{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/dv1cj8820n/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Bargar, Marvin, 2005 April 21"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/013/original/yale-blue.png?1678220072","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Preferred Citation"]},"value":{"en":["Bargar, Marvin, 2005 April 21. Oral Histories Documenting New Haven, Connecticut (RU 1055). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.\n\n https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/2867."]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/archival_objects/1002509"]}},{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library."]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["The materials are open for research.\n\nOriginal audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy, which is retained by the repository. Researchers wishing to obtain an additional copy for their personal use should consult Copying Services information on the Manuscripts and Archives web site."]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["mssa.ru.1055 (EAD ID)","RU 1055 (Call Number)","ru_1055_2008-A-001_Bargar,Marvin(Miner)_Track01.mp3 (Digital Object ID)","ru_1055_2008-A-001_Bargar.mp3 (Digital Object ID)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2005 April 21 (Creation)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Marvin Bargar grew up in New Haven's Legion Avenue neighborhood, graduated from Hillhouse High School in 1943, then returned to New Haven in 1950 after serving in the Army and graduating from the University of Connecticut. He discusses growing up in New Haven's Jewish community, the changes to the Legion Avenue neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s, and his current efforts to preserve the city's Jewish history. Bargar first recalls his childhood in the Legion Avenue area. Most of the families in the area were Jewish or Italian American and lived in two- or three-family homes. He then proceeds to talk about the changing face of the neighborhood after World War II and suburban flight. As families became more affluent, they purchased cars and moved to single-family homes in the suburbs. Bargar, his wife, and children moved to Westville in the late 1950s but, dissatisfied with the schools, they moved to Hamden in 1968. Bargar laments Richard Lee's redevelopment projects because he believes that they destroyed Jewish community and businesses in the Legion Avenue and Oak Street areas. Bargar also discusses his work with the Jewish Historical Society, part of Southern Connecticut University's Ethnic Heritage Center, and his interest in repairing and restoring the Orchard Street Synagogue. \n\nInterviewer: Miner, Casey \n\nLength (min): 57 (Scope and Content Note)","https://preservica.library.yale.edu/explorer/explorer.html#prop:4\u0026amp;59b19b80-e715-4996-afe8-f4a7d98f873d (Other Finding Aid Note)","As a preservation measure, original materials may not be used. Digital access copies must be provided for use. Contact Manuscripts and Archives at beinecke.library@yale.edu to request access (Accessrestrict)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["computer files (wav)","audio/mpeg"]}},{"label":{"en":["Preservica Representation Type"]},"value":{"en":["Access-3"]}},{"label":{"en":["Preservica Uri"]},"value":{"en":["/structural-objects/94f4e707-5943-43d8-9bdb-17d6f255680d"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Marvin Bargar grew up in New Haven's Legion Avenue neighborhood, graduated from Hillhouse High School in 1943, then returned to New Haven in 1950 after serving in the Army and graduating from the University of Connecticut. He discusses growing up in New Haven's Jewish community, the changes to the Legion Avenue neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s, and his current efforts to preserve the city's Jewish history. Bargar first recalls his childhood in the Legion Avenue area. Most of the families in the area were Jewish or Italian American and lived in two- or three-family homes. He then proceeds to talk about the changing face of the neighborhood after World War II and suburban flight. As families became more affluent, they purchased cars and moved to single-family homes in the suburbs. Bargar, his wife, and children moved to Westville in the late 1950s but, dissatisfied with the schools, they moved to Hamden in 1968. Bargar laments Richard Lee's redevelopment projects because he believes that they destroyed Jewish community and businesses in the Legion Avenue and Oak Street areas. Bargar also discusses his work with the Jewish Historical Society, part of Southern Connecticut University's Ethnic Heritage Center, and his interest in repairing and restoring the Orchard Street Synagogue. \n\nInterviewer: Miner, Casey \n\nLength (min): 57","https://preservica.library.yale.edu/explorer/explorer.html#prop:4\u0026amp;59b19b80-e715-4996-afe8-f4a7d98f873d","As a preservation measure, original materials may not be used. Digital access copies must be provided for use. Contact Manuscripts and Archives at beinecke.library@yale.edu to request access"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["The materials are open for research.\n\nOriginal audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy, which is retained by the repository. Researchers wishing to obtain an additional copy for their personal use should consult Copying Services information on the Manuscripts and Archives web site."]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Manuscripts and Archives Yale University Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Manuscripts and Archives Yale University Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/013/original/yale-blue.png?1678220072","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/public/images/audio-default.png","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 2 - open-uri20201008-791-1f8shz4.mpga"]},"duration":3450.48816,"width":640,"height":40,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/public/images/audio-default.png","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-yalemssa.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/098/369/original/open-uri20201008-791-1f8shz4.mpga?1602164955","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3450.48816,"width":640,"height":40},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/transcript/19305","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Legacy Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/transcript/19305/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\nCASEY MINER:\tHello, this is Casey Miner; I’m here with Marvin Bargar at the Jewish Historical Society in New Haven. \r\nEnd of File 01\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUm... so, maybe we could just start with you talking a little bit about where you grew up in New Haven, and what it was like --\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOh.  OK.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t-- and what -- and then, what you remember.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOK.  Yeah.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, well, uh... let me start by this -- although I don’t remember this part, my family actually lived on Oak Street --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- which... you must have heard of.  Uh, when I was born, and then we moved to a street called Winthrop Avenue, which, again, uh, was only about a block from Legion Avenue, uh, which was, of course, well known as a big Jewish shopping area.  Although where Legion crossed Winthrop, it was a... it was a couple, uh, blocks away.  Uh... initially, I went to a school called Barnard, which is -- still exists, as a matter of fact it’s being refurbished right now.  And, uh... I went to Kindergarten --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- and then the -- that year -- at the end of that year, they changed the district, and, uh... the other kids in my neighborhood continued on Barnard, but they split the line at our house... (laughter) and I ended up going to a school called Scranton School.  The building still exists today; it’s a medical... uh, building.  I went there through the, uh... 6th grade; then I went on to, uh... what they used to call Junior High School -- true junior high school.  Which again, uh, I just found out is in the process of being... refurbished.  They’ve left the front and they’re... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... rebuilding the whole... school.  Ah, from there I went on -- ah, y-- I went f-- there 7 to 9th.  And, uh... then I went on to Hill House High School, which, of course, still exists today.  But in a different place.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  Mmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh... where -- where it stood in my day is now a Yale dormitory, but, uh... I don’t know where you’ve seen where the high -- Hill House is now... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... but that -- that’s not the Hill House I went to.  And, uh... I graduated there in, uh... 1943; a short time later, I went in the Army.  Uh, got out of the Army in ‘46, uh... and I went to the University of Connecticut --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- and I graduated there in 1950.  That’s my educational... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... background.  So, I -- and what -- what else... I -- I don’t want to go ahead, if you want me to... go back.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tI mean -- yeah, maybe if you could just talk a little bit about... what the neighborhood was like growing up, and what you remember?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOK.  The neighborhood I lived in was a mixed... uh, Jewish and Italian neighborhood.  At that time -- \r\nEnd of File 2 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t--ime, and maybe still -- well, not today.  At that time, probabl-- the City of New Haven was probably 60 to 70% Italian, anyway. (coughing)  But this neighborhood was mixed Jewish and Italian, with other nationalities mixed in, and -- and there were --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- I -- I do not ever remember any kind of... problems because of the, uh... ethnic, uh... mix -- uh, I was very close with, uh... a boy next door to me who was Italian; we had another 1 across the street who was -- uh... was, uh... parents’ grandp-- he lives now, his grandparents lived in the same house; they were, uh, Germans.  