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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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Ronald Shiffman
Oral history interview conducted by Sady Sullivan with Kate Fermoile
February 04, 2008
Call number: 2008.030.39
0:25 - Early outreach & actions that birthed the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC)
9:13 - Intro to RFK; his famous tour through Bed-Stuy & YMCA speech announcing BSRC's founding
17:19 - Schism that birthed the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC)
26:49 - Political sidelining of Bed-Stuy's "strong Black female leaders" & gendered politics
39:06 - History of anti-poverty programs; BSRC's financial struggles & different eras of leadership
56:30 - Impact of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination; influence of BSRC on CDCs nationwide
66:26 - Racial dynamics of BSRC's first Board; segregation & the 1960s-era Civil Rights Movement
82:23 - Shiffman's work consulting CDCs across the globe in South Africa, Russia, Chile & NYC
98:59 - Bedford-Stuyvesant community life circa 2008; Weeksville Heritage Center
110:33 - Brain drain of enthusiastic youth from the public to the private sector; conclusion
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Ronald Shiffman
Ron Shiffman was born in 1938 in Israel. His parents had immigrated to Israel from Russia after his father was imprisoned in a Siberian gulag for his expression of Zionist political views. Shiffman's parents later immigrated to the Bronx borough of New York City, where Shiffman grew up. Shiffman graduated from Pratt Institute's School of Architecture, and later its School of Urban Planning. In 1964, Shiffman co-founded the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development (now known as the Pratt Center for Community Development). In 1965, Shiffman, in partnership with the Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, conceived and launched the first community development corporation, known today as the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. In 2012, Shiffman won the Jane Jacobs medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Rockefeller Foundation.
In this interview, Ron Shiffman remembers the nascence of what became Restoration. He provides background information, tells of its involvement with the Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council, which spearheaded its initial plan, and their fated introduction to U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Shiffman recounts Kennedy's historic tour of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn; the founding of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Renewal and Rehabilitation Corporation and the schism that birthed Restoration. Shiffman provides his opinion on the role that racism, sexism, and classism played in Bedford-Stuyvesant politics of the 1960s. Shiffman discusses the problems with reliance on federal funding for community development corporations (CDCs), and discusses Restoration's succession of presidents, noting their individual legacies. Shiffman discusses his work as a consultant to CDCs worldwide, particularly in South Africa. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan with Kate Fermoile.
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
Shiffman, Ronald, Oral history interview conducted by Sady Sullivan with Kate Fermoile, February 04, 2008, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories, 2008.030.39; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
- Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968
- Pratt Institute
- Shiffman, Ron
Topics
- African Americans
- Black nationalism
- City planning
- Community development corporations
- Community development, Urban
- Community organizing
Places
- Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- South Africa
Finding Aid
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories