Collections

The Jansen, Peter K. mss., 1836–2005, consists primarily of manuscripts, drafts, correspondence and other material relating to translations into English from the German made by Peter K. Jansen (1934–2007) over the course of his career.

J. Gus Liebenow was a professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University. Starting his tenure in 1958, Liebenow also served as the dean for Research and Advanced Studies as well as vice president and dean of Academic Affairs. In 1961, he also found the University's African Studies Program. This collections consists of lecture notes, personal files, department records, Liebenow's writings, and materials from numerous organizations he was affiliated with.

Warren d'Azevedo is a retired ethnographer, renowned for his work in anthropology and African studies. D'Azevedo began his research in the 1950s, focusing primarily on African cultures, including the Gola ethnic group of Liberia and the Native American Washoe culture of the Great Basin. This collection consists of d'Azevedo's writings, photographs, memorabilia, and U.S. and Liberian government documents and teaching materials.

E. Reginald Townsend (1917-1980) is best known as the man who built Liberia's Information Service. He served as Press Secretary and Chief of the Bureau (now the Department of Information, Culture and Tourism) to William V.S. Tubman, President of Liberia from 1944 to 1971, and as Minister of State for Presidential Affairs to William R. Tolbert, President of Liberia from 1971 to 1980. Townsend's wife, Evelyn Diggs Townsend (1932-2004), was involved in and led several church and women's organizations. After a coup brought down the Tolbert government and resulted in her husband's execution in 1980, she worked to attain peace in Liberia. The materials in this collection include papers from the years of Reginald Townsend's service during the Tubman and Tolbert presidencies and those from Evelyn Townsend's work in many service organizations, as well as personal correspondence and memorabilia from the Townsend family

The Alfonso Montecino Collection consists of the works, papers, and selected music collection of the pianist Alfonso Montecino.

Gerald Currens' experience with Liberia began in 1951 as a Lutheran missionary. In 1968 he began his graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Oregon, which had a strong program focused on Liberia. In December 1971, Currens began his abroad research in Liberia for his PhD dissertation study on upland rice cultivation and other features of subsistence based economies in rural Liberia. His main area of study was Lawalazu which is a Loma speaking town several miles from Voinjama, the capital for Lofa County. The collection consists of his field notes, data, questionnaires, personal research documents, personal and nonpersonal published and unpublished papers, copies of "The Loma Weekly," and a great variety of small educational readers produced by the Loma Literacy Center.

This collection consists of the papers of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, former Life President of Malawi, and those of his official biographer, Dr. Donald Brody, dating mostly from the 1950s to the 1990s. Additional materials collected by Paula Brody were later added to the collection.

William Siegmann was the leading expert on the arts in Liberia and Sierra Leone. His collection contains an exhaustive lists of resources, both primary and secondary, pertaining to the arts, culture, language, and history of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Also included are materials from his various projects, espeically those from his "Aesthetics of Power: African Art Along the Windward Coast." Correspondence with various museums and universities, personal and teaching materials are also in this collection.

Papers and audiovisual materials from the career of documentarian and Indiana University professor Michael T. Martin.

Steve Guback Collection consist of publications, correspondence, photographs and audio video materials

The materials in the Peter Sevareid Papers include correspondence, one of Sevareid's publication drafts, and conferences programs and papers. It also consists of research materials, including publications, reports, news clippings and interviews from the Liberian Customary Law Project.

The collection consists of documents pertaining to the Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) issues in Bloomington, Indiana and Monroe County.

This project is a compilation of interviews of subjects with strong ties to and memories of Indiana University, primarily at the Bloomington campus, including former students, faculty, and staff, among others. The information spans most of the twentieth century and deals with the administrations under presidents Herman B Wells, John Ryan, Thomas Ehrlich, and Myles Brand. The project occurred in two parts. The first round of interviews was with administrators, trustees, and other high-ranking members of the university hierarchy. The second round of interviews was with senior faculty from a number of departments in the College of Arts and Sciences. The project is a survey of Indiana University's history as a whole including information about various academic departments, athletics, student organizations, campus growth, and the university's growth in the twentieth century. This project was funded by President Emeritus John Ryan.

Adam Herbert served as the seventeenth president of Indiana University from 2003-2007. The collection consists of records, correspondence, and administrative files from Herbert's tenure as Indiana University president.

In the Tuba-Euphonium Oral History Project, 12 brass musicians were interviewed about their early training and subsequent careers in the music industry, primarily with the tuba. Topics range from discussing instrument design to different methods of teaching about and playing instruments, again with special emphasis on the tuba, to current pastimes such as golf and fishing. All of these men studied at Indiana University and went on to play in other venues. They talk about their experiences with fellow classmates and with William J. "Bill" Bell at Indiana University as well as Bell's methods of teaching at the school.

This collection of interviews presents a sampling of life in Burma over the last quarter of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The interviewees, who are all now living in the United States, share their experiences of growing up in a time of transition and political upheaval within their home country. Many of them were involved with the 1988 demonstrations that took place in Rangoon and nearby villages. