Adelaide Sanford

Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Adelaide Sanford

Dr. Regent Adelaide Sanford, born in 1925, was a career educator notable for her fiery defense of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn's African American students, and her unanimous election to the Board of Regents of the State University of New York. Sanford received her BeD degree from Brooklyn College in 1947, and her MeD degree from Wellesley College in 1950. After fifteen years as a school teacher in New York City's elementary schools, Sanford became assistant principal, and later principal, at Crispus Attucks School in Brooklyn. She earned her PhD degree from Fordham University in 1967. Sanford won unanimous election to the Board of Regents of the State University of New York in 1986. Throughout her tenure, Sanford's interest lay primarily in elevating the achievements and standards of low-performing schools.

In this four-hour interview, Dr. Regent Adelaide Sanford discusses her life's history, beginning with her recollection of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in the 1930s and during the Great Depression, and recounts a number of personal stories involving segregation and Jim Crow laws. Sanford recalls the foundation of Restoration, including its early effects on the neighborhood's African American citizens. Throughout the interview, Sanford openly discusses her personal opinions about the state of race in America in 2008, her achievements as an activist, and the reasons she was particularly successful. She shares her thoughts on her tenure with the Board of Regents, Ebonics in schools, the 2008 U.S. presidential election, and corruption in politics. Sanford discusses her personal life; her courtship and marriage, her diagnosis of and treatment for breast cancer, her affection for the African country of Ghana (where she was crowned a Queen Mother), and her Christian religious beliefs. Interview conducted by Laurie Cumbo and Sady Sullivan.

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

Sanford, Adelaide, Oral history interview conducted by Laurie Cumbo and Sady Sullivan, January 24, 2008, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories, 2008.030.38; Brooklyn Historical Society.