Name
B., John (Interviewee)
Joseph, Herman, 1931- (Interviewer)
Title
Oral history interview with John B., 1980
Other Titles
Reminiscences of John B., 1980; Oral history of John B., 1980
Abstract
In this interview, John B. discusses his life in New York City with a special focus on his drug use. He talks about his experience attending college in West Virginia. He describes in detail the "reefer pads," "cocaine pads," and shooting galleries he would visit in New York City in the 1930s and early 1940s. He describes the different forms heroin was sold in such as caps, bags, and 50-cent decks. He describes how he began substituting morphine, Dilaudid, and pantopon for heroin at the start of World War II when heroin became scarce. John compares the price and quality of heroin before, during, and after World War II. He discusses his time serving in the army at Fort Dix in New Jersey, and describes how he was able to maintain his drug addiction while enlisted. He delves into how he began stealing clothes and shoes in bulk from warehouses in New York City and selling the merchandise in Harlem, and explains how he was able to earn more money hustling on the street than he was able to make at his legitimate job as a clothing cutter at the garment center. He compares his observations of addicts of the 1940s and 1950s to addicts of the 1980s. He describes the accommodations at Lexington, Kentucky, and the opportunities there for vocational training, educational advancement, and therapy. He also touches on changes he has observed in the administration of the methadone program over the ten years he has been a part of it
Collection Name
Addicts Who Survived oral history collection
Subjects
Drug addicts--United States; Imprisonment--United States; Drug abuse--History--20th century.--United States; Heroin abuse--History--20th century.--United States; Drug addicts--Rehabilitation--United States; Methadone maintenance--History--20th century.--United States; Soldiers--Drug use--United States; Crime--New York (State); B., John; Narcotic Farm
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
1980
Physical Description
137 pages
Note (Biographical)
John B. was born on April 28, 1915 in Norfolk, Virginia. His father was a general laborer, and moved around in search of work, so the family lived in Norfolk, as well as Baltimore, Maryland, and New York City by the time John was eleven years of age. John was a senior in high school when he was arrested for stealing and was sent to New York City Reformatory for one year where he finished his high school education. After being released, John went to college in West Virginia, where he attended for a year and a half, then dropped out and returned to New York. He began using heroin when he was twenty-three years of age. When World War II started, heroin became scarce and John began using Dilaudid, morphine, and pantopon as heroin substitutes. In 1942, he was drafted into the army and spent three years on Fort Dix in New Jersey before he was discharged. When John came out of the army in 1945, he began stealing clothes and shoes in bulk from warehouses in New York City and selling the merchandise in Harlem. John spent approximately twelve years in jail between 1930 and 1965, and was arrested around thirty times over that period. Some of his time was served in Lexington, Kentucky by court order. He entered the methadone program in 1969 and began working in the archives at the Schomburg Library. John B. was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived. The name is likely a pseudonym for the project. In the book, John B. was referred to by the pseudonym "John"
Note
Interviewed by Herman Joseph on December 10, 1980
Note (Provenance)
David Courtwright, Herman Joseph, and Don Des Jarlais, Gift, 1988
Language
English
Library Location
Columbia Center for Oral History, Columbia University
Catalog Record
11868563
Persistent URL
https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8-5ehz-1720
Related URLs
Available digital content for this interview.