As we near the end of 2025, the Coney Island History Project pays tribute to Frieda Schwelke and Connie Scacciaferro, who recorded their stories for our oral history archive and who we lost this year. We also honor Louise Bonsignore, who was Coney Island royalty. Louise and her late husband John told their stories to Charles Denson for the book Wild Ride! A Coney Island Coaster Family published by the Coney Island History Project.
Born in Coney Island, Frieda Schwelke and her family lived on West 36th, West 29th, and West 32nd Streets. In 1962, she moved with her husband and son to Luna Park Houses when it first opened and lived there through 1970. Schwelke shares childhood memories of the beach, the amusements, and school days. She remembers how the Great Depression and World War 2 profoundly affected her family. Anti-Black and anti-Semitic incidents and her father's liberal outlook -- he was a member of the IWO (International Workers Order) -- made a strong impression on her. "It left me with an open mind and an understanding that everybody has a life and is the same." Frieda Schwelke passed away on April 17, 2025 at the age of 94.
The Bonsignore family once owned and operated the Bobsled coaster, the L.A. Thompson Scenic Railway, Stauch’s Baths, The Tornado Coaster, Silvers Baths, and many other properties in Coney Island and Brighton Beach. They were a major force in Coney Island, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Born in Coney Island, Louise studied voice with her aunt and uncle who taught opera in Manhattan. “They had been brought to America by Toscanini,” she says in Wild Ride. “I had a good voice and they gave me lessons, they coached me from childhood.” Louise Bonsignore passed away on October 10, 2025, at the age of 99, just shy of her 100th birthday. Read "Remembering Louise Bonsignore" by Charles Denson on our news blog.
Connie Scacciaferro (1932-2025)
Growing up in Ridgewood, Connie Scacciaferro enjoyed outings to Coney Island Beach as a young girl. "Anybody that could carry a shopping bag when we were little, carried a shopping bag on the train to the beach," she says of taking the Sea Beach line to Coney Island with her family. As a teenager, Connie went to Coney Island with a group of friends from various high schools. She talks about the girls bringing sandwiches for lunch and the boys paying for rides; riding the Parachute Jump and the Bumper Cars; and a time when having "the best" bathing suit and wearing a bathing cap was a must for a young woman. Connie Scacciaferro passed away on November 15, 2025 at the age of 92.
If you’re spending the holidays with family, we strongly recommend recording the stories of your oldest relatives using the voice memo app of your phone. The Coney Island History Project records interviews in English, Russian, Chinese, and other languages with people who have lived or worked in Coney Island and adjacent neighborhoods or have a special connection to these places. If you or someone you know would like to record a story remotely via phone or Zoom, sign up here to schedule an appointment.
Photos and credits clockwise from left: Frieda Schwelke at 17 (Eric Schwelke), Connie Scacciaferro (bottom left) and friends on the beach at Coney Island in the 1940s (Scacciaferro family), Louise Bonsignore in 2006 (Charles Denson).
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