Kaitlyn Greenidge, Gloria Boyce

Description

Longtime Brooklyn resident; member of the Brownstoners; Bridge Street Baptist Church Member; Born in and grew up in the parameters of Weeksville Gloria Eastman Boyce was born in 1928 at 1890 Pacific Street. The home was located on Pacific Street between Ralph and Buffalo Avenue, a block from the Hunterfly Road Houses. Both of Gloria’s parents were immigrants from Barbados. Her father moved to Brooklyn, after working as a mason in Cuba, “building mansions”, as Gloria relates, in 1921. He was originally from St. George Parish in Barbados, which Gloria relates was rural. Her mother emigrated in 1922, from Christ Church Parish, Barbados, or the city. Her father owned a sweet shop in Christ Church: her parents met in Barbados but moved to New York to marry. Gloria relates that within a few days of arriving in New York, her father found the job he would hold for the rest of his adult life, as a maintenance man for a building at 808 Driggs Avenue in Brooklyn. Despite being trained as a mason in Barbados, Gloria’s father could not find work in his profession because of prejudice in the 1920s. In addition to his work as a maintenance man, Gloria’s father worked as a woodcarver, and did nearly all of the renovations on the family’s eventual home on Jefferson Avenue. Gloria reports that both of her parents encountered prejudice from both African Americans and white Americans when settling in New York. She reports that her mother, in particular, was affected...

Record Contributed By

Weeksville Heritage Center