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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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Marianne Engberg
Oral history interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe
December 10, 2009
Call number: 2008.031.1.001
504
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Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Marianne Engberg
Marianne Engberg is a Danish transplant who moved to the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood in 1968 with her husband, a furniture designer, and young son. An artist, Engberg is a professional photographer who spent her early career traveling around the world shooting for magazines before starting her own commercial studio in Manhattan. Her family moved to the Fort Greene neighborhood in 1972 and they renovated their brownstone, where she still lived as of 2017.
In this interview, Marianne Engberg talks about moving to Brooklyn as a young family in the 1970s and how their early part of her and her husband's careers were focused on trying to establish themselves in New York City. She describes how the couple fell in love with Brooklyn, their movement from the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights to the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, and the differences, trials, and joys of living in Fort Greene for over thirty years. She reflects on the role race has played in her neighborhood, how the neighborhood has changed in the past decade, and what gentrification has done to their area. Interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe.
The Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Arts and entertainment series features a dynamic range of narrators. Some are well-known public figures and others are well-known in their communities or field. This ongoing series focuses on the arts and the experiences of these Brooklyn narrators, as well as documents local, national, and international cultures. The narrators often discuss their production of works of art or entertainment media. The oldest narrator in this series was born in 1917.
Citation
Engberg, Marianne, Oral history interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe, December 10, 2009, Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Arts and entertainment, 2008.031.1.001; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Brooklyn Academy of Music
- Brooklyn Technical High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Engberg, Jan, -2006
- Engberg, Marianne, 1937-
- Lee, Spike
- New York Naval Shipyard
Topics
- Architecture
- Artists
- Arts
- Brownstone buildings
- Community organizing
- Conservation and restoration
- Family life
- Gentrification
- Historic districts
- Neighborhood government
- Neighborhoods
- Photographers
- Race relations
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)
- Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.)
- Fort Greene Park (New York, N.Y.)
- Washington Park (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Arts and entertainment