It Happened in Brooklyn : An Oral History of Growing up in the Borough in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s

by Frommer, Myrna

• ISBN13: 9780299206147
• ISBN10: 0299206149
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-30
• Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Pr

Summary

Mid-century Brooklyn was the home of the Dodgers, stoop-ball and stick-ball, a booming Coney Island amusement scene, and some of the best high schools in America. It also had a more somber side: gangs, red-lining, and block-busting. In this spirited evocation, more than one hundred voices reflect on the three decades in the borough between World War II and the Viet Nam War. Earthy and humorous, poignant and nostalgic, this book is an album, chronicle, and celebration of the Brooklyn of legend. Illustrated with period photographs.

Author Biography

Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer are a husband-and-wife team specializing in oral history. The authors of such notable books as It Happened in the Catskills, It Happened on Broadway, and Growing Up Jewish in America. They live in Lyme, New Hampshire, and both teach at Dartmouth College in Hanover.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
The Voices	xiii
2004 Introduction	xxi
Prologue: A Future to Behold	1	(17)
PART ONE WHEN WE WERE A COUPLE OF KIDS
The Streets Were Our Sanctuary	18	(24)
School Days	42	(16)
Look, Ma, I'm Dancing!	58	(10)
One Big Happy Family	68	(16)
PART TWO LIVING TOGETHER
Every Customer Was a Half-Hour	84	(24)
Everybody Knew Everybody Else's Business	108	(14)
From Sweltering Stoop to Shimmering Shore	122	(14)
Coney Island	136	(12)
One Nation --- Under God	148	(12)
Americans All	160	(14)
PART THREE THE DAYS OF OUR GLORY
What High School Did You Go To?	174	(24)
Hanging Out and Making It	198	(24)
Epilogue: That World is Gone	222	(18)
P. S.	240	(1)
Acknowledgments	241	(1)
Picture Credits	242	(2)
Index	244