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

Scope and Contents

During the interview, Leonard Beck (1928- ) focuses on his father's work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a tailor. Beck also discusses his own childhood in Brooklyn and how his father made an Eisenhower jacket [military uniform shortened coat] for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He also mentions American sentiment towards Japanese Americans during the war, the decommissioning of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Roosevelt's visit to Ebbets Field, and American patriotism. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.

Biographical / Historical

Leonard Beck (1928- ) grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1952 during the Korean War, after which he became an obstetrician and remained in Brooklyn. Leonard Beck's father, Julius Beck was born in 1894 in Woodhaven, Queens. He ran his own clothing business with his brother, then worked at Brooks Brothers Clothier as a designer cutter until he was asked to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWII. Following the war, Julius Beck bought into the luncheonette business with his wife.

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

People

Beck, Julius

Topics

Places

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.); East New York (New York, N.Y.); Woodhaven (New York, N.Y.)

Oral History Interview with Leonard Beck, June 11, 2008, inclusive