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Oral histories are intimate conversations between and among people who have generously agreed to share these recordings with BHS’s archives and researchers. Please listen in the spirit with which these were shared. BHS abides by the General Principles & Best Practices for Oral History as agreed upon by the Oral History Association and expects that use of this material will be done with respect for these professional ethics.
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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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Edmon Braithwaite
Oral history interview conducted by Bahati Williams
April 21, 2008
Call number: 2008.030.05
0:23 - Edmon Braithwaite's short biography, list of community-service activities
0:51 - Founding the Merchants' Association (MA); Business Improvement District (BID) in Bed-Stuy
3:33 - The BID & Merchants' Association's aid, guidance, and a network for local small businesses
9:56 - The BID and gentrification, threats to small businesses; Diversity within the MA
15:16 - Councilman Al Vann's role in advancing the BID
17:12 - Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's resources; recession readiness & aid
23:57 - Importance of keeping local businesses in Bed-Stuy; politics of alcohol sales in Bed-Stuy
29:58 - EB's desire to use his business operations as a mechanism of community development
34:56 - Final thoughts
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Edmon Braithwaite
Edmon Braithwaite (born 1959) was a businessman in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the time of the 2008 interview, Braithwaite was the owner of two businesses, co-chairman for the steering committee for the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood Business Improvement District, vice president of the Fulton-Nostrand United Merchants' Association of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and a chairman of 1 Caribbean Radio.
In this interview, Edmon Braithwaite details the responsibilities he's shouldered as a civic-minded businessman, his thoughts on community service, and describes his role in founding the Fulton-Nostrand United Merchants' Association of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Braithwaite explains the local Business Improvement District's goal of fostering an enticing shopping district to attract shoppers and support the neighborhood's economic revitalization. He discusses the benefits of prosperity and challenges charges of gentrification by citing a number of recent opportunities afforded local citizens by new small businesses. Interview conducted by Bahati Williams.
Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration) partnered on the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral history project in 2007-2008 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Restoration's founding as the first community development corporation (CDC) in the United States. Nearly sixty interviews were conducted with founding Board members, supporters, activists, artists, tenants, and other community members. Audio clips from these oral history interviews were included in the exhibit "Reflections on Community Development: Stories from Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation" (BHS 2008, Restoration 2009).
Citation
Braithwaite, Edmon, Oral history interview conducted by Bahati Williams, April 21, 2008, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories, 2008.030.05; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
- Braithwaite, Edmon
- Dabu, Joel
- Fulton-Nostrand United Merchants Association
- Katz, Noah
- Mitchell, Bernadette
- Robinson, Annette (Annette M.)
- Vann, Albert, 1934-
Topics
- Business enterprises
- Community centers
- Community development corporations
- Economic development
- Enterprise zones
- Gentrification
Places
- Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories