TitleAmy Pastan family. Oral history interview with Amy Pastan conducted on March 3, 2022.
SummaryWilliam Levine, grandfather of Amy, was born (Wilmo Lukazewski) in Ukraine, near Kiev, Dec. 14, 1894. Arrived in US in 1906. William had two daughters: Elly (b. 1925) mother of Amy, and Joyce (b. 1922) -- (04:00) Young William settled on Lower East Side, took variety of jobs to pay for college, attended Long Island College (Today SUNY Downstate). Medical degree in 1919, settled in Brooklyn -- (06:00) William married Kate Stivelman Levine. William worked for Beth-El Hospital [became Brookdale Hospital Center in 1963]. Amy states: "not much choice as a Jew but to work in a Jewish hospital" -- (09:00) Traditional observant Jewish family. Driven to assimilate, but very identified with Jewish Brooklyn -- (10:00) Amy grew up in Long Island, visited grandparents William and Kate in Brooklyn. Memories of childhood: Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, Brooklyn Museum -- (11:10) Elly Went to Brooklyn Ethical Culture School and Samuel J. Tilden High School. William had private obstetrical practice, saw patients at home and delivered babies at patients’ homes -- (13:40) Kate was member of group of Russian Jewish wives of doctors. Family also belonged to Unity Club for Jewish professionals -- (14:45) William was one of the founders of National Immigration Museum at Ellis Island -- (16:15) Brooklyn the place that made William successful. He was an advocate for women.
NoteTitle supplied by cataloger. Audio interview conducted through zoom, 2022 March 3, by Ariane Loeb. Collected through the Brooklyn Jewish History Project of Brooklyn Public Library. This project is funded by the David Berg Foundation.
Biographical NoteGrandfather of Amy Pastan, William Levine (born Wilmo Lukazewski in Ukraine, 1894) arrived in US 1906, settled on Lower East Side. Earned medical degree in 1919. Married Kate (nee Stivelman) and moved to Brooklyn. William worked for Beth-El Hospital. Traditional observant Jewish family. William, Kate and daughters Elly and Joyce lived at Eastern Parkway in 1936; 960 Sterling Place in 1940; and Plaza Street in 1960. William had private obstetrical practice. Family belonged to Unity Club. William was one of the founders of National Immigration Museum at Ellis Island.
Cite AsOur Streets, Our Stories collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
RightsThis work is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Users are free to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given to the source and new material created with this work is shared under the same conditions.