2011 Weeksville Heritage Center Oral History Series

Repository: Weeksville Heritage Center Oral History Archives

Creator: The Weeksville Society

Title: 2011 Oral History Series

Accession/Call Number: 2011.07

Dates: Recorded in 2011 [Bulk dates detail mid-20h century ]

Volume (Audio): .66 cubic ft. [total] CD 01 [Compact disk box 01] .66 cubic ft/box Volume (Paper): .036 cubic ft (1 box)

Location: Weeksville Heritage Center Archives

Language: English

Arrangement: Alphabetically arranged

Restrictions: Please contact the Resource Center Manager for further information.

Publication Rights: Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Resource Center Manager.

Preferred Citation: 2011 Weeksville Oral History Series 2011.07. Weeksville Heritage Center Archives. New York, NY.

Historical Note:

Weeksville’s oral history program was conceptualized by Mary Ann Brown as…”a realistic and viable method used to record the life experiences of residents of a specific community.” Mary Ann Brown was the Research Coordinator for Project Weeksville in 1973. The Weeksville Society emerged from a workshop called Project Weeksville: an archaeological survey of the Weeksville community by local college students, neighborhood youth and volunteers that began in 1968 under the direction of Pratt Institute professor, James Hurley. Medgar Evers College eventually became the home of Project Weeksville where Rodney Toney and Mary Ann Brown served as Project Directors (Maynard, J. & Cottman, G., 1983). Mrs. Brown created the oral history program, with the goal of documenting and preserving Black history in the Bedford Stuyvesant area.

The 2011 Oral History Collection provides information on the individuals associated with Historic Weeksville and Brooklyn, in general. There are sixteen oral histories in this series. The oral histories in this series were collected as the interviewees with close relationships to Weeksville were identified.

Scope and Content:

The 2011 Oral History Series is organized into two sub-series (compact disc; summary & transcript) and arranged alphabetically by last name. The sixteen oral histories that comprise this series document Weeksville & Brooklyn personal histories and memories from the early 20th century to the present. Highlights of this series include the oral histories of Esther Cooper Jackson, Louise Brown Boyd, Millie Burns, and Janice Quinter.

During WWII, Esther Cooper Jackson became the executive secretary of the Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC); this was the highest position in the organization, and she was among the earliest women to head a Civil Rights organization. As head of the SNYC, she went to London and to the World Youth Conference in 1945. There, she met W.E.B. Du Bois. She and Du Bois became friends and colleagues, and it was Du Bois who advised Cooper Jackson in the founding of Freedomways journal. Joan Maynard, the first Executive Director of Weeksville Heritage Center illustrated several Freedomways covers.

Louise Brown Boyd is a long-time Brooklyn resident. She was born in Brooklyn, NY, and when she was seven, she and her parents moved in with her maternal grandfather, David Williams. Williams lived at 1698 Bergen Street, one of the Hunterfly Road Houses. The Williams’ family bought the house in 1928. She remembered that her grandfather was an avid farmer; he subscribed to seed catalogues and farm journals. The family did not have a television at 1698 Bergen Street, so Boyd recalls that she and her grandfather used to go to Kinsgborough 6th walk to watch boxing matches when Boyd was young. Boyd’s parents courted at Berean Baptist Church on Bergen Street, one of Weeksville’s historic spiritual institutions.

Millie Burns first heard of Weeksville in 1981. After working for a corporation in rural New Jersey, Burns had taken a job at a “stat house” in the city: a photo-reproduction company. She moved to New York to focus on her photography. William Carey, director of Weeksville’s restoration process, came to Millie’s work to reproduce photos of Hunterfly Road Houses. Burns was curious about the house architecture, and Carey invited her to visit Weeksville. Burns eventually began working at Weeksville: her official title was the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal Coordinator. She trained the apprentice craftsmen who worked on Weeksville’s restoration to hold preservation education workshops for local homeowners and tenants.

Janice Quinter began her archaeological program directly after high school in Clarion, Pennsylvania in June, 1969. Shortly after that, she entered Community College as a freshman, where she met Jim Hurley and was hired part-time in an archaeological lab—then devoted to the work of the archaeological dig at Weeksville. The lab was located at 30 Jay Street at New York Community College. In the lab, Janice labeled, sorted, and categorized ceramic shards, broken pottery finds, and other artifacts from the archaeological dig. She was also involved several of the early Weeksville archaeological exhibitions, which were mounted at Brooklyn Poly Tech and New York City College in the early 1970s.

