Terms of Use
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.
Every oral history relies on the memories, views, and opinions of the narrator. Because of the personal nature of oral history, listeners may find some viewpoints or language of the recorded participants to be objectionable. In keeping with its mission of preservation and unfettered access whenever possible, BHS presents these views as recorded.
The audio recording should be considered the primary source for each interview. Where provided, transcripts created prior to 2008 or commissioned by a third party other than BHS, serve as a guide to the interview and are not considered verbatim. More recent transcripts commissioned by BHS are nearly verbatim copies of the recorded interview, and as such may contain the natural false starts, verbal stumbles, misspeaks, and repetitions that are common in conversation. The decision for their inclusion was made because BHS gives primacy to the audible voice and also because some researchers do find useful information in these verbal patterns. Unless these verbal patterns are germane to your scholarly work, when quoting from this material researchers are encouraged to correct the grammar and make other modifications maintaining the flavor of the narrator’s speech while editing the material for the standards of print.
All citations must be attributed to Brooklyn Historical Society:
[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.
These interviews are made available for research purposes only. For more information about other kinds of usage and permissions, see BHS’s rights and reproductions policy.
Marianne Engberg
Oral history interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe
December 10, 2009
Call number: 2008.031.1.001
0:14 - Introductions; first time in NYC in 1963; discovering Brooklyn; first job as photographer; working with J.F. Smith; green card & move to Brooklyn Heights
9:07 - Buying Fort Greene brownstone, renovating; creating a community on block; block association and block parties; chasing out bordellos; night patrols
25:08 - Fort Greene demographics began change, 2000-'03; government services replacing neighborhood groups; losing community garden; different group living nearby, more Europeans and money; husband's death
37:19 - Differences in neighborhood dynamics; less activism equals less neighborliness; changes on Myrtle Ave.; people are less willing to care about others' lives in 2009
50:26 - Ft. Greene & Washington Parks change; living near Brooklyn Tech; area churches and temples; becoming a historic district with tourism; Spike Lee; Long Island University; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts
64:40 - Art in Ft. Greene; Brooklyn Academy of Music; becoming a cultural hub of Brooklyn; change at Navy Yard and dismay at proposals; discovering Ft. Greene in '60s; places of safety, danger in '63
76:07 - Life in very diverse community; benefit of son's multicultural friends; encountering racists at area businesses; effects of gentrified Ft. Greene; landmarking of Ft. Greene in 1974; renovating their house
86:38 - Promoting area in '81; tours and journalists at Engberg home; offer of spread in "House and Garden;" California redwood as back deck material for magazine photos; husband's promotions due to exposure and his career launch into renovating brownstones
96:08 - Moved to Ft. Greene as affordable option to Brooklyn Hts.; feel of Ft. Greene vs. Manhattan, and preferring life in Brooklyn; why European arrivals choose Ft. Greene in 2009; choosing Brooklyn to live and work; end of interview
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