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Center for Brooklyn History Finding Aids
Guide to the Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection ARC.003

Oral History Interview with Lucille Ford, December 11, 2007, inclusive

Scope and Contents

Lucille Butler Ford (1922- ) began working as a messenger at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and was soon trained as a clerk typist in Building 77. The interview focuses on social life at the Navy Yard and the close friendships that Ford formed during the three years she worked there. She also discusses the ethnic backgrounds and interaction between the female workers in Building 77, sharing a story about a Jewish friend wanting to visit Harlem and how her mother made greens when she visited. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan and Jennifer Egan.

Biographical / Historical

Lucille Butler Ford (1922- ) is an African American woman who grew up in Harlem and the Bronx. Soon after graduating from Wadleigh High School, Lucille Ford looked for work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with a friend who was also from the Bronx. Two of Ford's brothers served during WWII. After leaving the Navy Yard in 1945, Ford began working for New York Telephone (now Verizon) and now lives in Long Island, New York.

Conditions Governing Access

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

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Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
https://bklynlibrary.org/cbh