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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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Abraham Weintraub
Oral history interview conducted by Sady Sullivan
July 08, 2008
Call number: 2010.003.024
0:00 - Driving to Navy Yard talking about directions and changes in the Yard
4:02 - Narrator was a chipper and caulker who worked on the ships in the dry docks
4:48 - Dry docks operational now, and new buildings in the Yard
6:31 - How he got to work, train and trolley
7:22 - Use of dry docks now, and the size of the Navy Yard
12:02 - Debate over whether they launched ships from dry docks or craneways
12:43 - Factories and businesses in the Navy Yard now
13:25 - President Truman and the USS Missouri
14:00 - Driving directions and discussion of interview project
14:44 - Bringing women in killed the Navy Yard, men and women fooled around on the ships
16:32 - Left the Yard when World War II ended, and Robert Kennedy came to visit
17:20 - Returns to topic of women and men working together and fooling around
20:09 - What happened to the Philadelphia yard
20:47 - Worked in the dry docks on the Missouri, which was so heavy it couldn’t move
22:41 - Continues talking about women coming in and fooling around in the Yard
24:03 - Directions and planning for interview
24:51 - Missouri built and launched on the shipbuilding ways, and he worked on it
25:35 - Directions,navigating traffic, and businesses in the Yard now
28:27 - Going on Hammerhead Crane and climbing the highest steeple in the Yard
29:16 - Driving navigation and what the dry docks are used for now
30:13 - Discussing waterfalls in the East River
31:52 - Discussing camera at Fulton Ferry landing
32:10 - Driving navigation
33:06 - Navy Yard's role in keeping jobs in Brooklyn
35:41 - Narrator describes his job working on the USS Missouri again
36:28 - Old-timers still working in the Yard
36:53 - Discussion of buildings as they approach perimeter of Yard
37:27 - “Industrial park,” private sector coming in as narrator was leaving
38:08 - Navigation and discussion of driving
39:09 - Talk about relationships with other Brooklyn archives
40:31 - Purpose of visit to Navy Yard and interview
41:33 - Introduce topic of Irish and Dutchmen coming over to work in the Navy Yard
42:01 - Discussion about modern use of the Yard
43:55 - Everybody holding their breath during ship launchings
44:32 - Daniella returns with release forms, talking about Yard layout and hammerhead crane being taken down
47:54 - Discussion about trolley commute and gate security
49:20 - Talking about Yard layout, what buildings were and their tenants now
58:13 - Getting out of car and logistics
60:30 - Dry Dock 1, Daniella Romano talks about its history and how dry docks work
64:33 - View of bridges from Yard while working on ships
65:05 - Continued discussion about current tenants
66:54 - Walking back to car, audio faint and warbled
68:04 - Continued discussion of current Yard and tenants, navigation around Yard
77:15 - Walking around dry docks 5 and 6, where Narrator worked on the USS Missouri
79:30 - Story about Narrator becoming a marathon runner after the age of eighty
82:15 - Where family lived when Narrator worked at the Yard, on Carroll Street and then Empire Blvd
82:39 - Abe remembers working on dry docks 5 and 6, and notes how the area has changed
84:37 - Inaudible audio and large blocks of silence
88:00 - Jobs going from generation to generation, like crane operators
88:56 - Continued discussion of the Navy Yard now, and history of Yard development
100:33 - Formal interview set up and introductions
103:03 - Discussion of their tour of the Yard, it’s not the same, feels empty to him
103:43 - Describes work of chipper and caulker on the USS Missouri
112:53 - Introduction and entrance of COO of Navy Yard, Elliot Matz
114:08 - Continued discussion of riveting, caulking, and the other people working
115:35 - How he felt working on the USS Missouri
116:01 - All workers had their own rivet guns, which stayed in the Yard
116:40 - Opinion that USS Missouri was the best ship ever built
116:58 - Used to climb the Navy Yard steeple and caulk, wearing a safety garment for heights
118:45 - Launch of the USS Missouri
119:30 - Return to description of caulking and chipping
120:01 - Return to discussion of being used to heights
120:21 - Return to discussion of USS Missouri launch
121:35 - Didn’t think about connection between work and war effort, just did the work
123:20 - Discussion about ships viability when being launched, didn’t worry about it
123:54 - Return to discussion of women workers fooling around with the men
124:31 - Women couldn't hold rivet guns but they were good welders
126:54 - Returns to describing caulking rivets on the Navy Yard steeple
127:19 - Lunch breaks, workers could eat anywhere on the ship
127:42 - Opinion that the Navy Yard did a good job
128:05 - Effect rivet gun weight had on physique, and noise of the rivet gun
129:08 - Explanation of job title “chipper and caulker” – both tasks involve rivets
129:30 - Before the Navy Yard he did similar work
130:10 - Wasn’t too tired at end of the workday, but it was hard work
130:46 - Years he worked at the Navy Yard, including brief post-War return
133:39 - Passing the Post Office test
133:50 - Importance of caulking, what caulking means in shipwork
135:12 - Love of the Navy Yard chipping and caulking job
135:54 - Relationships with coworkers, didn’t go out after work, didn’t trust anyone
136:51 - Ages of children when Narrator worked at the Yard
137:14 - Opinion that they should have made a plaque for riveters
137:46 - Return to women playing around in compartments
138:10 - European workers brought in to do the inner bottoms and teach people how to use rivet guns
144:17 - No women on the bottom of the ship, resumes discussion of women fooling around on ships
145:04 - Working in Yard when he heard that war was over
145:33 - Discovery of a plate that a bomb couldn’t go through towards the end of the War
146:52 - Where he worked on USS Missouri – inner bottoms and sides
147:22 - Narrator wasn't drafted
148:03 - Born on Pitkin Avenue, brief background of his parents and family
150:21 - Opinion that the U.S. needed World War II
151:07 - Returns to talking about the work women did and didn’t do in the Navy Yard
151:31 - Accidents in the Yard
152:50 - Wasn’t smart enough for school, made sure his kids graduated college
153:31 - Commentary on construction of World Trade Center
155:17 - Running a marathon at eighty and setting records
157:30 - Return to talking about schooling, and his kids' doctorates
158:32 - More running races coming up, now he runs with escorts
161:52 - Retells story of son being told he’s not college material and now having doctorate
162:18 - His age, life coming to its end, pacemaker
163:08 - Feelings about working in the Navy Yard, getting muscles
163:28 - Returns to talking about women workers in the Yard being a mistake
164:25 - Thinks they should do something for the Yard, has idea to hold races there
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Abraham Weintraub
Abraham Weintraub (1910-2010) lived in Brooklyn for his whole life. In addition to working at the Navy Yard, Weintraub worked for his brother-in-law who manufactured education toys and handler for the US Post Office. He also participated in several marathons and races after retiring from the Post Office.
During his interview, Abraham Weintraub (1910-2010), explains his work as a chipper and caulker at the Navy Yard, where he made sure rivets were watertight. Along with his daughter and son (Florence and Irwin Weintraub), Weintraub talks about working on the USS Missouri, the other workers at the Navy Yard and competing in marathons and other races in New York and Massachusetts. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection is comprised of over fifty interviews of men and women who worked in or around the Brooklyn Navy Yard, primarily during World War II. The narrators discuss growing up in New York, their work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, their relationships with others at the Yard, gender relations and transportation to and from work. Many narrators bring up issues of ethnicity, race, and religion at the Yard or in their neighborhoods. Several people describe the launching of the USS Missouri battleship and recall in detail their daily tasks at the Yard (as welders, office workers and ship fitters). While the interviews focus primarily on experiences in and around the Yard, many narrators go on to discuss their lives after the Navy Yard, relating stories about their careers, dating and marriage, children, social activities, living conditions and the changes that took place in Manhattan and Brooklyn during their lifetimes.
Citation
Weintraub, Abraham, 1910-2010, Oral history interview conducted by Sady Sullivan, July 08, 2008, Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection, 2010.003.024; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- New York Naval Shipyard
- Weintraub, Abraham, 1910-2010
Topics
- Family
- Missouri (Battleship : BB 63)
- Sex role
- Shipbuilding
- Shipfitting
- Work environment
- World War, 1939-1945
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection