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Abraham Weintraub

Oral history interview conducted by Sady Sullivan

July 08, 2008

Call number: 2010.003.024

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0:00 - Driving to Navy Yard talking about directions and changes in the Yard

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4:02 - Narrator was a chipper and caulker who worked on the ships in the dry docks

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4:48 - Dry docks operational now, and new buildings in the Yard

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6:31 - How he got to work, train and trolley

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7:22 - Use of dry docks now, and the size of the Navy Yard

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12:02 - Debate over whether they launched ships from dry docks or craneways

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12:43 - Factories and businesses in the Navy Yard now

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13:25 - President Truman and the USS Missouri

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14:00 - Driving directions and discussion of interview project

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14:44 - Bringing women in killed the Navy Yard, men and women fooled around on the ships

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16:32 - Left the Yard when World War II ended, and Robert Kennedy came to visit

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17:20 - Returns to topic of women and men working together and fooling around

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20:09 - What happened to the Philadelphia yard

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20:47 - Worked in the dry docks on the Missouri, which was so heavy it couldn’t move

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22:41 - Continues talking about women coming in and fooling around in the Yard

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24:03 - Directions and planning for interview

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24:51 - Missouri built and launched on the shipbuilding ways, and he worked on it

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25:35 - Directions,navigating traffic, and businesses in the Yard now

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28:27 - Going on Hammerhead Crane and climbing the highest steeple in the Yard

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29:16 - Driving navigation and what the dry docks are used for now

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30:13 - Discussing waterfalls in the East River

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31:52 - Discussing camera at Fulton Ferry landing

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32:10 - Driving navigation

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33:06 - Navy Yard's role in keeping jobs in Brooklyn

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35:41 - Narrator describes his job working on the USS Missouri again

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36:28 - Old-timers still working in the Yard

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36:53 - Discussion of buildings as they approach perimeter of Yard

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37:27 - “Industrial park,” private sector coming in as narrator was leaving

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38:08 - Navigation and discussion of driving

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39:09 - Talk about relationships with other Brooklyn archives

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40:31 - Purpose of visit to Navy Yard and interview

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41:33 - Introduce topic of Irish and Dutchmen coming over to work in the Navy Yard

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42:01 - Discussion about modern use of the Yard

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43:55 - Everybody holding their breath during ship launchings

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44:32 - Daniella returns with release forms, talking about Yard layout and hammerhead crane being taken down

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47:54 - Discussion about trolley commute and gate security

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49:20 - Talking about Yard layout, what buildings were and their tenants now

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58:13 - Getting out of car and logistics

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60:30 - Dry Dock 1, Daniella Romano talks about its history and how dry docks work

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64:33 - View of bridges from Yard while working on ships

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65:05 - Continued discussion about current tenants

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66:54 - Walking back to car, audio faint and warbled

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68:04 - Continued discussion of current Yard and tenants, navigation around Yard

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77:15 - Walking around dry docks 5 and 6, where Narrator worked on the USS Missouri

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79:30 - Story about Narrator becoming a marathon runner after the age of eighty

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82:15 - Where family lived when Narrator worked at the Yard, on Carroll Street and then Empire Blvd

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82:39 - Abe remembers working on dry docks 5 and 6, and notes how the area has changed

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84:37 - Inaudible audio and large blocks of silence

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88:00 - Jobs going from generation to generation, like crane operators

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88:56 - Continued discussion of the Navy Yard now, and history of Yard development

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100:33 - Formal interview set up and introductions

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103:03 - Discussion of their tour of the Yard, it’s not the same, feels empty to him

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103:43 - Describes work of chipper and caulker on the USS Missouri

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112:53 - Introduction and entrance of COO of Navy Yard, Elliot Matz

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114:08 - Continued discussion of riveting, caulking, and the other people working

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115:35 - How he felt working on the USS Missouri

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116:01 - All workers had their own rivet guns, which stayed in the Yard

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116:40 - Opinion that USS Missouri was the best ship ever built

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116:58 - Used to climb the Navy Yard steeple and caulk, wearing a safety garment for heights

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118:45 - Launch of the USS Missouri

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119:30 - Return to description of caulking and chipping

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120:01 - Return to discussion of being used to heights

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120:21 - Return to discussion of USS Missouri launch

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121:35 - Didn’t think about connection between work and war effort, just did the work

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123:20 - Discussion about ships viability when being launched, didn’t worry about it

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123:54 - Return to discussion of women workers fooling around with the men

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124:31 - Women couldn't hold rivet guns but they were good welders

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126:54 - Returns to describing caulking rivets on the Navy Yard steeple

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127:19 - Lunch breaks, workers could eat anywhere on the ship

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127:42 - Opinion that the Navy Yard did a good job

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128:05 - Effect rivet gun weight had on physique, and noise of the rivet gun

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129:08 - Explanation of job title “chipper and caulker” – both tasks involve rivets

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129:30 - Before the Navy Yard he did similar work

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130:10 - Wasn’t too tired at end of the workday, but it was hard work

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130:46 - Years he worked at the Navy Yard, including brief post-War return

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133:39 - Passing the Post Office test

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133:50 - Importance of caulking, what caulking means in shipwork

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135:12 - Love of the Navy Yard chipping and caulking job

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135:54 - Relationships with coworkers, didn’t go out after work, didn’t trust anyone

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136:51 - Ages of children when Narrator worked at the Yard

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137:14 - Opinion that they should have made a plaque for riveters

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137:46 - Return to women playing around in compartments

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138:10 - European workers brought in to do the inner bottoms and teach people how to use rivet guns

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144:17 - No women on the bottom of the ship, resumes discussion of women fooling around on ships

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145:04 - Working in Yard when he heard that war was over

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145:33 - Discovery of a plate that a bomb couldn’t go through towards the end of the War

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146:52 - Where he worked on USS Missouri – inner bottoms and sides

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147:22 - Narrator wasn't drafted

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148:03 - Born on Pitkin Avenue, brief background of his parents and family

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150:21 - Opinion that the U.S. needed World War II

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151:07 - Returns to talking about the work women did and didn’t do in the Navy Yard

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151:31 - Accidents in the Yard

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152:50 - Wasn’t smart enough for school, made sure his kids graduated college

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153:31 - Commentary on construction of World Trade Center

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155:17 - Running a marathon at eighty and setting records

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157:30 - Return to talking about schooling, and his kids' doctorates

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158:32 - More running races coming up, now he runs with escorts

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161:52 - Retells story of son being told he’s not college material and now having doctorate

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162:18 - His age, life coming to its end, pacemaker

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163:08 - Feelings about working in the Navy Yard, getting muscles

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163:28 - Returns to talking about women workers in the Yard being a mistake

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164:25 - Thinks they should do something for the Yard, has idea to hold races there

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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