The Bronx African-American History Project at Fordham University

DR. MARK NAISON and BRIAN PURNELL

Dr. Mark Naison (left) is Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University. He is the author of Communists in Harlem During the Great Depression, White Boy: A Memoir, co-editor of The Tenant Movement in New York City, and over 100 articles on African American politics, social movements and American culture and sports. Dr. Naison is the Principal Investigator of the Bronx African American History Project.
naison@fordham.edu

Brian Purnell (right) is a lecturer in African American History at Fordham University. He is receiving a PhD in History from New York University and works as the Research Director of the Bronx African American History Project. Mr. Purnell writes about the civil rights movement in New York City during the 1960s.
purnell@fordham.edu

DR. PETER DERRICK

Dr. Peter Derrick is the head archivist at the Bronx County Historical Society and editor of the Bronx County Historial Society Journal. A former assistant director and manager at the MTA Planing Department and Capital Program Managing Department. Dr. Derrick is also the author of, Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion that Saved New York.
pderrick@bronxhistoricalsociety.org

DOLORES MUÑOZ
	Dolores Muñoz is the Executive Assistant for the Department of African and African American Studies at Fordham University. She serves as the lead graphic designer for the Bronx African American History Project and designed the BAAHP fundraiser T-shirt and all the Project's pamphlets and posters. dmunoz@fordham.edu

MAXINE GORDON
	Maxine Gordon (senior interviewer and jazz researcher) is a Ph.D. Candidate in History of the African Diaspora at New York University working on a dissertation concerning the development of modern jazz culture in Harlem in the late 1930s. She is a CUNY graduate, the former archivist in the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, and the widow of jazz legend Dexter Gordon. dex@pipeline.com

NATASHA LIGHTFOOT

Natasha Lightfoot (senior interviewer and researcher, Caribbean migrants in the Bronx) is a PhD candidate in New York University's Department of History, majoring in the African Diaspora. Her dissertation focuses on resistance and identity among black working-class people in post-emancipation Antigua. She was born and raised in the Bronx. She received her B.A. in History from Yale University, and her M.A. in History from New York University.
njl213@nyu.edu

LEROI ARCHIBLE

Leroi "Arch" Archible moved to the Bronx from Harlem in 1960. A long time community activist, youth mentor, leader on Community Board 3, and organizer in Bronx Democratic politics, Mr. Archible is currently also one of the organizers for the "Friends of Charlton Garden," whose mission is to create a Korean War Veterans memorial at the site of the current Charlton Garden on 164th bet. Boston Road Cauldwell Avenue. For me information on the Friends of Charlton Garden, call 212-283-1643.

JESSIE DAVIDSON

Jessie Davidson has been a community activist in the Bronx for over fifty years. One of the original members of the Bronx chapter of the NAACP, Jessie Davidson serves as an advisor to the BAAHP on the history of politics and activism. He has contributed many of his personal papers to the Project's archives at the Bronx County Historical Society, including copies of The Listener, an early 20th Century Bronx African American newspaper.

NATHAN DUKES

Nathan Dukes, a social worker and educator who grew up in the Patterson Houses in Mott Haven, is a legendary figure in the history of schoolyard basketball in the Bronx. He attended a small college All-American at Benedict College in South Carolina, and is a proud product of De Witt Clinton HS and Hilton White's basketball program in Morrisania. Dukes has helped organize and conduct over twenty interviews for the BAAHP, focusing on the "golden age" of public housing in the Bronx and the great sports and music programs that once graced the borough's schools. The recipient of a Master's Degree in Social Work Administration at SUNY Stony Brook, Dukes has directed many community programs and has served as an administrator and adjunct faculty member at Hunter and Lehman Colleges.

ROBERT GUMBS

Robert Gumbs was born and raised on Lyman place in Morissania and educated in New York City, where he studied art and graphic design. He started Gumbs and Thomas Publishers, Inc. in 1985 and is now President of the company. In 2004, Mr. Gumbs and African American veterans from the Bronx began, "Friends of Charlton Garden," whose mission is to create a Korean War Veterans memorial at the site of the current Charlton Garden on 164th bet. Boston Road Cauldwell Avenue. For me information on the Friends of Charlton Garden, call 212-283-1643.

BEVERLY LINDSAY-JOHNSON

http://hometown.aol.com/
doowopindc/kendall
productions.html

Beverly Lindsay-Johnson is an Emmy nominated producer with Howard University Television WHUT-TV (PBS) in Washington, DC. She is the first African American and first female to receive the Central Educational Network (CEN) Jerry Trainor Award for her work with Public Television. Ms. Lindsay-Johnson was raised in Morrisania and attended P.S. 99 and P.S. 54. She was instrumental in organizing the BAAHP tribute to the late Morrisania singer/songwrwiter Arthur Crier. She is the VP for the Atlanta Doo-Wop Association, which preserves the history and culture of early R&B and Doo-Wop, and founded by Arthur Crier. Currently, she collaborates with early R&B and Doo-Wop recording artists from the Bronx for BAAHP oral history interviews.

HARRIET MCFEETERS

Harriet McFeeters was born and raised and is still a resident of Morrisania. She earned degrees from Hunter College and Fordham University and has worked with the Board of Education for over thirty-five years. Mrs. McFeeters has taught on all grade levels and was a Deputy Superintendent for District 8. Harriet McFeeters has become an important part of the BAAHP reserach team as an advisor on the history of public school education in the Bronx. She also helps conduct interviews, encourages friends and family members to participate in the oral history project, and serves on the Project's fundraising committee. Her dedication to public service is undergirded by a family creed, "Equal Opportunity Means Equal Responsibility."

JOE ORANGE

Joe Orange, right, and world renowned jazz trumpeter Jimmy Owens, left.
Jimmy and Joe have been friends and fellow muscians since their youth in Morrisania.

Joe Orange is a retired health insurance executive, currently running his own health insurance consulting firm near his home in Columbia, Maryland. Born and raised in the Morrisania section of the Bronx he is also a Jazz trombonist having worked with Lionel Hampton, Eddie Palmieri, Charlie Palmieri, Lloyd Price, Herbie Mann, and many others. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his business accomplishments including the Harlem YMCA's "Black Achiever' award.
Read "A Musical Biography" by Joe Orange.

JIM PRUITT

Born and raised in Morissania. Jim attended school at PS 99, JHS 40 and Morris High School. He then attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he received a BA in history. Mr. Pruitt became a teacher at Morris high school for seven years, from 1964-71. He also worked as Assistant Director at Fordham Upward Bound from 1969-71 and then from 1971-80 he worked as the Upward Bound Project Director. After 1980, Jim spent the next 23 years teaching at John F, Kennedy High School. He is currently member of the Morris high school alumni/scholarship committee.