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Sidonia Levine

Oral history interview conducted by Jennifer Egan

November 18, 2006

Call number: 2010.003.035

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0:00 - Introduction and discussion of pre-Navy Yard job at Western Electric

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4:59 - Navy Yard job test and job offer

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6:20 - Discusses photo of herself at the Navy Yard that was taken for The Shipworker

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8:06 - Husband shipped out for World War II

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8:26 - Was interviewed by the Brooklyn Eagle during World War II

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9:12 - Starting at Navy Yard and attending a blueprint reading and drafting school

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10:23 - Description of work making templates from blueprints in the Navy Yard mold loft

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13:44 - Movement about the Navy Yard, and discussion of buildings and layout of the Yard

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15:14 - Recounts watching Marine exercises out the window

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15:32 - Made her own uniform

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15:51 - Discussion of equipment and tools, particularly use of the band saw

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17:34 - Describes making the template for a ship’s bow

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19:16 - Career dreams before marriage

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19:37 - Length of time at Navy Yard and departments she worked in

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22:25 - Hours worked and snacks

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23:39 - Interrupted by and discussion about cuckoo clock

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24:05 - Camaraderie and talking about husbands with Navy Yard coworkers

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24:59 - Discussion of bill of ladings

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26:20 - Steps that went into making template

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27:02 - Friendship with coworker Pearl

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27:34 - Story about husband and brother both coming home from World War II

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29:18 - Describes husband's sense of humor and taste in food

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30:26 - Quit Navy Yard when husband came home and went to North Carolina for furlough

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31:32 - Reminisces about Navy Yard friend Rita

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32:33 - Reunion and getting back in touch with Pearl

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33:02 - Old coworkers giving her a card with picture of her in overalls

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33:40 - Reminisces about husband and family life

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34:09 - Locker room and uniforms, and story about getting poked by pencil through uniform

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35:55 - Talking about getting in touch with Rita and the Brooklyn Navy Yard interview project

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37:30 - Typical workday and layout of the Navy Yard

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39:24 - Sands Street businesses and limited experiences

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39:59 - Length of relationship with husband

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40:33 - Continuation of typical day and layout of mold loft, shop and school

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42:12 - Signing people up to give blood and giving blood herself

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43:52 - Discussion of current health

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45:21 - Legs affected by Navy Yard work

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45:50 - Continued description of template work and the ships she made them for

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49:12 - Environment and atmosphere of the mold loft

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50:03 - Other women working in the mold loft, their friendships and backgrounds

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52:40 - New Years party at shop where they everyone shared a bottle of alcohol

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54:16 - Had no time to socialize with coworkers outside of work

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56:20 - How the men and women worked together, rapport, income disparity, titles, etc

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58:39 - Income, pay schedule, and gambling on paycheck numbers

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60:04 - Remembering supervisors, particularly a Mr. Blackwood

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61:11 - Impressions of wider Navy Yard, including housing for officials and errands

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62:36 - Latrine layout with fountain instead of sink

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63:15 - Continued discussion of current health

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64:05 - Lunch habits in the Navy Yard

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65:39 - Turnstiles at gates like going to the ballpark

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66:11 - Events at the shipyard that she was never allowed off work for

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66:48 - Discussion of current meal and her current Century Village community

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71:25 - Watching Marines from the window and the lack of cars in the Navy Yard

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73:00 - Interactions with Pearl and Rita now and their differing memories

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73:35 - Going out together as a group after work

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74:22 - Missing her husband, and propositions from and interactions with male coworkers

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76:29 - Friendship with Charlie Burke, the quartermaster's nephew

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78:33 - Limited interactions with rest of the Yard outside shift-mates

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80:09 - Women leaving when husbands came home and continued relationship with Rita

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80:44 - Discussing entry into Yard, and different entrances and layout of Yard

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82:58 - Memories of Building 77

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84:00 - Not allowed to take stenography after getting caught eating in high school

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84:40 - Belong to baseball league that played in Madison Square Garden

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85:42 - Interrupted by phone call from younger brother

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87:08 - Received black mark on her record for walking out on a general

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88:54 - Where she lived after and before she was married

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89:36 - Discussion about talking with Pearl and a break in audio

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90:01 - Backgrounds of men and management at the Navy Yard

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90:40 - Atmosphere of the mold loft, "a special place"

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91:05 - Matchmaking for coworker and friend and staying with friend

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92:20 - Story about her friend's brother going to a "house of ill repute"

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93:30 - Continued conversation about playing baseball

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96:25 - Interviewer taking photo of narrator

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Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Sidonia Levine

Sidonia Kessler Levine (1919- ) began working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in November of 1942. She worked as a mechanic helper and shipfitter in Building 4 while her husband was deployed. Levine currently lives in Florida.

In this interview, Sidonia Kessler Levine (1919- ) talks about how she came to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard after spending some time at Western Electric. She mentions that she did very well on the Navy Yard test, on which she received the 15th best score out of 500 participants. While at the Navy Yard, Levine had her picture taken for the Shipworker and did an interview with the Brooklyn Eagle. She talks a lot about the camaraderie in the yard and the lasting friendships she made with the women she worked with in Building 4. She also details her job where she converted blueprints into wooden templates and attended extra school at Pratt for blueprint reading. She made her work uniform herself. Levine describes her visit to the Navy Yard in the 1990s as "sterile" compared to the liveliness of the atmosphere while she worked there. Interview conducted by Jennifer Egan.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection is comprised of over fifty interviews of men and women who worked in or around the Brooklyn Navy Yard, primarily during World War II. The narrators discuss growing up in New York, their work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, their relationships with others at the Yard, gender relations and transportation to and from work. Many narrators bring up issues of ethnicity, race, and religion at the Yard or in their neighborhoods. Several people describe the launching of the USS Missouri battleship and recall in detail their daily tasks at the Yard (as welders, office workers and ship fitters). While the interviews focus primarily on experiences in and around the Yard, many narrators go on to discuss their lives after the Navy Yard, relating stories about their careers, dating and marriage, children, social activities, living conditions and the changes that took place in Manhattan and Brooklyn during their lifetimes.

Citation

Levine, Sidonia Kessler, 1919-, Oral history interview conducted by Jennifer Egan, November 18, 2006, Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection, 2010.003.035; Brooklyn Historical Society.

People

  • Levine, Sidonia Kessler, 1919-
  • New York Naval Shipyard

Topics

  • Baseball players
  • Blueprints
  • Family
  • Friendship
  • Jews, American -- New York (State) -- Kings County
  • Mechanics (Persons)
  • Naval ships
  • Shipbuilding
  • Shipfitting
  • Women--Employment
  • World War, 1939-1945

Places

  • Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)

Finding Aid

Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection