Non-Fiction - Short Memoirs
Personal stories and reflections on life, experiences, and meaningful moments
in the series Witness to History.

My paternal grandmother immigrated from Finland to New York City at the beginning of the 20th century. My grandfather, a diamond cutter, built a three-story house in the Bronx, but the guilds that governed diamond cutters would not admit him because he wasn’t part of their group. He couldn’t get steady work and eventually had to sell the house. They moved to a seven-room railroad apartment in Harlem, which was more affordable, while my grandmother worked for wealthy families

When I was in Junior High School in Sunnyside, Queens, our military and soldiers were in Korea, fighting in an undeclared war with what became North Korea, which was supported by China. We were in the middle of the McCarthy era, of the Cold War and the Red Scare, which disrupted many citizens lives through Congressional, and FBI investigations, turning people against each other, and blacklisting people (artists, writers, actors, musicians, university teachers, union organize

I lived on the Upper Westside and worked on the Eastside on 67th and York. I would walk to work every day, except if there was a blizzard or a hurricane. Most of my walk was through Central Park. On 9/11 it was one of the most perfect days New York had ever seen. I really enjoyed it, oblivious to what was about to happen. I entered the office expecting a chorus of good mornings, but everybody had their eyes glued to CNN on their desktops. I asked what was going on...