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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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Juan Vazquez

Oral history interview conducted by Monte Rivera

November 05, 1973

Call number: 1976.001.064

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Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Juan Vázquez

Juan M. Vázquez was born in Puerto Rico in 1912. He immigrated to the United States in 1929, arriving in Brooklyn. In 1955, after twenty-five years of laboring in the borough's factories, he opened a grocery store, and for decades afterward worked as the owner/operator. By 1974, Vázquez had made Brooklyn his permanent home. He was a father of four; among them sociologist and this project's interviewer John D. Vazquez.

In the interview, Juan M. Vázquez offers a very succinct personal history; including his work experience and social involvement, starting with his 1929 arrival in Brooklyn. He describes both the relatively small and tight-knit pre-World War II Puerto Rican community of New York City, as well as socializing within the city's ethnic milieu of Southern and Eastern European immigrants. Early and mid-20th century Puerto Rican political and social clubs - as well as Spanish-language news media - are also touched on. Vázquez anticipates that he would spend the rest of his days in the borough rather than returning to Puerto Rico. Interview conducted by Monte Rivera.

This collection includes recordings and transcripts of oral histories narrated by those in the Puerto Rican community of Brooklyn who arrived between 1917 and 1940. The Long Island Historical Society initiated the Puerto Rican Oral History Project in 1973, conducting over eighty interviews between 1973 and 1975. The oral histories often contain descriptions of immigration, living arrangements, neighborhood ethnicities, discrimination, employment, community development and political leadership. Also included are newspaper clippings, brochures, booklets about Brooklyn's Puerto Rican community, and administrative information on how the project was developed, carried out, and evaluated.

Citation

Vazquez, Juan, Oral history interview conducted by Monte Rivera, November 05, 1973, Puerto Rican Oral History Project records, 1976.001.064; Brooklyn Historical Society.

People

  • Vazquez, Juan

Topics

  • Education
  • El Diario La Prensa
  • Emigration and immigration
  • Ethnic identity
  • Ethnic neighborhoods
  • Politics and government
  • Puerto Ricans

Places

  • Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
  • Puerto Rico

Finding Aid

Puerto Rican Oral History Project records
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