It Happened in Brooklyn: An Oral History of Growing Up in the Borough in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s

This paean to a bygone place by the authors of It Happened in the Catskills throbs with life and affection. In the middle years of this century, Brooklyn was heavily populated by Jewish and Italian families, with Irish, black and Scandinavian enclaves. Ethnicity, however, was overshadowed by the aim of the mostly immigrant parents and children to become Americans. Education was regarded as vital to this goal and those interviewed in this oral history recall the schools as being very good and demanding. In the neighborhoods, all the parents regarded themselves as responsible for all of the children. That more innocent world is remembered as being preferable to the Brooklyn of today, with its influx of drugs and racial strife. The contributors to this engaging recollection include Robert Merrill, Pat Cooper and many lesser-known natives. Photos. (Oct.)