Oral History with Charlotte Dickerson

Oral history recorded for the Bronx African American History Project on August 26, 2020 with Charlotte Dickerson, who grew up in the United Workers Cooperative Colony, or the Allerton Coops, during the 1950s and 1960s. Her mother, Dr. Angie Dickerson, was an African American human rights, peace, and African independence activist as well as a member of the Communist Party U.S.A., the Civil Rights Congress, the World Peace Council, the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women, and other organizations. In her oral history, Charlotte speaks about her childhood in the Coops with her mother, father Buddy, and brother Steven. She has particularly vivid memories of her mother, who by all accounts was an unforgettable woman, both publicly and at home. Charlotte speaks about her mother's activist and professional career, the ways that growing up in the Coops shaped her own life, FBI surveillance of her family, and much more.

The interviewers are Mark Naison, director of The Bronx African American History Project, and Steven Payne, director of The Bronx County Historical Society. The Bronx African American History Project is a community-based oral history project of Fordham University and The Bronx County Historical Society.