![David Head at the Coney Island History Project, 2009](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3468/images/david_head.2.jpg?itok=dat7BBJS)
David Head
David Head tells the story of African-American inventor Granville T. Woods and his electric roller coaster
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3420/images/gaby_2016_1.jpg?itok=6EnbKPA_)
Gabriel Valencia
Twenty years as part of the family at Gregory & Paul's and Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk
![The Wonder Wheel cars were bedecked with red bows for New Year's](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3314/images/nyd_3_bow_on_car.jpg?itok=lj2ZQxXH&c=6a0e535a079a8ec953adeca6802cbb6b)
Happy New Year 2016!
New Year's Day greetings and Coney Island memories recorded at Deno's Wonder Wheel
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3224/images/abiodun_bello.jpg?itok=JWg9XaBF&c=6a0e535a079a8ec953adeca6802cbb6b)
Abiodun Bello
A Coney Island Polar Bear talks about the health benefits and natural high of winter swimming
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3197/images/footprints_1_0.jpg?itok=DNU82suA)
Basil Jones
Jamaican-born chef at Footprints Caribbean Cafe in Coney Island and originator of Rasta Pasta
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3146/images/coneyisland_0.jpg?itok=HJEqwFZE)
Theresa Giovinni
Coney Island resident who moved here as a high school student talks about her neighborhood
![Slava Polishchuk in studio. Photo © Asya Dodina](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3122/images/slava_polishchuk_in_studio_2.jpg?itok=D7vW8Qb-&c=b1b5c56ca2466c459b7a0f7521db1b69)
Slava Polishchuk
Russian-born artist preserves the past as book and paper conservator at Brooklyn College Library
![Mary Hood as Tirza, circa 1940s](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3100/images/maryhood3.tirza1_.jpg?itok=oeMOaA_s&c=be48cba61fa76e4db1b7c29017d70c93)
Mary Loretta Hood
Mary Hood came to Coney Island as a child and worked on the Bowery well into her 90s
![Judge Steve Arniotes](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3099/images/steve_arniotes_0010.jpg?itok=vgYBrfXr)
Judge Steve Arniotes
The story behind the Boardwalk Lido Restaurant and the family who operated it from 1927 until 1960
![](https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/oral_history_thumbnail_bw/public/interviews/3075/images/wallace086.jpg?itok=ZISyi-U2&c=abe122a5db75a8bd05d4a74b8ec2ae2e)
Hector George Wallace
An immigrant sign painter recounts his journey from Jamaica and the UK to Coney Island.