And we had Irish and everything else.  But as I said, the neighborhood was primarily Jewish and Italian.  And of course, when you’re young, you  stay, uh, in your neighborhood.  And, uh... uh -- ah -- as I said, uh, it was a -- it was a real mix -- we -- we had a f -- we -- we had -- also had some, you know, WASP families.  But as I said primarily, uh, Jewish and Italian.  And these -- these were my friends growing up; uh, when I got to high school -- they don’t have this anymore -- but in Hill House High School, they used to have, at that time, fraternities and sororities.  And of course, they were all... by... different ethnic groups.  And, uh... uh... some people that I, uh, knew, uh, invited me to join a fraternity.  And once I got in with that, of course, these became my... close friends, you know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd... as a matter of fact, I’m still in touch -- w-- not too many are still alive (laughing), but the few that are alive, and, uh... and there’s not a -- the few that are left live out of town.  Uh, but I’m still in touch with them. \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, we just... we just kept the friendship all these, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... all these years.  But, growing up was, uh... I -- I would consider, uh, normal -- you know.  We played baseball; we played football, uh... this street was not too far from the Yale bowl.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd at that time -- I haven’t been there in awhile, so I don’t know if it still exists -- uh, there’s that tennis courts outside the bowl --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- and they had all their other fields, so, uh... a lot of our time was spent in going over there, watching soccer games, Yale lacrosse -- I can see polo matches... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd... then when I got to be -- I would guess around 12, 13, 14 -- I used to work at the Yale Bowl, as what they call a rope guard.  You know, where the -- where the different prices of seats were... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... they ran a rope, and you sat there and made sure nobody who paid a dollar jumped into the 2-dollar seats, you know? (laughter)  So, I used to see all the Yale football games.  And, uh... uh... then, uh, maybe a couple years later, uh, when I got ambitious, uh, we used to sell souvenirs on the street. \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t(laughing)\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, you go someplace, you sell it.  I -- I don’t think they do this anymore.  You know, little pennants, and they used to have feathers with -- blue feathers with a Y on it.  (laughter)  I used to sell this... stuff, you know, and -- it -- it was good, you know?  You go on a Saturday afternoon and make a profit of about 3 dollars, and that was big money.  You know, because, um... you know, what I’m talking about is approximately, uh... 1939 and 1940.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... uh, this is, uh... this is what, uh... this is what we did.  The other thing that we did, uh -- oh, and also, just talking about the neighborhood... uh... in those days, families kind of clumped together.  In other words, we lived in a house about a block away; I had an aunt and cousins, and across the street I had another aunt and cousins.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd -- and other people, too.  The, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... Italian family that I was friendly with; they had another cousin in the next block.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... you know, so families kind of congregated, uh, together.  Shopping was done; we had a corner grocery store, and this is where most of it was done, but on Sunday, we would go to Legion Avenue, and --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- there was a big grocery store there, and... uh... that’s -- uh, that’s where, uh, we would shop.  There was also a, uh, department store -- uh, it originally started as a shoe store, I think, but there was a department store there called Cleary’s Department Store.  Every spring, that’s where you went and got a pair of sneaks, you know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm, mm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, um... and -- you know, and of course there were, uh... kosher butchers, and, uh, and the kosher bakeries were there, and, uh... you know, and our house was kosher.  And, um... that’s where, uh... that’s where we did our shopping.  And --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- there was a big hardware store there -- the Harry A. Alpert Hardware Store; at one time it was the only one there.  And, uh... if you needed something -- hardware, that’s where you went.  Later on, another man opened a hardware store, uh, known as White’s -- it still exists today, but it’s strictly plumbing -- it’s -- it’s on the Post Road in West Haven.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI don’t know if \r\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369#t=0.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/transcript/19305/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":" \r\nyou’ve seen their ads or not, and... and they’re mostly plumbing supplies now.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, um... this is, uh... what we did.  Uh... growing up, as I said, when I got into high school, then it was, uh... going to the movies, uh... bowling, uh -- uh, oh, also, I was, uh -- my favorite sport was ice skating.  I (inaudible) when I started in grade school. (laughter)  And none of my close -- uh, very few of my close friends did this, but I -- got into this, and with this -- I made another --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- another whole grou-- \r\nEnd of File 3 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t--group of friends from school who skated and, uh, played hockey, and... that -- that type of stuff. \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd -- and as a matter of fact, I only gave this up about 2 years ago.\r\n\nCASEY MINER: (laughing) Really?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI -- yeah.  Yeah.  Well, I -- I stopped for a long time, and then, uh... I have a daughter that lives in New Hampshire, and -- and, I go up there all the time.  And in the winter, uh... once I got up there, we used to go ice-skating.  So I, uh... I don’t know how many years ago -- about 10, 12 years ago.  I actually bought myself new ice skates and everything, and I continued, uh, ice skating, and, uh... and then... uh... I mean, this is kind of skipping ahead.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUh-huh.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh... a few year-- let’s see; I’ve been here 5 years, so probably about 9 or 10 years ago, I was taking, uh... aqua therapy, you know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI had hurt my back.  And I was swimming, uh... 3 mornings a week.  And then I picked up a little local paper we had, and I see that they have senior ice skating at a rink out here in a town (coughing --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- called Northford, which... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI never knew this rink existed.  And actually, it’s the rink where Quinnipiac College plays their hockey.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo I went out there, and they have this senior skating.  So I used to go -- I was going out there twice a, uh... week.  And I -- but then, as I said, uh, about 3, 4 years I -- I just -- ago, I just... it was a big trauma; brought my ice skates to goodwill and that was... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tOh, no.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... that was the end of it.  Yeah.  (laughter)  But that was always my, uh... uh... that was always my favorite... hobby, or whatever you want to call it, as I -- continuing up till a few years ago.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUh-huh.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... see, I’m trying to see what else might -- might be.  But yeah, as I said, I consider it all kind of normal -- I had friends; we... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, sports (inaudible) -- later on it was... got more into movies, and bowling, uh -- you know, as... when I got into high school.  Um... and, uh... also, with these high school friends, uh... we -- we would make trips to New York to go... believe it or not, it was probably 16.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tMaybe 17.  You know, we’d go to New York to, uh... see a show, or... whatever.  And, uh... ask me something -- what else do you want to -- what else can I bring up?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tWell, did you feel like you -- you were going to stay in New Haven, or that you were going to move away from New Haven?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI think -- well, I -- I never had much... (coughing) I never had mu-- \r\nEnd of File 4 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t--ch, uh... thought of whether I would... I don’t know -- you d-- I -- you don’t think that you’re going to move elsewhere --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- you figure this is... this is your home.  You know, I -- I -- I would say, I just never had a thought in that direction, or whether I’d stay, uh, uh, or not.  Uh, when I got older -- or, like, when I got out of college, uh... you know, I -- at that time, I felt I would go wherever the opportunity, uh, took me.  But, um... um... I, um... and -- and as a matter of fact, initially, uh, my first job out of college was in Bridgeport.  And I thought of moving down there, but it was so close, you know?  Like a... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI -- I -- as a matter of fact, I used to take the train.  It was a 20-minute train ride, so... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... it was not a, uh... it was not a problem.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm, would you --\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut I -- you know... but I -- but I -- I would consider it kind of a normal childhood.  I don’t know -- you know... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... uh, you know, what else I could tell you about that.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  How did, um... were -- did you feel like your parents and your community would kind of encourage you to go to college or to move out, and to do something else, or... what was the sense of what you were supposed to do?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell... (coughing)  My situation was a little -- uh, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... a little different, as far as... moving out.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWhen I got out of high school, I had a job, uh, with this, um, company that published the city directories.  And they worked in different areas... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... so it’s like, I was 17 -- I was working out-of-town already.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd I used to... ah... uh, all -- although... much of it was in Connecticut, uh... that summer I think we worked in Bridgeport.  So, you know, I used to just go back and forth, because I -- you know, I didn’t have a car.  But later on... uh... I worked in some other cities, and I -- I stayed there, and as a matter of fact... in the fall, they -- they also worked in New Jersey, and I just went down there and stayed.  So I was like... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... out of the house.  And, uh... I turned 18, and I went in the Army.  And... I was gone for a few months, and I came home for a couple... weeks.  And then I went overseas, and I didn’t come home for almost 2 years.  So, I --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- I was away from... I was away from home, you know?  (laughing)\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.  Mm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... I, uh -- I -- but I -- I just never thought about whether I’d end up here or there.  But, at --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- at that point, as I said later on, it wouldn’t have made any difference, uh... to me.  You know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  When you -- had the neighborhood changed at all when you came back?  From being overseas?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t Not -- not at that time.  The neighborhood (inaudible) -- it was all, uh --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- basically the... w-- it was still basically the same, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... people.  It was that kind of a neighborhood; it didn’t change that much, you know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd these were not 1-family homes.  I -- I should... describe, at that time... and, I think the bulk of New Haven was like this.  There were sections -- there was nice sections with 1-family homes.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut we a-- (coughing -- excuse me.  But we actually lived in a 3-family house... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... and all the houses on our block were 3-family houses.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tMaybe a couple of 2s; uh, across the street from us was a very large house, and a doctor lived there.  And those days --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- the doctor had his office in the house.  And, uh... that wa-- that was a big house.  And as a kid, I used to go over there, because he had a son.  His son was about 4 years younger than me, but, uh... yeah.  I always guess about 4 years younger.  But, uh... uh... I used -- we used to go over -- I was very friendly with him.  And this was a big house.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut this was, uh... uh... really the only 1-family house.  Although we kind of faced a little street and there were some small houses down there that were 1-family.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut basically, uh, the whole area was 3-family, and then around the corner we lived near a street called Scranton Street --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- where the school was, and there was a whole block of houses that were, like, 6 family houses.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, which they used to have.  So, that’s, uh -- that’s the kind of... you know, that’s the kind of neighborhood it was.  And, um... and it was -- as I said, we had a grocery store, uh, on the corner.  And a couple blocks away we had a drug store -- it was a -- that kind -- that kind of a neighborhood.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThere’s also a tavern on the corner of Winthrop and Legion.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... and then I think there was another little grocery store, on -- on the opposite corner of Winthrop and Legion.  And, uh... but it was, you know, strictly residential.  And it’s like he knew everybody in the neighbor-- you knew everybody for blocks around.  You know what I mean?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh... you know, even as a -- what, a -- 10, 12-year-old, or whatever.  You know, you not only knew the people in your block -- there was always a lot of kids.  Uh, you know, boys and girls.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... but you knew -- you -- but you knew people lived 2 blocks away, or 4 blocks -- I don’t know.  You could walk around.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUh-huh.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, you know -- uh... and -- or... had a bicycle.  You -- you know, with the bike (inaudible) everywhere. (laughing) So, I -- you know, he knew a lot of people, and, uh... you know.  And... \r\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369#t=300.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/transcript/19305/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":" \r\nI will tell you this.  You know, when I hear stories today about how bad the high schools are, and... you know, all these other things, and... you know, my own grandkids are... uh, (inaudible) -- they hated high school, or even my own kids, when they went to high school, the problems in the high school -- I feel very badly.  I loved high school.  Not for the school part.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t(laughing) Mm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut I -- I, uh -- I remember that was one of the best times of my life.  I had these, uh... friends -- as I said, uh, we had this fraternity/sorority system; we had dances, uh, we used to have a baseball team, as a -- you know, and things were... things were going on.  And I -- I was very happy in high school.  And when I hear what’s happening today, and then, I said, even going back to when my own kids were in high school, when there were riots, and problems, and this and that -- I -- I... uh, you know -- I feel badly about that.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBecause as I said, I actually -- it might sound dumb today (laughing) --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- but I actually enjoyed high school, and I had a -- I had a good time.  And as I said to you, some of the friends I made back then --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- I’m still in touch with today.  You know?  Which might be unusual, but, uh... you know, I just feel a kind of a kinship with these people.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo, it sounds like a really... like a co-- really cohesive community, and a really... kind of --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tWe--\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- uh, a really safe-feeling place.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tOh, yeah.  Um... well, as I said... like, you know -- like, in high school times, we’d go to movies.  Now... I don’t know how far it was down to the center of New Haven... maybe a mile and a half; maybe... maybe 2.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd we go... we’d go to the movies; I’d go to the movies, and, uh... you go down to the movie at 11:00 at night --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- and, very often, I was with 1 friend of mine who lived pretty close to downtown.  So I’d walk home; walk him home, and then I would walk the rest-- the rest of the way myself.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t11:00 at night.  And I -- I never gave a thought to any kind of a problem.  And sometimes, I would go by myself.  You know -- sometimes I’d take the bus, but very often, uh -- I -- I would walk home.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, I, uh... I -- I just... I don’t know.  I just was -- never could -- maybe I was dumb, I don’t know. \r\n\nCASEY MINER: \tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut there weren’t those kind of problems.  You -- you know, you could walk home, 11:00 at night, and nobody would bother you.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... uh, I’m trying to think of -- you could go almost everywhere, uh, in New Haven.  I -- I don’t know any, uh... you know, I don’t know of any particular, uh, problems.  As I said -- uh, uh, I’m sure there were.  But, uh... I felt it was always kind of a... it was -- you know, a safe neighborhood.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.  So, why do you think people started to move out of the neighborhood?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWhy did they start to move out?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell... I would -- I would think people started to move out, number 1... this-- \r\nEnd of File 5 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t--s -- this, of course, was later -- this was sort of pr-- post-World War II.  Uh, I think people had a little more money; there was, uh... uh, cars -- everybody had a car.  You know, like, when I was a kid, not everybody had a car.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, we had a car because my father was a plumbing contractor, and he worked on his own, so, he -- he didn’t have a truck; he had a car, uh... which, you know, he... carried the tools in the trunk.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo, we... I sort of remember that we always had a car.  But not everybody had a car.  