
- Parades — New York (State) — New York
- Political clubs — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Rican families — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Rican poetry
- Puerto Rican women
- Puerto Rican women — Employment — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Rican women — Political activity — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Rican women — New York (State) — New York — Social conditions
- Puerto Rican youth
- Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Ricans | z New York (State) — New York — Social condititions — 20th century
- Puerto Ricans — Cultural assimilation — United States
- Puerto Ricans — Education — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Ricans — Employment — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Ricans — Health and hygiene — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Ricans — Housing — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Ricans — Poetry
- Puerto Ricans — Race identity
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York Region — Religion
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Interviews
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Newspapers
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Economic conditions
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Ethnic identity
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — History — 20th century
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Intellectual life
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Language
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Music
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Politics and government — 20th century
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Social life and customs — 20th century
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York — Societies, etc.
- Race discrimination — New York (State) — New York
- Race relations — United States
- Racism — New York (State) — New York
- Transportation
- Wages — New York (State) — New York
- Work environment — Puerto Rico
- Work environment — United States
- World War, 1914-1918
- World War, 1939-1945
View Finding Aid
Call Number: ARC.032
Extent: 2.0 Linear feet, in 5 manuscript boxes.
The collection contains thirty-five oral history interview transcripts, photographs, a VHS videotape, and a variety of printed ephemera, including newspaper clippings, fliers, handouts, programs, business cards, brochures, booklets and restaurant menus. It is arranged thematically into four series: 1) Transcripts, 1988-1989, 2) Puerto Rican Community, 1973-1991, 3) Other Hispanic Communities, 1950-1992, and 4) Photographs.
The Hispanic Communities Documentation Project was an archival initiative based at the Brooklyn Historical Society in the late 1980s and directed by Morton Marks. The project sought to capture the cultural ethos of the Hispanic community in Brooklyn through printed ephemera (e.g. handouts, fliers, clippings, restaurant menus) and through the voices of community members themselves. At the heart of this collection stands a series of oral histories in which men and women of varying nationalities (Puerto Rican, Mexican, Ecuadorian, etc.) rendered the stories of their lives from birth to their experience as immigrants in the United States.
Though an official administrative history of the project does not exist, it seems to have been carried out as an expansion of the Puerto Rican Oral History Project, which the Society (then the Long Island Historical Society) initiated in 1973 and completed in the mid-1970s. Like the Puerto Rican project before it, the Hispanic Communities Documentation Project provides a substantial body of source material on the immigrant experience in late 20th century America.
Recordings of these interviews and accompanying transcripts are available in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library.
Names:
- Brooklyn Historical Society (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Velez, Tony
- Long Island Historical Society
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- United States — Emigration and immigration
Subjects:
- Documentary photography
- Hispanic Americans — New York (State) — New York
- Puerto Ricans — New York (State) — New York
Types of material:
- Magazines (periodicals)
- Oral histories (document genres)
- Photographs
- Programs (documents)
View Finding Aid
Call Number: ARC.269
Extent: 14.7 Linear feet, in 12 record cartons, two oversize boxes, one loose framed photograph, and 18 wav audio files.
This collection consists of records of the Board of Trustees of Independence Community Bank dating from 1850 and circa 1920 to 1981, including annual reports, various administrative and financial reports, photographs, and trophies awarded to the bank. Also included are oral history interviews with bank employees, conducted and recorded by the Brooklyn Historical Society after Independence Community Bank was bought out by Sovereign Bank in 2006. Recordings of these interviews may be listened to in the Othmer Library at the Brooklyn Historical Society. An index and transcriptions of these interviews may be read in the library.
Independence Community Bank was founded in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1850 and was originally named The South Brooklyn Savings Institution. It was bought out by Sovereign Bank in 2006. After the buyout, the Brooklyn Historical Society, with the support of the Independence Community Foundation (now the Brooklyn Community Foundation), conducted 16 extended interviews with past and present employees of Independence Community Bank to document the end of the Bank’s 155 years based in Brooklyn.
