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Oral History Interview with Carol and Peter Schulhof, March 31, 2010, inclusive

Scope and Contents

During their interview, Carol Horowitz Schulhof (1937-) and Peter Schulhof (1937-) discuss their parents, childhoods, meeting each other, becoming members of Brooklyn Heights Synagogue (BHS), and friendships formed at BHS. Carol talks about her father's business and her family's immigration history. Peter recalls his parents' immigration from Prague to China in 1940. He describes his parents' decision to immigrate from China to the United States because of the civil war and rise of the Communist Party. Peter recalls living in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan and attending Brooklyn Technical High School. Carol and Peter describe meeting at Cornell University and getting married in 1961. They discuss moving to Augusta, Georgia, due to Peter's work in the Army, and their experiences in the segregated South. They also describe moving to Brooklyn Heights and connecting with Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. They talk about early services being held at Spencer Memorial Church and High Holiday services at the Bossert Hotel and moving in 1974 to the first Remsen Street building. The Schulhofs recall their daughter, Julia's bat mitzvah in 1979 at BHS at 117 Remsen Street. They describe the early community of the congregation. They talk about Reform Judaism and yarmulke/kippah and mixed marriages. They describe their friendships within the congregation and their children's feelings about BHS. They both recall the changes they have seen in Brooklyn over the years. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.

Biographical / Historical

Carol Horowitz Schulhof was born in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in 1937. She and her husband, Peter Schulhof, moved to Brooklyn Heights in 1963. Peter Schulhof was born in 1937 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (at that time) and came to the U.S. via China in 1948. They married in 1961. Carol went to Erasmus Hall High School and then Cornell University where she studied elementary education and eventually became head of the Lower School at Packer Collegiate. Peter went to Brooklyn Tech and studied electrical engineering at Cornell University and worked in management. They have two children: Julia (1966-) and Paul (1970-) who both also live in Brooklyn Heights.

Conditions Governing Access

This interview can be accessed onsite at Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer Library and online at the Oral History Portal.

Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201