And, uh, the -- the -- and, uh... that’s why I used to walk with my friends; because, uh, their families didn’t have cars.  But now you’re getting into... post-World War II; everybody’s got a car; as a matter of fact, in a short time, everybody had 2 cars.  So, number 1, you could live... farther out, you know.  And, uh, also, people wanted to live in, uh... you know, in a -- in a 1-family house.  And, uh... I think that’s when the neighborhood started, uh... to change.  Also... uh, and this is not any kind of an -- a racist remark, because I’m hardly a racist, but, uh, you had more Black people coming up from the South.  Eh -- after World War II.  And, of course, uh... we did have -- uh, well, it’s still kind of a Black neighborhood today; the Dixwell Avenue area.  But, it couldn’t -- it couldn’t contain all these people, so they started moving, uh... elsewhere.  And also, as they themselves got more affluent, they wanted to have a house, uh... um... you know, and in my cases, they bought it -- these -- some of these 2, 3-family houses.  And, uh... I think that’s when the neighborhood started to change.  I would say... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... probably, uh... you know, after 19 -- maybe after 1948, or... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... you know.  And, uh, that brought about a big change in New Haven, because, uh... I think the Black population of New Haven very quickly went from about 5% to 15%, uh, uh -- of the population.  And the... New Haven itself population dropped.  I can remember... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... I believe I’m correct in this.  In my growing-up time, the population of New Haven -- just the city -- was somewhere around 150 or 160,000 people, whereas I think today it’s about 110. \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo, you lost this 50, 60,000 people in the move to the suburbs.  And, uh... but... I would tell you this, Casey: this is not only true of New Haven.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThis is true of the whole country.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, you know, uh -- what I’m telling you about New Haven, you could pick any city in the country, and basically it’s the same, uh, story.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOK?  What else -- what else do you need to know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUh -- hmm -- well, were you -- were you in New Haven when that started to happen?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWhen what?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tWhen -- were you in New Haven after World War II, when... that started to happen?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYeah -- yeah -- yeah, I’ve always been here.  I, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell, let me put it this way.  Uh... I went to the University of Connecticut, and, uh... \r\nEnd of File 6\r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI had met my wife just before I went in the service... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, when I came home, we picked up and, uh... I got married while I was still in college.  So, we lived in a nearby town -- Willimantic, Connecticut.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... then, uh... I, uh... I don’t know; I lost my train of thought here.  What wa-- what was the -- (laughing) -- (inaudible) --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tWere you in New Ha-- \r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWas I in --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t-- uh -- were you in New Haven --\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOh, yeah.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t-- when it started to change?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell, so -- so then what happened, as I said I got this first job in Bridgeport... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... but... uh, when we, uh -- when I finished school, we found an apartment in New Haven.  So I said, “Well, we got this nice apartment, so I’ll just, uh, commute.”  You know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... as I said, at first I used to... take the train, and then -- well, later on, I got a car.  But, uh... so, I was here when... you know, when all this was, uh, happening.  So, you know, we -- we, uh... we’ve always, uh... lived here.  We -- we had this apartment, then we... then we moved to a bigger apartment, also in New Haven -- right off of [Whalley] Ave.  Well, the first apartment was on [Whalley] Avenue, and then the next one off of [Whalley] Ave.  Then we bought a house in a... uh, by this time we had 3 kids.  We bought a house in a section called Westville.  I’m sure you’ve heard of Westville.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  Mmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd we bought a -- we bought a nice big old house.  Uh... which was in the late ‘50s.  Anyway... uh, by the late ‘60s, uh... uh, we have twin boys -- they were in high school.  And the high school was having a lot of problems, and, uh... I mean, some of them were really major.  And I said, I -- I... I -- I -- I couldn’t stand the tension, uh, of what was goi-- I didn’t know, at first, what was going on, because they never said anything.  But of course I --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThen things started happening that, you know, was public knowledge -- it was in the newspaper; everything else.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd then I -- when I talked with my boys, and I started finding out what was going on, I said... “We -- we can’t live here anymore.”  So, we sold the house and moved to Hamden.  And, uh... like everybody else, it was the flight to the suburbs. \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut, uh... the only reason we did it -- there was no problems in our neighborhood; we -- we lived in a... a very, uh, nice part of Westville that was... mo-- mostly all old homes, you know?  And was probably originally a very WASPy neighborhood.  Uh, but, uh... you know, was slowly... that -- that was slowly being changed.  Ah, but we had to -- we had to get out of New Haven.  I could-- I couldn’t stand -- and I also have a -- I had a younger daughter -- have a younger daughter, and, uh... uh, although the grammar school that she went to was very good, I said I did not want her to go to the Junior High that was located -- Sheridan Junior High --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- I don’t know if you’ve heard of it or have seen it.  And, um -- I said, I don’t want her to go there.  So, uh... there was no way... that I would ever be able to afford private school if they were thinking of college, uh, which they were thinking of.  So I said, the easiest way is to move out.  And actually, that whole neighborhood broke up, for the same reason.  In other words, they were upset that we moved, but on the other hand, all their friends were moving away.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... so, uh... everybody in that neighborhood who had kids actually, in those years -- within like a 2-year period -- moved out of that area.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd all because of the problems in the high school.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know?  So... as I said, it was a shame -- I loved high school.  (laughter)  You know.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tSo, when did you come back to New Haven?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell, I came back to New Haven --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- in 19, uh, 50 -- \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- when I got out of –- \r\nEnd of File 7 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- the University of Connecticut.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd then, as I said, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... you know, we lived, uh... a couple pla-- we had a couple of places --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- and we lived in Westville until... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... we moved to Hamden... I believe it was 1968.  So.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut I mean, it’s -- it’s Hamden.  You’re still --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- attached to New Haven.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tRight.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know what I mean?  Um... it’s not that you -- you’re leaving (inaudible) -- yes, you’re living there, and you don’t have to worry about -- and the schools and everything are different.  But the cultural activities... are still in New Haven, and we’re lucky that we have Yale University.  Uh... and we -- uh, and we still do this.  We... you know, we -- we partake of a lot of the activities there.  In other words, uh... uh, we love to go to art galleries; we go to the Yale art gallery; we go to the British art museum.  We go to Woolsey Hall for concerts, and -- we take in a lot of the, uh, cultural activities that are available in New Haven.  [Schubert] Theatre.  You know, and then when the Palace Theatre was running, we used to go there.  And, uh, so, uh -- and we still do this.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo, New Haven, uh... it’s like... yeah, I live in Hamden... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... uh... but we’re still in New Haven, if you -- if you know what I mean.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... and -- and I -- and I think that’ll... that’ll continue.  Uh, although for a long time, I will tell you this, uh... a lot of the New Haven activities, we -- we stopped going at night.  you know?  Like -- as I said, we like to go to the [Schubert] Theatre, but it became... we’re going to Saturday matinee now, you know?  Instead of, like... as we used to do, you know -- go downtown and eat and then go to the theatre; it’s now go to the theatre, and then leave New Haven, and maybe go to Hamden, or somewhere, and have dinner. (laughing)  So, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... that’s -- that’s the pattern, you know.  But I think, uh... I think New Haven has made a big comeback.