Names:
- Independence Community Bank (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.). Board of Trustees
- Independence Community Bank (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Commerce
Subjects:
- Bank employees — New York (State) — Kings County
- Banks and banking — New York (State) — Kings County
- Community banks — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Annual reports
- Business records
- Interviews
- Oral histories (document genres)
- Photographs
- Reports
- Sound recordings
View Finding Aid
Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History, 2006-2011. Sound recordings: 47 digital audio WAV files (80hrs)
2010.003
In partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, Brooklyn Historical Society collected interviews with men and women who worked in or around the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The majority of the interviews are with people who worked in the Yard during WWII. The narrators discuss growing up in New York, their work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, their relationships with others in the Yard, gender relations and transportation to and from work. Many narrators bring up issues of ethnicity, race, and religion at the Yard or in their neighborhoods. Several narrators describe the launching of the U.S.S. Missouri battleship and recall in detail their daily tasks at the Yard as welders, office workers, and ship fitters. While interviews focus primarily on experiences in and around the Yard, many narrators also discuss their lives after the Navy Yard, relating stories about their careers, dating and marriage, children, social activities, living conditions, and changes in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
View List of Interviews
Recordings of these interviews and accompanying transcripts are available in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92.
Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History, 1987-1989. Sound recordings: 12 digital audio WAV files (6hr, 23min)
1995.005
In 1987-1989, Brooklyn Historical Society interviewed 10 people who worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWII. Interviews were conducted by Benjamin Filene and Diane Esses and focus on working conditions and the experiences of women doing nontraditional labor such as welding and shipfitting. These interviews were recorded on cassette tape and have been digitized to make them available for listening.
Recordings of these interviews and accompanying transcripts are available in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92.
Congregation Beth Elohim Oral History, 2010. Sound recordings: 6 digital audio WAV files (7hr, 14min)
2011.004
In 2010, the Brooklyn Historical Society partnered with Congregation Beth Elohim, a Reform synagogue founded in Park Slope, Brooklyn in 1861, to conduct an oral history with longtime member George Harris on the occasion of the Synagogue’s upcoming 150th anniversary (2011). The synagogue on 8th Avenue and Garfield Place was completed in 1910 and the Temple House across Garfield Place was completed in 1929.
In these interviews, George Harris talks about his childhood in Queens, lifelong friendships, his grandparents immigration experiences, education, religious education, his wife Katherine Harris’ conversion to Judaism, changes in Park Slope 1962-2010, and the community of Congregation Beth Elohim including influential rabbis and changes in ritual practice 1962-2010.
Recordings of these interviews and accompanying transcripts are available in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library and at Congregation Beth Elohim.
Brooklyn Heights Synagogue Oral History, 2010. Sound recordings: 12 digital audio WAV files (16 hours)
2011.005
In 2010, the Brooklyn Historical Society and Brooklyn Heights Synagogue partnered to collect oral history interviews with 10 members of the congregation on the occasion of the Synagogue’s 50th anniversary.
Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, a Reform synagogue on 131 Remsen Street, was founded in Brooklyn in 1960 and currently includes over 330 member units made up of families, couples, and singles who live in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Park Slope and Fort Greene, as well as in nearby DUMBO and Lower Manhattan.
Recordings of these interviews and accompanying transcripts are available in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library and at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue.
Crown Heights Oral History – Listen To This, 2010. Sound recordings: 22 CDs (80 minutes each)
2010.020
This collection of 43 oral history interviews with Crown Heights residents was donated to the Brooklyn Historical Society by project director Alex Kelly. The interviews were conducted in 2010 with the help of the Crow Hill Community Association and five students from Paul Robeson High School who came to the project through the Brooklyn College Community Partnership (BCCP).
Recordings of these interviews and an accompanying guide are available in the library.
Crown Heights Oral History – Bridging Eastern Parkway, 1993-1994. Sound recordings: 40 cassettes (90 minutes each)
ArMs 1994.006
In 1993-1994, the Brooklyn Historical Society collected interviews with residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. Thirty-three interviews were conducted by Craig Wilder, Jill Vexler, and Aviva Segall. The subtitle, Bridging Eastern Parkway, refers to racial tensions expressed during the 1991 Crown Heights riots. Narrators are of African American, Caribbean, Jewish, Polish, and Russian descent and include members of the Lubavitch community.
Transcripts of 24 interviews from this collection may be read in the library (pdfs available). Recordings are not currently available to researchers.
8th Avenue – Sunset Park Oral History, 1993-1994. Sound recordings: 38 cassettes (90 minutes each)
1994.007
In 1993-1994, the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Chinatown History Museum (now Museum of Chinese in America), collected interviews regarding Brooklyn’s Chinese community in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. 28 interviews were conducted in English, Mandarin, or Cantonese. Narrators include recent Chinese immigrants as well as people of Italian and Puerto Rican heritage who live in the neighborhood.
Transcripts of these interviews may be read in the library. Some but not all of the recordings of these interviews may be listened to in the library; we anticipate the full collection will be available for researchers to listen to in Spring 2011.
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