Complimentary Collections:

Lost Shrines Oral History Series 1970-1973 Medgar Evers Oral History Series

Special Formats:

Compact Disc MP3 Audio

Subjects:

1698 Bergen Street (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) 1960-1970 political demonstrations (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) 1968 archaeological dig (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) 1986 World’s Fair (Vancouver, B.C.) Vann, Al Hamilton, Alexander Arlington, Virginia Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Brooklyn Academy of Urban Planning (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Brooklyn College (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Smith, Dr. Susan McKinney (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) East Schools (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Education Rollins, Eleanor (Weeksville, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Jackson, Esther Cooper Castro, Evelyn FreedomWays Journal Foote, Georgiana Ghana Hurley, James (Weeksville Society, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Weusi, Jitu (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Mead, Margaret American Museum of Natural History (New York, N.Y.) National Black Theater (, New York, N.Y.) New Muse Ocean Hill Brownsville teacher’s strike (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Photography Rickert/Kleinfeldt Reunion (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) Shinnecock Indians--History Chisholm, Shirley (Weeksville, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Southern Negro Youth Congress--History St. Peter Claver School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Du Bois, W.E.B. Weeksville Society (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) Hunterfly Road Houses (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) Maynard, Joan (Weeksville, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Weeksville Young Ambassador Program (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.) Carey, William William Carey, Director of Restoration (Weeksville, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Contributors:

Jennifer Scott Kaitlyn Greenidge Ardra Whitney Emily Bibb

Finding aid prepared by Megan Goins-Diouf, Research Assistant, and Kristina Nazimova, Research Intern, in 2013.

Sub-Series 1. Compact discs contain the original interviews and discussions with the interviewees. Sub-Series 2. The summary describes intimate details surrounding the personal lives of the interviewees including names, age, home life, birth locations, familial history, churches and places of worship, community & Brooklyn activism, and education. The transcript is the official typed interview record.

Sub-Series Descriptions: Sub-Series 1. Compact Discs, 2011 CD 01 [Compact disk box 01] .66 cubic ft/box

Sub-Series 2. Summary & Transcript, transcription undated, 2011, (2011 Weeksville Heritage Center Oral History Series)

Summary: Many of the summary transcriptions are undated. The summaries capture intimate personal histories of each participant. The transcripts are the official written document of each interview in the collection.

2011 Weeksville Heritage Center Oral History Series: Sub-Series 1 & 2 Accession Number(s): 2011.07

Oral History History Oral Accession Number/ Location Interviewer Date Content Notes Bell, Doris 2011.07.08 Kaitlyn June 13, 2011 MP3 audio; Public school education in Brooklyn; Memories of Joan Greenidge Summary; Maynard; “Weeksville Lady”; growing up in Bedford- CD 01 Transcript; Photos Stuyvesant. Attended PS 3, then PS 11; “invisible people” as a student at Girls’ High School in Brooklyn; mentorship for College; PS 167; Joan Maynard lived in a basement apartment in her family’s home on Lincoln Place; parents migrated from North Carolina; black home ownership in Brooklyn; Memories of Joan Maynard.

Brown Boyd, 2011.07.03 Kaitlyn April 25, 2011 MP3 audio; Maternal granddaughter of David Williams; life in 1698 Louis Skookie Greenidge Summary; Bergen St. house; describes neighborhood and neighbors and CD 01 Transcript relatives living at 1700, 1702-1704, 1706-1708; boxing; Kingsborough Houses; farming in Brooklyn, recreation.

Burns, Millie 2011.07.06 Kaitlyn May 25, 2011 MP3 audio; Weeksville restoration process; William Carey; Hunterfly Greenidge Summary; Road Houses; Joan Maynard; professional photography. CD 01 Transcript; Photos

Charms, 2011.07.12 Kaitlyn November 8, MP3 audio; Third cousin to Dr. Susan Smith-McKinney (born and raised Vernon Greenidge 2011 Summary; in Weeksville); describes family tree and photos; recalls his CD 01 Transcript; Photos; education at Brooklyn College and some of his classmates: Family tree Joan Maynard, Shirley Chisholm, Will Thompson, Bishop brothers, and Hal Roberts; Shinnecock reservation/family connection.

