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.
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Wendell Rice
Oral history interview conducted by Brian Purnell
August 31, 2007
Call number: 2008.030.34
0:51 - Rice’s intro, young adult career, path to Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC)
8:29 - Racial discrimination in city employment; search for housing; 21st Century Democratic Club
15:05 - Start as a community organizer with BSRC; Bed-Stuy culture, politics in the early 1960s
25:54 - Class struggle over superblocks; physical, environmental, social devel. of Prospect Place
37:54 - Career growth at BSRC; leadership of Franklin Thomas, Charlie Innis; youth centers
47:09 - Work at Restore Village, a gang-ridden housing project; community services
51:24 - BSRC’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP); WAP's mission, evolution, customers
66:37 - BSRC's mission, successes, future; Rice's college education, family's accomplishments
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Wendell Rice
Wendell Rice was born in 1943 in Conway, South Carolina, and moved to Brooklyn, New York City after graduating high school in 1961. While Rice's initial ambition was to operate bulldozers, he was stymied by racial discrimination. After a number of odd jobs led to disappointment and Rice was the victim of an armed robbery, he became involved with Restoration's community organizer training program. Rice's career was spent with Restoration, and he saw many of its hallmark programs come to fruition, including rezoned superblocks, programs in youth enrichment, and the Weatherization Assistance Program of which Rice served as director. Rice holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and political science from Brooklyn College. He has two adult children.
In this interview, Wendell Rice describes his early career, including experiences with racial discrimination within city employment in the 1960s; and his path to employment with Restoration. He recalls prime moments in his career as a community organizer, including his essential involvement with the superblocks program to rezone urban residential streets. He details work as a youth organizer, including the removal of heroin addicts from neighborhood streets, and the education of children at risk of gang affiliation. Near the interview's end, Rice explains the Weatherization Assistance Program, including its mission, customers, day-to-day operations, and technology-centric future. Interview conducted by Brian Purnell.
Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration) partnered on the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral history project in 2007-2008 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Restoration's founding as the first community development corporation (CDC) in the United States. Nearly sixty interviews were conducted with founding Board members, supporters, activists, artists, tenants, and other community members. Audio clips from these oral history interviews were included in the exhibit "Reflections on Community Development: Stories from Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation" (BHS 2008, Restoration 2009).
Citation
Rice, Wendell, Oral history interview conducted by Brian Purnell, August 31, 2007, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories, 2008.030.34; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
- Inniss, Charles E.
- Keller, Thomas B.
- Rice, Wendell
- Thomas, Franklin A.
Topics
- African Americans
- Community development corporations
- Community development, Urban
- Economic development
- Housing
Places
- Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories