About This Item

  • Call NumberOSOS_OH_0157
  • Summary(0:48) Born at Kings County Hospital, parents lived on Glenmore Avenue, attended P.S. 202, Franklin K. Lane High School, Thomas Jefferson High School -- (2:40) Attended Brooklyn College as a young mother -- (5:20) Family moved to Cypress Hills Houses in 1955 -- (7:40) One of the oldest of 13 children, father an elevator operator at Methodist Hospital -- (9:50) Visited Cypress Hills Library as a child -- (10:45) Linden Blvd to Flatlands Avenue in 1950s; wilderness, factories -- (12:25) Changes in East New York -- (16:00) Caucasian, Italian, Jewish, Chinese neighbors growing up on Milford Street and Logan Street. Few Black neighbors -- (17:20) White flight in 1960s -- (18:30) Decline of Cypress Hills Houses -- (20:40) Former businesses in East New York: A&P, Bohack's -- (23:45) Moved to Brownsville, then Starrett City -- (25:20) Early 2000s, residents protest attempts to sell Starrett City to private developer -- (28:30) Beginnings of Ying & Yang community garden; partnership with Green Thumb -- (34:30) Active at Christian Cultural Center food pantry throughout COVID-19 pandemic -- (36:20) Composting, vegetable garden -- (41:20) Hopes for East New York's future -- (44:00) Ocean-Hill Brownsville school protests in 1960s, plans to return to community activism.
  • Date2021-11-18
  • Physical Description1 sound file (50 min) : digital, WAV
  • CreatorPartee, Mamie
  • CollectionOur Streets, Our Stories collection
  • Cite AsOur Streets, Our Stories collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
  • Formatsound recording-nonmusical
  • Genreinterviews
  • NoteAudio interview conducted on November 18, 2021 by Virginia Marshall. Collected for the Covid-19 Oral History Project through Our Streets, Our Stories, an oral history project of Brooklyn Public Library. This project is a partnership with Services for Older Adults and the Brooklyn Collection.
  • SubjectCommunity gardens ; Starrett City (Housing complex) ; Public housing--New York (State)--New York ; Ocean Hill-Brownsville Demonstration School District (New York, N.Y.)
  • PlaceEast New York (New York, N.Y.)
  • RightsThis work is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Users are free to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given to the source and new material created with this work is shared under the same conditions.
  • TitleOral history interview conducted with Mamie Partee on 2021 November 18.