Oral History Archive

Ida Rosenblum Gambrell
Memories of Coney Island in the 1920s and '30s
Courtney King
Jamaican-born artist and Coney Island resident
Jeffrey Eisenmesser
Former teacher at Mark Twain Junior High School recalls his Coney Island memories
Patricia Casola
Daughter of Coney Island artist, banner painter and Cyclops creator Dan Casola
Wesley Casola
Son of Coney Island artist, banner painter and Cyclops creator Dan Casola
Gladys Sandman and Lucille daCosta
Girlhood memories of growing up on West 5th Street in Coney Island before being displaced by Warbasse
Charles Berkman
Memories of growing up in Coney Island during the Great Depression and 55 years practicing law
Rebecca Diamond
A five-year-old describes her visit to Coney Island
Rosalie Diamond
Memories of going to Steeplechase Park as a teenager in the 1950s
Mohammed Saad Ali
Actor and playwright whose new play A Lonely Night in Coney Island is set on the Boardwalk
Joel Zika
The founder of the Dark Ride Project on documenting Spook-A-Rama and other historic dark rides
Al Burgo
Memories of growing up on West 33rd Street in Coney Island and working on the Boardwalk in the 1960s
Chia-Ti Chiu
Teaching Yoga on the Beach in Coney Island
Susan Hochtman Creatura
Memories of growing up in a Jewish household in Coney Island
Eliot Wofse
A Coney Island native's memories of running amusement games
Dionne Brown (D.L. Jordan)
Lifelong Coney Island resident and author of Living Life Like It's Golden
Barry Yanowitz
Growing up in Coney Island in the 1970s and '80s and coming back to photograph it
Donna Bianco
Memories of working as a police officer in Coney Island in the 1980s and '90s