Ed Moran

Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Ed Moran
Edward "Ed" Moran was born in 1947 and raised in a small town of Pennsylvania. At age twenty in 1968, he sailed to Europe for a four-month tour of the continent. Moving to New York City later that year, he lived in Manhattan until 1974. After moving to Brooklyn, he joined a theatrical company that performed at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church. In 1976, he formally became a member of the church. He became an Elder with the Session of the church a year later and after less involvement in the church for much of the 1980s, he joined the Session again from 1989 to 1991. Writing for a living, Moran is recognized as the unofficial historian of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church; knowledgeable about the church's mid-nineteenth century origin and subsequent decades, and equipped with first-hand observations of the 1970s through the 2000s.

In this first of three interviews, Edward "Ed" Moran begins with his initial contact with the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church and Reverend George Knight due to his interest in the theatre group that performed there. He looks at the special nature of the church services in that they didn't conform to type. Moran reflects on his own journey in the tumultuous late-1960s that led him to New York City, then Brooklyn, and his rapid rise in the church's hierarchy. He speaks to the social justice mission of the church, its use of history for perspective and learning, and its forward-thinking legacy. Moran spends much of the middle of the interview dissecting whether the church played a role in abolition or the Underground Railroad in Brooklyn. He shares a few short anecdotes of some of the most memorable congregants and occasions. Moran then looks back at the 1970s and 1980s when the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn was struggling and the church was actively reaching out to the community. In closing, he considers Reverend Knight's attachment to the church and that it may have been pathological. Interview conducted by Hillel Arnold.

The Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Our neighbors series features a broad range of narrators. Most are not well-known public figures but are well-known to their neighbors. This ongoing, extensive series focuses on Brooklyn history and the experiences of these narrators document national and international history as well. The interviews include people from diverse backgrounds making observations or sharing recollections about the growth and condition of several neighborhoods within Brooklyn. Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, and Fort Greene were heavily represented as of 2017. The oldest narrator in this collection was born in 1927.

Citation

Moran, Edward, Oral history interview conducted by Hillel Arnold, November 12, 2008, Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Our neighbors, 2008.031.5.016; Brooklyn Historical Society.