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, uh, I -- I don’t know if you know -- you know, that building, uh... uh, more residential buildings -- some of the old office buildings are now apartments, and, uh --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- they’re doing a -- they’re doing a lot to bring people back to New Haven.  Which... brings me to another point at which you might find of interest.  (coughing)  And -- and I don’t know if when you talk to Sam [Teitelman]... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... of the Orchard Street Synagogue -- he brought this up.  You know, in trying to... you know -- I think I told you I’m on the Board of Directors.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tTrying to revive that synagogue... you know, Sam has this idea that there are more younger people going to be living in downtown New Haven, and that there will be a percentage of them that will be Jewish, and maybe Orthodox, and they will maybe want to walk to this synagogue.  Uh, I don’t know if this is going to take place or not. (laughing)\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  mm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut, uh, it’s -- it’s part of, uh, the thinking about the Orchard Street Synagogue.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know?  That there’ll be people living in downtown New Haven.  And there are!  As I’ve said, they’ve already built a lot of these places, so... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... I don’t know what’s going to happen.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  So, let’s talk a bit -- a little bit about that.  Why did you decide to join the, um... to join the Board of the Synagogue?  And to kind of –- \r\nEnd of File 8 \r\n\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t-- work in historic preservation?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell, uh, yeah -- well, there was a... there was another man who was very active here, with the Jewish Historical Society, and, uh... he’s past President, as a matter of fact -- well, unfortunately, he’s gone now.  And he, uh... he wanted to get me on that Board, and the only reason I wanted to get on is, uh... I don’t believe in knocking down old buildings and making parking lots.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, let -- let me just go back... you know, New Haven was one of the first cities in the country to go in for redevelopment.  Back in the ‘50s.  We had a mayor, Richard Lee.  Uh... we were probably the second city.  Pittsburg, I believe, was the first one; he was going to Pittsburgh and saw what they did, you know, to that Golden Triangle, and all that, and he said, “We’ve got to do this in New Haven.”  So he just started knocking buildings down... and, uh... you know, and in many cases, they never got around to doing anything.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd I can... uh, well, as a matter of fact, where is -- there’s a Frontage Road now where this road is -- I can show you this area that’s... it’s like 40 years.  They knocked all these houses down, and there’s still nothing there, you know?  Uh... but he did more for the center -- so they started, you know, taking these places down.  Now, there was a synagogue that was close to-- very close to downtown called [Bene Jacob].  I don’t know if you’ve heard of it or not.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tIt’s, uh... you know, it’s a -- out in Woodbridge, now.  But in any event... they were downtown on a corner of George and... George and York Street, or George and -- I can’t remember; I think -- but downtown -- they were on George Street.  This beautiful old building -- I could show you pictures of it, you know?  And they just took it down.  You know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd there’s an apartment house there today.  I mean, they could have left the synagogue.  Anyway, so, that’s... you know, and thinking about that, and some of the other things that they did where they just knocked buildings down and ended up with parking lots -- I -- this is a -- uh... you’ve been there, right?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo there’s this great old building, you know?  And, uh -- as a matter of fact, this [Bene Jacob] was similar architecture, but it was probably bigger than the Orchard Street Synagogue.  And, so when they asked me to be on the Board, and part of it was I said, “Well... you know, there are thoughts of -- to sell that building.”  And... uh... I didn’t want to see it torn down, so I said, “Well, if I go on the Board, maybe I can... (laughing) have a little -- uh, a little voice in this.”\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd I’ve been on the Board there about 3 years, and of course, we still haven’t resolved the problem.  And... we’re s-- we’re still facing the 2 possibilities.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThe hospital, o-- which is nearby; Hospital St. Rayfield -- would buy it; they’d probably tear it down and build a parking garage.  Or possibly, uh, a Black group would buy it as a church.  Uh... if I had a choice, I’d rather see it go as a church, because the building would remain.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know?  Although there’s other Board members who say they’d rather see it torn down than become a Black church, so... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut, uh... we’re kind of in limbo... with that.  We still -- you know, we had a meeting about 2 weeks ago, and we’re still discussing the same things we discussed 3 years ago. (laughter)  We’ve made no headway with that, un-- unfortunately, because... we don’t have any money... to do what we have to do.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, to repair -- the building is in bad need of repair.  You know... the doors leak.  We fixed up the roof, but the doors leak when there’s a bad rain, and... uh, it’s -- it’s just too bad.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tIt’s a great old building.  But... that’s my thought, and -- (coughing) -- and what I wanted to do on the Board.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tNo, it -- it’s not an active synagogue, as you know.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, it’s like -- we’re... we -- we have 90 or 100 members.  But the 90 or 100 members, like myself, all belong somewhere else that we go.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut it’s a -- it’s a nostalgia, uh, thing.  So... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnyway, that’s -- that’s my thought; I’m trying to save --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- uh, save the building.  I had -- I loved -- that’s a... uh... uh... my wife and I -- well, we’ve stopped now, a little bit.  But we used to travel a lot.  And anytime we’d get into an area, I would always like to go see old houses, old b--\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI don’t know, it’s just a thing, you know?  So... go ahead.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tSo is that why you started working at, uh, the Historical Society?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tHere?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOK, well, let me bring you up to date on this.  I -- I -- I -- \r\nEnd of File 9 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t--ve been a member here... since they started, or very shortly after.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI -- I’m not sure... of the year -- probably 1977.  And I was never an active member; I’d go to the meeting once in awhile.  I just didn’t... I just didn’t have the time.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut if they had a... some kind of interesting meeting, you know, I would come -- my wife and I would, uh... go to the meeting.  Or program.  And, uh, they also -- you know, we’d also have trips.  And we -- we’ve been on a... uh, a few trips with them.  Uh... but, I still didn’t consider myself really active.  Paid the dues, and everything else.  Well, uh, the man who was... doing the archival work -- I didn’t realize -- I knew him... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... but I -- I didn’t know -- realize that he had left.  And... I met one of the members one day, and, uh... she told me that this man had, uh, left -- I don’t -- I don’t know how it came about, to tell you the truth.  But, and she said, we’d -- you know, she knew I was retired -- “Would you be interested in... taking over?”  So I said, “Well, you know, I really don’t know anything about it, but... uh... doesn’t sound like it’s too hard.” (laughter)  You know?  So, uh... and I even -- you know, discussed it with my wife, and, uh, she says -- you know, because I had some doubts.  She said, “Eh, you could probably do it.”  So, they were in the process of moving; we were -- we were in another building.  They have a building here on campus that they -- at that time, called a transition building.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  Hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd these were various departments -- while they were building some (inaudible) didn’t know where to put them, they put them in this big building.  I don’t know, are you familiar with the campus here at all?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tNo, no, no.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tNo, OK -- well, it’s around the corner on Wintergreen.  So, they were moving.  So they asked -- so, anyway, they asked me to come in and help them with the -- with the move, you know?  So, I did, and while I was helping with the move, they said -- then they tell me, uh, that the archivist had left -- now, I didn’t know this.  I thought he’d just left.  But he had left like 6, 7 months before, and they had nobody.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo... uh, I was working with this man, uh, who, uh, has the title here of “Curator.”  And, uh... so, we -- we did the move, and we, uh... uh... initially moved -- we were across the street.  You know, where they’re building that big new build-- that’s a Student Union building --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- that huge new building?  Well, anyway, there was another building -- it was also -- had been a maintenance building.  So they said, “We’ll put you here temporarily, until we find another spot for you.”  And, uh... of course, the temporary turned out to be about... I don’t know -- I guess about 8 -- 18 months.  