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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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Carmen Yeancades
Oral history interview conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel
August 28, 2014
Call number: 2015.011.20
0:00 - Introduction, emigration from Malta, family history, move from Manhattan to East New York
3:14 - Nature of East New York neighborhoods during her childhood
6:00 - Cultural diversity in the neighborhood
7:04 - Attending school
14:05 - Orthodox Jews move out, more Italian and Irish move in
14:52 - Transition from public school to a neighborhood funded Catholic school
19:55 - Renters moving out of the neighborhood to find homes to own
22:16 - Blockbusting
23:25 - Construction of Public Housing (Projects) in the neighborhood
24:45 - Introduction of gangs into the neighborhood
28:07 - Introduction of African Americans into the neighborhood
30:52 - White flight
34:14 - Blockbusting #2
41:47 - Motivation for Blockbusting neighborhoods in East New York
51:34 - An increase of African Americans moving into the neighborhood and racial integration
55:51 - White flight #2
69:20 - Language and the importance of learning English
71:32 - Introduction of Puerto Ricans into the neighborhood
73:13 - Visiting the neighborhood as an adult
83:01 - Decline of the education system in East New York
91:42 - The importance of a decent education
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Carmen Yeancades
Carmen Yeancades was born in 1950 in Malta and immigrated to Manhattan, New York, with her family when she was one year old. Her family moved to the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn to live with extended family in 1955 upon the death of her mother. They lived in East New York until 1962, and eventually moved to Richmond Hill, Queens. Carmen attended Queens College and has worked with Estee Lauder for many years. She currently lives in Bardonia, New York.
In the interview, Carmen Yeancades speaks in detail about her life as a child in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. She describes the dissolution of the neighborhood, blockbusting, the influx of many Southern Black families, the exodus of Jewish families, White flight, and the reconstruction of the neighborhood in preparation for new housing projects. The interview was conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel at Yeancades' home in Bardonia, New York.
The collection consists of twenty oral history interviews (with nineteen narrators) conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel with residents (past and present) of the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. The interviews were conducted between January 2014 and February 2015. The project was designed to capture the experiences of East New York residents who lived in the neighborhood during the period when families of color (African American, West Indian, and Puerto Rican) moved in and White families moved out, and the resulting decline of services and quality of life that followed. This process began as early as the 1950s and continued through the rest of the twentieth century. Sarita Daftary-Steel is a community organizer who worked for United Community Centers from 2003 to 2013, most of those years as the East New York Farms! Project Director.
Citation
Yeancades, Carmen, Oral history interview conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel, August 28, 2014, Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories, 2015.011.20; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Linden Houses (Housing complex)
- New York City Housing Authority
- Yeancades, Carmen
Topics
- African Americans
- Catholic schools
- Community organizing
- Education
- Gangs
- Jews
- Public schools
- Puerto Ricans
- Race relations
- Real estate business
- Social classes
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- East New York (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories