Oral history interview with Rock Cordero, 1981

Terms of Use: The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than your own private study, scholarship, or research. Any subsequent copying, downloading or distributing materials accessed by you in the Columbia University Libraries Digital Libraries Collection that are subject to copyright protection may constitute copyright infringement. In addition, Columbia University Libraries may employ technical measures to prevent any further copying, downloading, or distribution of the materials. A violation of these terms may subject you to potential liability for copyright infringement. For more information about copyright, fair use and permissions, refer to Columbia University Library’s Copyright Advisory Services at https://copyright.columbia.edu, and the Copyright & Permissions for Online Exhibitions & Digital Collections.

Name: Cordero, Rock (Interviewee); Joseph, Herman, 1931- (Interviewer)
Title: Oral history interview with Rock Cordero, 1981
Other Titles: Reminiscences of Rock Cordero, 1981; Oral history of Rock Cordero, 1981
Abstract: In this interview, Rock Cordero discusses his life in New York City with a focus on his drug use. He discusses moving to New York City alone at the age of seventeen. He describes jobs he held in his late teens and twenties such as a cook, chauffeur, and house painter. He describes his service in the army from 1942 to 1944. Cordero discusses his experience selling cocaine and heroin. He discusses hi s arrest record, and time he spent incarcerated at Rikers Island, Atlanta penitentiary, and Phoenix House. He describes his cycles of heroin use and detox, both independently, and at Manhattan General Hospital. He compares the quality and price of the heroin he sold in the 1950s to the heroin he sold in the 1960s. He describes attending Project Create. He discusses his experience in the methadone program. Cordero discusses his perception of addicts in the 1980s, and compares it to that of addicts in the 1950s and 1960s
Collection Name: Addicts Who Survived oral history collection
Subjects: Drug addicts--United States; Drug dealers--United States; Imprisonment--United States; Drug traffic--History--20th century.--United States; Heroin abuse--History--20th century.--United States; Drug addicts--Rehabilitation--United States; Methadone maintenance--History--20th century.--United States; Cordero, Rock; Phoenix House (Organization)
Format: oral histories
Genre: Interviews
Date: 1981

Physical Description: 98 pages
Note (Biographical): Rock Cordero was born to Cuban immigrants on June 12, 1912 in Tampa, Florida. He attended school through ninth grade. Cordero left Florida at the age of fifteen to hitchhike across the United States, visiting Utah, Wyoming, and California, among other places. He settled down in New York City at the age of seventeen. In his late teens and twenties, Cordero worked as a cook, chauffeur, and house painter. He served in the army from 1942 to 1944. Cordero began selling cocaine and heroin after being discharged from the military. In 1946 he was arrested for possession of cocaine. In 1950, he developed an addiction to heroin. In 1953, he served two years in the Atlanta penitentiary, and after being released, he stopped selling all drugs. In the late 1960s, Cordero resumed selling drugs, and in 1968, spent eighteen months in Phoenix House after getting arrested for dealing. In 1971, he began attending Project Create. In 1973, he joined a methadone program, and detoxed from all drugs three years later. Rock Cordero was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived
Note: Interviewed by Herman Joseph on January 21, 1981
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: 11663627
Persistent URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8-ttzt-3840
Related URLs: Available digital content for this interview.