Oral History Interview with Pearl Hill: Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids

Scope and Contents

In her interview, Pearl Margolis Hill (1923- ) details her work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a shipfitter in Building 4 and her later work in the mold loft after an injury. She fondly remembers her friends at the Navy Yard, seeing them in passing on Sands Street and working alongside other married and unmarried women as welders. She also talks about working the graveyard shift, writing to her husband, what she wore to work and her longtime friendship with Sidonia Levine (2010.003.035, shipfitter). Interview conducted by Jennifer Egan.

Biographical / Historical

Pearl Margolis Hill (1923- ) grew up in the Middle Village neighborhood of Queens. She attended Grover Cleveland High School and two years at Queens College. After her husband joined the Army in 1940 or 1941, Hill decided to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in order to contribute to the war effort. She has two sons and currently lives in Florida.

Conditions Governing Access

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

Subjects

Organizations

New York Naval Shipyard

Topics

Places

Queens (New York, N.Y.); Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)

Oral History Interview with Pearl Hill, February 20, 2007, inclusive