And, uh... we never really unpacked, and we, uh... you know, it wasn’t mu-- wasn’t much of a place; it had a little office in what had been the paint room, you know?  All splotches of paint all over the place. (laughing)  Anyhow.  So, uh... and I, uh... just kind of got into it, and, uh... I would tell you, this is like a -- like a fun thing for me.  Because -- not so much with what you’re asking me about, but people come in here all the time, and this is what we talk about.  Legion Avenue, New Haven, this and that.  Also... uh... all these years, the -- this Society has been like a well-kept secret.  Like, people from New Haven will come in here, or suddenly call and say, “I never heard of you.”  Wow, we’re in existence 28 years, you’ve never heard of us?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  Mm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut we’re getting more publicity now, and we’re getting more known.  And we’re getting even more known on the campus.  Now, I don’t know how long -- (coughing) -- they originally, as a matter of fact, were in the Jewish Home for the Aged -- I don’t know if you know where that is, downtown near the hospital?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThey had a room there.  That was where they started; then they went over to this Wintergreen building.  Anyway, so, people are still coming in today who are local people who said they’d never heard of us.  But we’re getting more publicity now, and we’ve been doing more -- even on the campus here, we’re, uh, articles about us in their, uh, local newspaper, so that the students here, uh -- I mean, we’re on their campus; they’d never heard of us.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo we’re getting more people in, and more and more -- and now, we’ve reached the point that I get calls from all over the country, every day.  All over the world!\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI get people calling me from Europe, from -- a lot of calls from Israel.  And, what they’re after, uh... it’s more genealogy, and basically, we are not a genealogical society.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWe’re a his-- historical society.  Our mission is to preserve and document the history of the New Haven Jewish Community.  The New -- the Greater New Haven Jewish Community.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut in collecting material, people donate stuff about their families.  So now, we have a lot of family histories here.  And, the calls are... uh, “I’m looking for information on my grandfather; he lived in New Haven in 1920,” or what -- “Have you got anything on him?”  And this -- and it -- and it goes on, uh, all the time.  This is -- uh, this is the bulk of the calls we get.  And... uh, people, uh... want to know, “Well, my name is this, but I think the name used to be this, if you have people \r\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369#t=300.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/transcript/19305/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":" \r\nby this name.”  And, um... I -- I -- I have to (inaudible) entertain a variety of -- of questions and inquiries we get.  But... but the -- the people come in -- and we get a lot of Yale research.  (inaudible) --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWe get more people from Yale than from Southern.  And the other place we get a lot, is there’s a private... I don’t know if they’re -- I could -- I guess it’s a private high school called Hopkins; I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, well... we get -- I get a lot of students from Hopkins doing, uh, various papers.  And -- and they come in here.  I don’t know why we get a lot from them, but we -- but we do.  And, uh... as I said, a lot of -- a lot of calls from all over.  I -- I’d have to actually look it up, because I keep a record of the calls.  Uh... we have a Board of Directors meeting, uh... I guess about every 2 or 3 months during the year, except for the summer.  And I give them a report.  And what I tell them is, our acquisitions -- material that’s come in.  Now... to show you that we’ve gotten better-known, um... when I came here, we were getting about 35 to 40 new acquisitions a year.  And in the last... uh -- I’d been here 5 years now.  And in the last 3 years, the acquisitions have between -- gone between 80 and 90 a year.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tOh, wow.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo we’re getting better known.  Uh, there was no record of people doing research, and I give this report to the Board -- and I used to tell them, you know, “This person called for this and that.”  Well, the last meeting, I had so many requests -- I had something like 34 requests --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- that I just couldn’t read them all.  But... you know, there -- there’s all kind-- as I said, people, uh... some that still live here; we get a lot of people that come in here from out of town, as I said, because their families came from here, uh... uh, the most recent fun thing that happened was in December; a man came in from California looking for his... he told me he was looking for a classmate; turned out he was looking for his high school sweetheart.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tAww.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd we found her!\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tAh!\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, it was... that was -- that was... that was the highlight of the month.  (laughing)\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUh-huh.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWith -- with that guy.  He was so... uh -- I don’t -- well, I can’t even go into it.  He was so happy; the guy was all choked up, you know?  And he actually went to see her.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tOh. (laughing)\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tHe found her -- I mean, I found her.  And, uh... and then he called me the next day to tell me he actually... he says, “I dro”-- I -- I told him where the street was, and he says, “I drove around and drove around,” he says, “and I” -- he said, “I’m going to go see her,” and he did.  You know?  So, as I say -- so, it’s a fun -- this is a fun thing for me.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI -- I’m really -- I really enjoy, uh, being here.  Besides, it gets me out of the house.  You know.  And, uh... works -- works out well that way.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tAre you guys planning to move to another building, or... do you have --\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tHere?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.  This --\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell, this is a temporary location; it’s always temporary.  Uh, we don’t know the plans, but we believe the University, uh, does -- does have plans to redevelop this whole area.  You see this street as you come up --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- the houses are boarded up.  The University owns all of that, now.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tOh, really?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo... and, uh, there’s one place where they’ve already torn them down; you probably noticed a little grassy area, fenced-in.  So, at some point, this is all going to come down.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, they have a new President here at Southern -- uh, Cheryl Norton. \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd –- \r\nEnd of File 10 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR: -- she’s very nice, uh... and very... unassuming.  Uh... well, let me -- let me just backtrack.  One day, the man who was the President came in here.  Now, he comes in with a whole... entourage.  About 6 people.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd... they -- he came in here, and I talked with him; he -- he was very nice.  He was the one that got us on the campus; I don’t know how it started, but he felt that this Ethnic Center -- that the campus was a good place.  And that’s... why they got here, and they were in that temporary quarters.  But anyway... now, uh, they got a new President; it’s a lady, Cheryl Norton.  And we’re sitting here having coffee 1 day, and this lady walks in, and we don’t know who she is.  And she said -- because I said, people walk in here all the time.  And she says, uh... she says, uh, “I’m Cheryl Norton from Southern Connecticut University.”  Just -- \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- she doesn’t even say, “I’m the President,” or anything.  And she came in here, and, uh, we took her around; there was another man here that day from the Irish-American Society, and, uh... it was very pleasant.  We spent an hour with her.  And, uh... she seemed, you know, very interested, and then, as a matter of fact, we had, uh... and talking about, like, the people here at Southern really don’t know us.  So about... I guess it was about a month ago; early March... we decided to have an open house, and invite the Southern Connecticut faculty -- you know, not the students.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, you know, we can’t have a lot of people here.  So, working with -- we have a, uh... I don’t know what you call them.  We have like a f-- uh, a liaison to the University --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- a man who’s a Uni-- uh, he’s our liaison between us and the University.  And working with him, and Dr. Barry Herman, who’s the President of the Ethnic Center... uh, we had this open house in which we invited the faculty -- all the administrators; professors -- or, as many as they could come.  Unfortunately, uh, unknown to us --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- we picked a bad day.  Uh, because of budget cuts and things like that, a group of the faculty was going up to the capitol to picket, or something, or ask for more money.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut, we still had -- it was still a success.  We had 30, 40 people, including the President.  She came over, and, uh, she talked, and, uh... anyway.  What -- it was just a thing to get the faculty to know us, to say, “You know, if you’re a... well, like -- I know 1 woman who came over, and, uh, I met her at the door, and she’s the professor of Women’s Studies.”  