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[Last name, First name], Oral history interview conducted by [Interviewer’s First name Last name], [Month DD, YYYY], [Title of Collection], [Call #]; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Carmen Rosado Arroyo
Oral history interview conducted by Jaime Barreto
January 1975
Call number: 1976.001.005
0:03 - Introducción, trabajo de los padres en P.R., mudanza a EE.UU. y primeras impresiones de N.Y. - Introductions, parents' occupations in P.R., migrating to U.S., first impressions of N.Y.
8:59 - Crecer biligüe, la carrera de su padre, relaciones entre otros inmigrantes de N.Y - Growing up bilingual, father’s career, and relations between immigrants in N.Y.
14:56 - Organizaciones comunitarias, líderes y orígenes de la Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana de Habla Española - Community organizations, leaders and origins of the First Spanish Presbyterian Church
26:00 - El apoyo de la comunidad italiana y judia hacia la comunidad puertorriqueña - The Italian and Jewish community’s support towards the Puerto Rican community
30:18 - Actividades caritativas de la iglesia, cambios demográficos en Williamsburg - Church’s charitable activities, demographic changes in Williamsburg
44:26 - Welfare y sus efectos en las generaciones más jóvenes - Welfare and its effect on the younger generations
47:13 - Representación de los puertorriqueños en la prensa, la identidad puertorriqueña y el progreso de los puertorriqueños en puestos públicos - Portrayal of Puerto Ricans in media, Puerto Rican identity, advancement of Puerto Ricans in public positions
58:52 - Seguro Social, trabajar durante la Gran Depresión, programas de asistencia económica (CCC, WPA) - Social security, working during the Depression, relief programs (CCC, WPA)
63:20 - El futuro de la comunidad puertorriqueña, la necesidad de programas para puertorriqueños de edad avanzada - The future of the Puerto Rican community, the need for Puerto Rican senior citizens programs
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Carmen Rosado Arroyo
Carmen Rosado Arroyo was born in the 1910s in the neighborhood of Melillas in Santurce, Puerto Rico. She moved to New York in 1923, where she had six children and spent most of her life as a housewife. She was involved in civic and religious activities and was a member of the First Spanish Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg. At the time of the interview in 1973, she was sixty-five years old and had been living in New York for approximately fifty-two years.
In this interview, Carmen Rosado Arroyo briefly describes her life in Santurce, Puerto Rico and her first experiences in New York. Mrs. Rosado Arroyo talks about the beginnings of the First Spanish Presbyterian Church and the reasons for its establishment. She compares New York--as well as its population--of 1973, to the New York she knew during her first years in the city. She goes into detail as to how immigrants worked and lived together regardless of country of origin. Mrs. Rosado Arroyo discusses several social relief programs such as the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, and welfare. Interview in Spanish conducted by Jaime Barreto.
This collection includes recordings and transcripts of oral histories narrated by those in the Puerto Rican community of Brooklyn who arrived between 1917 and 1940. The Long Island Historical Society initiated the Puerto Rican Oral History Project in 1973, conducting over eighty interviews between 1973 and 1975. The oral histories often contain descriptions of immigration, living arrangements, neighborhood ethnicities, discrimination, employment, community development and political leadership. 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.
Citation
Arroyo, Carmen Rosado, Oral history interview conducted by Jaime Barreto, January 1975, Puerto Rican Oral History Project records, 1976.001.005; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Arroyo, Carmen Rosado
- Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.)
- New York (N.Y.). Department of Public Welfare
- Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Presytery of New York
- United States. Works Progress Administration (N.Y.)
Topics
- Depressions
- Emigration and immigration
- Employment
- Puerto Ricans
- Race relations
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Puerto Rico
- Santurce (San Juan, P.R.)
- Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
Puerto Rican Oral History Project records