Clarke, Una 2011.07.04 Kaitlyn May 2, 2011 MP3 audio; First Caribbean-born woman elected to the New York City's Greenidge Summary; legislature; describes her involvement in community organizations, education and politics; the New Muse and the CD 01 Transcript; Photos East schools; memories of Joan Maynard and assisting her with fundraising for Weeksville.

Jackson, Esther 2011.07.02 Kaitlyn April 21, 2011 MP3 audio; Memories of growing up in Arlington, VA; experience Cooper Greenidge Summary; working as the Executive Secretary to the Southern Negro CD 01 Transcript; Photos; Youth Congress (SNYC); describes academic work in Freedomways covers sociology (Fisk University); the founding of Freedomways Journal; her friendship with Joan Maynard.

Craig, William 2011.07.16 Kaitlyn MP3 audio; Shares family history and photos; Hamilton family-line Greenidge Summary; related to Alexander Hamilton, former President of the CD 01 Transcript; Photos United States; 1900-1950s racial shift in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Darrisaw, 2011.07.01 Kaitlyn April 11, 2011 MP3 audio; Student at PS 308, directed by Evelyn Castro (Castro is Monique Greenidge Summary; Weeksville founder and former teacher at the Weeksville CD 01 Transcript; Photos School/PS 243); Weeksville Ambassador Program in Panama; founding principal of the Brooklyn Academy of Urban Planning.

Hargrave, Viola 2011.07.07 Kaitlyn June 2, 2011 MP3 audio; Weeksville President 1972-1977; Bedford-Stuyvesant in the Greenidge Summary; 1950s; St. Peter Claver school—black history education; CD 01 Transcript; Photos describes involvement in protests/demonstrations against eminent domain and gerrymandering during the 1960s and 1970s; memories of fundraising for Weeksville.

Jeppe, Sehu 2011.07.05 Kaitlyn May 12, 2011 MP3 audio; Work-study student for Project Weeksville; Describes Louis Greenidge Summary; activism for development of African-American history CD 01 Transcript; Photos program and professorship at New York City Community College; lack of black history education in school; memories of William ‘Dewey’ Harley; involvement in the East and the National Black Theater—“The Blackening”; black musicians and artists; recollections of Ghana.

Kirmss, Arthur 2011.07.18 Kaitlyn April 4, 2011 MP3 audio xxx—transcription required Greenidge CD 01

Quinter, Janice 2011.07.15 Jennifer November 8, Summary; Student Archaeologist who worked with James Hurley at City Scott, Emily 2011 Transcript; College; 22nd year as archivist at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; worked with Margaret Mead at CD 01 Bibb, Ardra Audiocassette the American Museum of Natural History; Memories of Whitney training Boy Scout troops in archeological techniques /excavation of Weeksville site.

Rene, Simone 2011.07.13 Jennifer July 8, 2011 MP3 audio; Descendants of the Rickert/Kleinfeldt family, who lived in Scott Summary; Weeksville in the 19th century; Provide genealogical data on Georgianna CD 01 Transcript; Photos; Georgiana Foote and Emil Rickert, and their descendants; Rickert Velardi Family tree discuss family relations and identity in terms of race.

Rollins, 2011.07.10 Kaitlyn June 13, 2011 MP3 audio; President of Weeksville Society; description of Bedford- Eleanor Greenidge Summary; Stuyvesant’s ethnic diversity; research assistant to CD 01 Transcript; Photos Weeksville, working with Joan Maynard; financial difficulties managing Weeksville; Hunterfly Road Houses—prior to restoration.

Smartt, 2011.07.10 Kaitlyn June 15, 2011 MP3 audio; Weeksville Young Ambassadors Program—describes going Stephen Greenidge Summary; to 1986 World’s Fair in New Orleans, Panama, and Barbados; CD 01 Transcript; Photos Impact of the Ambassadors program; linguistic, cultural, economic differences encountered abroad; encounters with blacks and black Americans abroad.

Welch, Betty 2011.07.14 Kaitlyn August 9, MP3 audio; Race and education in the 1960s; Instrumental involvement in Greenidge 2011 Summary; Ocean-Hill Brownsville teacher Strike—kept PS9 open; Al CD 01 Transcript; Photos Vann and Jitu Weusi; consequences of school desegregation; Participation in archeological dig at Weeksville; Memories of James Hurley; Memories of Elmira Kennedy Corsi; working at Weekville as a corresponding secretary; connection to Judge Williams of Weeksville; involvement in “Magnolia Tree” and meeting Hattie Carson.