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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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Julio Ferrell
Oral history interview conducted by Pedro Rivera and Tomas Rivera
May 10, 1973
Call number: 1976.001.017
0:45 - Crianza en San Juan, condiciones económicas de la familia paterna - Growing up in San Juan, economic conditions of father's family
8:39 - Recuerdos de vivir con la familia materna, racismo entre puertorriqueños - Memories of living with mother's family, racism among Puerto Ricans
17:07 - Viaje a N.Y. como polizón, tipo de pasajeros y condiciones en el barco - Traveling to N.Y. as a stowaway, type of passengers and conditions aboard the ship
25:32 - Primeras experiencias en Brooklyn, búsqueda de empleo, salarios - First experiences in Brooklyn, finding employment, wages
32:45 - Condiciones de vivienda y composición étnica de Brooklyn Heights, fiestas para el alquiler - Living conditions and ethnic composition of Brooklyn Heights, rent parties
46:00 - Anécdotas del trabajo en fábricas, composición étnica de los trabajadores en las fábricas - Anecdotes from factory work, ethnic composition of factory workers
60:38 - Efectos de las uniones, oponiones acerca de la desobediencia civil - Effects of unionized labor, thoughts on civil disobedience
69:57 - Recuerdos de Carlos Tapia - Memories of Carlos Tapia
82:18 - Opinión acerca de programas de asistencia pública - Thoughts on public assistance programs
87:04 - Experiencias contrabandeando ron - Experience of bootlegging rum in 1929
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Julio Ferrell
Julio Ferrell was born in 1892 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After training as a carpenter in Puerto Rico, he traveled to Brooklyn aboard the Hellen as a stowaway in 1924. It was there that he primarily worked in factories; beginning with a job at the Brillo Company. He first resided in his brother's apartment on Sands Street, and later moved to a house on Prospect Street, in what is now the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the time of the interview in 1973, Ferrell lived on Union Street in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Julio Ferrell begins the interview by recounting the lives of family members who raised him in Puerto Rico. He shares his experiences as a rebellious young man who, on a whim, left Puerto Rico as stowaway in 1924 and wound up making a new life for himself in Brooklyn. Ferrell recounts the working conditions in Brooklyn's factories and describes his relations with bosses and co-workers of different ethnic backgrounds. He recalls housing conditions and rent prices in the 1920s and 1930s. Ferrell also touches on the subject of racial discrimination; both in Puerto Rico and in New York. Interview in Spanish conducted by Tomás Rivera and Pedro Rivera.
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
Ferrell, Julio, Oral history interview conducted by Pedro Rivera and Tomas Rivera, May 10, 1973, Puerto Rican Oral History Project records, 1976.001.017; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Ferrell, Julio
Topics
- Emigration and immigration
- Employment
- Ethnic identity
- Ethnic neighborhoods
- Factories
- Great Depression
- Puerto Ricans
- Race discrimination
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- DUMBO Historic District (New York, N.Y.)
- Puerto Rico
Finding Aid
Puerto Rican Oral History Project records