You know, it’s like, “Oh, look what you’ve got here!  You’ve got all this?”\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t“Wow!  I’ve got to tell my students!”  And that -- that was our purpose.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tTo have them say to their students, “You know, if you want to do some research, you -- check the Ethnic Center.”  And it’s worked, uh -- it’s worked.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI think 1 day you were here I had a young man in here --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- from the -- from the University.  As a matter of fact, he was here yesterday again.  So, uh... this is -- this is what’s going on.  And they also recently had a meeting with the President, and she, uh... she wants to keep us on the campus; where we’ll go --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.  Mmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- we don’t know, you know?  So... OK.  Next.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUm --\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tO--\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tSo, what has, um... I guess working here, you -- you think a lot about the Jewish Community in New Haven, and what -- what it has been --\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYeah.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t-- and what it... \r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYeah.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t... what it is, and maybe sort of a little bit about that?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tWell, New Haven has... New Haven has a very active -- \r\nEnd of File 11 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- Jewish community.  Uh... the question that keeps coming to me... all the time, and, uh... this is kind of guesswork on my part... is... what is the Jewish population of the Greater New Haven area?  And... my guess... it’s about, probably, 10,000 families -- maybe 30,000 people.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tIn that neighborhood; 25 to 30,000.  And, I would guess, it’s like any other community: you have some people who are very active; you’ve got some people are s-- who are in everything.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know what I mean?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThey’re with the Federation; they’re with the Foundation; they’re... active in their synagogue.  You know --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou get the -- and then you get people who are somewhat active, and then, of course, you have a whole element here who are not -- \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- not active at all; don’t even belong to a... a synagogue, you know?  And are -- and -- and don’t partake.  But... this community is just so active that I -- I -- I just think it’ll -- it’ll continue on.  Now, uh... an example, just to go back: a couple weeks ago, we had a program... let me give you a -- a little history.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUm... the man who’s our curator is one who’s got -- he likes to go to cemeteries.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd... check on gravestones, and all this.  Many, many years ago, he was looking for a particular gravestone, and he didn’t find it.  But he found a gravestone with what looked like a Jewish name.  And the man’s name was Isaac Moses.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd he did some investigating; come to find out, this man was from Charleston, South Carolina, but he used to come up here for the summer.  And... this 1 summer, it was -- or, it was early September -- he was starting on his way home, and he got killed in a buggy accident.  This was 18... I think 18 -- 1834.  I -- I could check the -- anyway.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd he was buried here in -- in Branford.  There were no Jewish cemeteries in Connecticut at that time.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know?  You know -- the Jews were not allowed to have a cemetery.  So, he’s buried in an old colonial cemetery.  And with his investigating, he found out this is the first known Jew to be buried in the State of Connecticut.  Well, his gravestone was all... shot, weather-beaten, and everything else.  So, we, the Jewish Historical Society, in conjunction with the Federation and so forth, ah, we got somebody to donate some money, and they... placed a new footstone.  So, last Sunday -- not this past -- a week ago; the 10th.  Uh, Barry Herman organized a whole ceremony to dedicate -- and I’ll show you; I’m making some posters, and I taped this -- I taped this, also.  Uh, and we made, uh... ma-- had a whole ceremony to dedicate this footstone.  Well, anyway... we figured we’d get maybe 25, 30 people to come to this -- we had some publicity.  We had 100 people!  Because, leave it to Barry, we had the American Legion there; we had the Jewish War Vets; we had the Boy Scouts... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t(laughing) Wow.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd we had all -- all these people.  As I said, I taped the whole ceremony, and I took some pictures.  And, uh... I said I made some posters; I’m going to put them up at the Commu-- Jewish Community Center.  But, uh... this is -- this is the kind of thing we do, you know?  And, uh... and there’s enough people who have this, uh... have this interest, you know?  And to find this historical thing --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- even though the man was not local, but he did come here every year, and he was, uh... he was very active in the South Carolina Jewish community.  He was, uh, uh... a member of his synagogue... \r\nM:\tPardon me for just a moment.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tHey Frank, how are you?\r\nM:\tHow are you doing?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHi Frank.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo, uh... you know, so this is the kind of thing that we, uh... we do.  And, uh... also about a week ago, we sponsored another program, uh... with a man and his wife from [Dutoro] Synagogue in Newport -- I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tIt’s one of the first synagogues in -- in the Western hemisphere, and 1 of the first synagogues, uh... in America.  I mean... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tIt goes back to... the 1700s.  And, uh... this man, although he’s no longer Jewish, he was descended from the first.. Portuguese Jews.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, this was like during the Inquisition... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... the Portuguese Jews had to get out.  And Spanish Jews.  And so, he’s descended from that, but of course, along the way, what happened -- there were not enough Jewish women so, you know, they married, uh, other women, and of course, later on, the kids were not Jewish anymore.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, um... so, uh... but -- we had a -- that was another program we had.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo, um... you know, so the community here is pretty, uh... pretty active.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know?  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tWell, I think that’s great, unless if you have any concluding remarks that you want to make.  But... \r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t(inaudible)\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t(inaudible)?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tNo, well -- I don’t -- I don’t know; I think I covered every --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t(laughing)\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI don’t know what else -- what else you want me to, uh... \r\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369#t=300.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/transcript/19305/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":" \r\nto cover?  You know, and I -- as -- as I said, I don’t feel that New Haven is more unique than -- than, uh, any other city.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI -- I think what’s happened here... uh, as I told you, we used to travel a lot.  As a matter of fact, we -- we -- we’ve been in 48 of the 50 states. \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tReally? \r\n\r\nEnd of File 12\r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThe only places I have not been is Iowa and Nebraska.  (laughter)  But we’ve been everywhere else.  Not -- I’m not counting out of the country. (coughing)  And... as we got to different cities, we always found the same thing -- or as we met people, “Yeah, I used to live here, but now I’m in the suburbs.”  And the city has changed, and --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo... so, uh... you know, this is the, uh... same th-- same thing here.  And, um... uh, as I said, I think -- you know, they’re trying to really bring the City of New Haven back, so to speak, as I said with these apartments, and getting more people to move downtown.  Again, this is a national trend.  You know, there are now people, uh... paying a lot of money for an apartment that, you know, used to be a tenement, or slum building, if you know what I mean. (laughing)\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd, uh... even now, in the area downtown of -- again, I don’t know what you’re familiar with.  Uh, where they have, like, kind of an art center -- Autobahn Street.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:  I don’t know if you’re familiar with, uh, where that is.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThey have these condos there... I mean, those condos are 250,000 dollars.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, as I said maybe... 20 years ago, uh... you know?  There were some old houses there; I don’t know what they cost to live in.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut, uh... you know, as I said, I’ve lived here all my life, and, uh, we like it because of the -- you know, the -- there’s a cultural aspect here.  And, uh... generally, I -- you know, as far as, like asking about... the safety and all that.  It’s -- it’s as safe here as anyplace else.  You -- you know, you have to be careful; you can’t go everywhere.  