Rose Patton

Rose Patton, nee Schwartz, lived in Coney Island in 1938 in a house her mother and aunt inherited from their father. Rose's family of four and her aunt's family of three shared the house for about a year before moving back to Brighton Beach. The house was on West 8th Street, right next to the original Luna Park and Rose remembers hearing screams as the roller coaster passed her bedroom window. She walked to P.S.100 elementary school every day with her cousin past a gypsy camp set up under the subway trestle. They were always afraid because they had been warned that gypsies stole children. In the late 1960's, Rose was a teacher who worked in a drug abuse prevention program in P.S.100 and P.S.90.