Smith, Yvonne: Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids

Scope and Contents

In the interview, Yvonne Smith discusses moving to the Linden Houses in 1966, the decline of the housing development and moving to Rochdale Village in Queens, sending her children to Catholic schools instead of public schools, the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, the decline of integration in the communities where she has resided, parenting, and racism in society. The interview was conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel at Smith's home in Rochdale Village, Queens, New York.

Biographical note

Yvonne (Nelson) Smith was born in 1944 in the Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem to African American parents. She would later live in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn and Queens. Smith moved with her husband to the Linden Houses in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1966, where they resided until 1975. She attended Central Commercial High School and worked for the Federal Treasury Department for thirty two years, while her husband worked for the New York Police Department. She currently lives with her husband and daughter in Rochdale Village, Queens, New York.