Norman Davis and Thelma Jackson Oral History Interview

Title

Norman Davis and Thelma Jackson Oral History Interview

Subject

Norman Oliver Davis was born in 1925 and grew up in Harlem and Mott Haven. His family migrated to New York City from the South and came to Mott Haven by the early 1930s, working as supers for a building at 351 East 136th Street, where they lived in the basement. His family later lived on 136th Street between Third Avenue and Rider Avenue, where there were several black families in a small cluster of tenement buildings. In 1942 he was sent to Elmira Reformatory for allegedly being involved in the stabbing of a white boy during a mugging. He dropped out of high school but then got his GED at age 30. He began working for the Parks Department as an attendant in 1956, and worked there until he retired in 1988, becoming a leader in his union, DC 37, and helping to found the Parks Department’s Ebony Society. In 1981, he bought and renovated a large rowhouse at 440 East 136th Street, where he lived until his death in 2010.

Thelma Jackson was born around 1920 in Pennsylvania and grew up in Harlem and Mott Haven. Her parents were both immigrants from\ Barbados. He father came to New York City via Cuba and Panama, where he worked on the canal. He was a carpenter who dreamed of becoming a civil engineer but was excluded from education because of his race. He went on to become a landlord and owned many apartment buildings. Her mother was a seamstress and mother of ten who refused to become a US citizen because black people did not have rights here. Both of her parents were excluded from labor unions because of their race. They moved to 248 East 136th Street when Thelma was 9, and she attended PS 31. She attended the College of Mt. St. Vincent on a scholarship and married an American Indian. At the time of her interview, in 2007, she lived on Faile Street in the South Bronx. She passed away before we could complete this interview.

Description

Norman Davis and Thelma Jackson, friends since childhood and now both in their 80s, are interviewed together in this recording. Thelma Jackson was born in Pennsylvania to Caribbean immigrants with roots in Cuba and Barbados. Her father worked on the Panama Canal as an engineer. She describes her parents’ immigration stories, and the discrimination they faced. Thelma grew up at 248 East 136th Street, on a block with many Black families, mainly African Americans from the South. Her mother was a dressmaker and worked in a factory. He r father was a carpenter and owned multiple buildings. Both of her parents were political. She describes her strict upbringing, her family’s experiences with various religions. Norman and Thelma talk about violence, discrimination and segregation in Mott Haven, and being excluded from Haven Theater and St. Jerome’s Catholic Church. She attended P.S. 31 on Mott Avenue (now Grand Concourse) as one of few Black children in her class. Norman discusses more of his family history, in particular experiences of land loss and they both discuss the complex legacies of slavery in the Caribbean and the South.

Date

2007-09-09

Format

video

Interviewer

Amy Starecheski

Interviewee

Norman Davis
Thelma Jackson

Location

Bronx, NY

Files



Citation

“Norman Davis and Thelma Jackson Oral History Interview,” Mott Haven Oral History Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://motthavenhistory.org/items/show/37.

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