Piggott, Conrad Wayne: Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids

Scope and Contents

In the interview, Conrad Wayne Piggott discusses moving from the Fort Greene Houses to the Boulevard Houses in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, the rural nature of East New York in the 1950s and 1960s, local businesses, playing in the nearby junkyards and wetlands, joining the Marines and serving in the Vietnam War, his affinity for military life, his love of East New York (especially his time as a youth), his father's work as a New York City Transit Police Department detective, his mother's ancestry, teenagers today, corporal punishment, and his interactions with the police. The interview was conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel at Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library.

Biographical notes

Conrad Wayne Piggott was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1950 to parents of mixed ancestry, including African, German Jewish, Taino, and West Indian. His father was a New York City Transit Police Department detective and his mother was a housewife. Piggott lived in the Fort Greene Houses until 1955, when his family moved to the Boulevard Houses in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, where they remained until 1995. He attended PS 273, George Gershwin Junior High School, and Thomas Jefferson High School. After graduating high school, he joined the Marines and served in the Vietnam War. He remained in military service for much of his life. As of 2015, Piggott is a resident of the Ocean Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Subjects

Organizations

Boulevard Houses (Housing complex); New York (N.Y.). Transit Police Department

People

Piggott, Conrad Wayne

Topics

Places

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.); East New York (New York, N.Y.) |x Social conditions; Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.); Ocean Hill (New York, N.Y.) |x Social conditions

Piggott, Conrad Wayne, 2015 January 9, inclusive