{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"‘The Catskills Were the Centerpiece of My Life’: Oral Histories Bring Borscht Belt Back to Life","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":707,"description":"The legacy of the once-booming Borscht Belt is getting a fresh chapter this summer as the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project returns with new installations and a renewed mission to preserve the vanishing stories of the Catskills’ golden era.A total of six new historical markers will be installed across Sullivan and Ulster counties, each unveiling a distinct facet of the region’s rich Jewish-American vacation culture that flourished throughout the 20th century. From resorts and bungalow colonies to summer camps and comedy stages, the Borscht Belt shaped the cultural identity of generations — and now, through a series of public events, its stories will be formally collected, shared, and safeguarded.The initiative is being powered by a partnership between the Museum at Bethel Woods, the Borscht Belt Museum, and the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, all working together under the umbrella of the Community Connectors Oral History Project. Funded in part by government grants — which briefly faced cancellation before being reinstated — the program aims to capture firsthand accounts of life in the Catskills during the 1950s through the 1970s.“We’re not just talking about historical facts,” said Dr. Neil Hitch, Senior Curator at the Museum at Bethel Woods. “We’re talking about lived experiences — stories that are deeply personal, local, and fading fast. If we don’t preserve them now, we may lose them forever.”Stories You Won’t Find in TextbooksOne such story comes from an 84-year-old man who shared his memories of a small hamlet called Greenfield Park, where he spent his summers as a teenager. In an oral history interview conducted in Boca Raton earlier this year, he recounted a summer in 1956 when he received a coveted Daisy BB gun for his 14th birthday — a gift that led to a mischievous revenge plot involving a jukebox, a banned pop song, and the shooting out of a neon sign.“He said, ‘The Catskills were the centerpiece of my life,’” Hitch recalled. “That one...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}