And, uh, you have to -- you should always be, uh -- uh, aware of your, uh... aware of your surroundings, you know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut... it’s my hometown, and I... uh, I would tell you this, from -- (inaudible) I -- you know, I was in the Army during World War II.  I missed it -- I couldn’t wait to get back.  But that’s like everybody -- you know, you can’t --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- you can’t wait to get back home.  You know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo... OK?  Anything else you need?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUh, I actually just have 1 more question.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYeah.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tDo you think that, um... do you think the Redevelopment had a different effect on New Haven, in terms of affecting these trends that you’re talking about?  Than in other places, or... ?\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou -- you mean the redevelopment back in the ‘50s?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYeah, yeah.  There’s no question.  What happened -- well, see, the main thing, which bothers everybody --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\nEnd of File 13 \r\n\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- particularly the Jewish community, is that they broke up this Legion Avenue/Oak Street area.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know?  To -- to make a road.  Well, first of all... they broke it up to make this road; they didn’t have to break it up when they did.  That street could have stayed another 20 years.  And what happened was, uh... some of these people -- if they were a little bit older, they just went out of business.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tThey were gone, forever.  And... some of the others... that moved away to different locations... generally speaking -- I can’t say 100% -- they were just not successful elsewhere.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, it wasn’t the same.  But the big shift for most of those businesses was to [Whalley] Avenue, which I’m sure you’re familiar with.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd all of a sudden, Whalley Avenue became the big shopping area, with the, uh... bakeries and butchers and -- and all that.  But... after awhile, the Black community, moving out of Dixwell Avenue, started moving up Whalley Avenue.  And again, the same thing happened.  Uh... the stores went out of business; uh, they either retired or -- and it -- it just... it just changed.  Uh... I -- I -- to tell you the truth, I don’t even know what’s on Whalley Avenue now.  I -- I have -- I don’t go there... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... I have no reason to go.  But that was the shopping area for -- for a while; I would say, probably, during the late ‘50s and ‘60s.  But even that’s gone.  But as I said, the shame of it is, I -- I really think that Legion Avenue, and -- and Oak Street... could have stayed another... 20 years.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBut, uh... I guess... the Mayor had the money, and had the idea, “Let’s knock it all down, and we’ll rebuild it.”  But it didn’t, uh... it didn’t work that fast, and, um... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tI -- I think it was a shame.  I -- I can’t even describe it to you.  Legion Avenue... Legion Avenue was closed on Saturday, basically.  Because... 95% of businesses were Jewish.  There were some Italian-owned stores, also.  But Sunday morning... you -- you couldn’t even walk on the sidewalks.  I mean, there were thousands of people in there --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- the traffic, you know, uh... as I said, Oak Street kind of faded away, but Legion Avenue became the big shopping area.  And, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, you know, it was like, uh... I don’t know -- you know, it was like Times Square on New Years’ Eve every Sunday morning there.  And, uh, you know -- and -- and that’s what you -- that’s what you did.  That’s why there’s a lot of... nostalgia for that -- for that area.  You know, and e-- and as I said, uh... people always ask about it; there’s -- they always -- even a few weeks ago, a man wrote an article in the Register about Legion Avenue.  And on, and I -- I’ll just tell you something else I did.  A few years ago, I read a book review... can’t think of -- it might have been in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger.  There’s a man, living in Florida -- he was a journalist, and all that.  But he grew up in New Haven.  And he wrote a novel -- fiction.  But he sets it in New Haven.  You know?  So... I called him up.  You know, I do things like this.  I called him up, and again, he -- he’d never heard of us.  Never heard of us.  And, I said, “You know, you have this book set (inaudible), and we’d like to have a copy for our library.  We’d like to have you donate.  You know, we don’t have any money.”  (laughing)  So he said, you know -- so he said, “Well, I never heard of you -- send me something about who you are.”  So, I sent him a little thing with a brief history, and I sent him an article, out of the newspaper -- a copy of an article, but written by this man who was a retired editor from the New Haven paper -- uh, about Legion Avenue.  Well... anyway, the guy sends me an autographed copy of the book --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- and he sends me this nice letter, and he tells me how he loved this article on Legion Avenue.  \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tBecause that’s the way everybody remembers New Haven.  You know?  And, uh... as I said, he -- he sent me the book.  And it -- it was interesting; it was fiction, but, it’s like he names... streets -- it’s about a man who lived in University Towers --\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t-- which is downtown, you know?  And about taking a walk on Legion A-- you know, all that little New Haven stuff is in there, although the book is, uh -- is strictly fiction, you know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tHmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo, but what -- by -- my point is, uh... it’s like Legion Avenue sparks this nostalgia in anybody that grew up here, or, or... or lived here for any length of time.  Or who, you know -- you know, there’s a lot of... even a lot of our members are transplanted people, you know... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\t... they’re from New York or Boston.  But if they moved here -- and a lot of them moved here after World War II -- so if they lived here during the ‘50s, they still caught the tail end of... Legion Avenue, so to speak.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd they all -- they all, uh, remember it.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd as I said -- and as I said, I have this tape which I’d be glad to show you sometime... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tUh, this man who, uh... a past President here, who -- who could recite the names of all the stores up and down Legion Avenue, you know?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tSo... that was our big thing here.  For the Jewish community.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd of course, the Jewish Center, which has, uh... evolved from a little house downtown to another building that was a –- \r\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369#t=300.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369/transcript/19305/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":" \r\nagain, on Legion Avenue.  It wasn’t called the Jewish Center; they used to call it the Hebrew Institute.  Then a Jewish Center downtown on Chapel Street -- I don’t know if you know where the building is -- it’s a Yale building now -- I think it’s a Yale... art building of some type.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tMm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tIf you know where that is.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAnd now, I -- have you ever been to their building in Woodbridge?  Have you ever been out there?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tNo.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tIt’s -- they have a big, gorgeous building with a huge health club, and a pool, and basketball courts, and -- you know, meeting rooms, and a -- and a huge auditorium, and, uh... \r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tYeah.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tYou know, very active, and it’s -- you know... it’s in use, uh, now, as a matter of fact, 7 days a week -- they’re even open Saturdays, which they never used t be.  So... uh, anyway -- uh, I think that answered your question, that it is an active Jewish community.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tUh-huh.  Yeah.  Mm-hmm.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOK?  What else you need?\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t(laughing)  I mean, it’s really... \r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tRight, right, I talked -- I think I told you everything.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\t(inaudible) -- yeah, thank you so much.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tOK.\r\n\nCASEY MINER:\tWe really appreciate this.\r\n\nMARVIN BARGAR:\tAll right. \r\n\r\nEnd of Interview","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/98369#t=300.0,3450.48816"}]}]},{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/238521","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 2 - open-uri20240326-2906522-zt15zp.mpga"]},"duration":11.23265,"width":640,"height":40,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/public/images/audio-default.png","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/238521/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/238521/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-yalemssa.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/238/521/original/open-uri20240326-2906522-zt15zp.mpga?1711449376","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":11.23265,"width":640,"height":40},"target":"https://yalemssa.aviaryplatform.com/collections/988/collection_resources/30384/file/238521","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[]}]}