• About the Book
  • Author
  • Buy
  • Reviews
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Home
About the Book Author Buy Reviews Contact Events Home

The Brooklyn Oldtimers

We, the Brooklyn Oldtimers Foundation, held our first meetings half a century ago, when Bertram Baker was leaving the political stage. We are retired police officers, firefighters, social workers and teachers. We are proud of Ron Howell for writing this book about his grandfather: Boss of Black Brooklyn: The Life and Times of Bertram L. Baker. In December of 2016, we gave Ron a plaque that said, ‘A son of Bed-Stuy, you never forgot your roots. Your outstanding journalistic skills have been a breath of fresh air, shown in your published articles.’ Using Ron’s book, we will teach our youngsters what it means to be from black Brooklyn and how they should be faithful to it. Over the years we have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to college-bound students from our community. ‘Bed-Stuy, do or die,’ we used to say back in the day. We will fight today’s onslaughts and try to keep black Brooklyn breathing. The Boss would want us to do it.”

A Day in Black Brooklyn History

  • BakerSwornInTHISisSMALL

    On Tues., Nov. 2, 1948, Baker became the first black elected to political office in Brooklyn. Wife Irene is here with him at his swearing-in.

The Boss (Now Long Deceased) Reflects on His Feat

  •  

     Brief, edited clips from Baker's talk at the Historical Society over 40 years ago.

Deval Patrick Recalls His Grandad-in-Law: the Boss

  • DevalPatrickImageBainThe ex-Governor of Massachusetts, Patrick is talked-about as a 2020 presidential candidate in 2020. (Read more here about him and the Boss.)

Purchase Boss of Black Brooklyn

  • Indie Bound

    Amazon

    Barnes & Noble

    Fordham University Press

Baker was also the Boss of Black Tennis

  • Althea-GibsonAlthea Gibson was important in the life of Bertram Baker. He fought to get her into all-white tennis competitions. She then made history as the first black tennis champion. Yanick Rice Lamb, author of Born to Win: The Authorized Biography of Althea Gibson, comments. Read her review here.

Last of the Bigtime Bosses

  • JudgeMortonTipsHatFuneral Bertram Baker was at the end of a line of bosses who named judges, based in good part on loyalty. Here NY Supreme Court Justice Franklin Morton tips his hat to Baker's coffin. Published in the New York Times, March 12, 1985. Photographer: Chester Higgins.

Fatherhood as a Cross Generational Theme

  •  DadAndSonUse

    Herbert Bias/Getty Images/Stock Photo

    Ron Howell, author of Boss of Black Brooklyn and grandson of the Boss, wrote in 2014 about the crisis of black fatherhood. (Read here.)

     

Scholar: Here's a Key to Understanding NY Politics

  • Clarence Taylor, Professor Emeritus, Baruch College, author of The Black Churches of Brooklyn and other books, wrote that Boss of Black Brooklyn is crucial reading for anyone interested in the twentieth century political history of New York. (Read review here.)

The Island of Nevis is in the Limelight

  • MapOfNevisUse4SiteFor centuries, Nevis has been among the world's most desired destinations. So tiny and lovely. Yet it was too tiny for big dreamers like Alexander Hamilton and Bertram Baker. The island's leaders are proud of its natural gifts and most of all its history. Everson W. Hull, Ph.D., and Ambassador from St. Kitts and Nevis to the Organization of the American States, says Baker's story is a gift to Nevis, Brooklyn and America. (Read here)

     

  • Boss of Black Brooklyn •
  • Powered by Typepad
Top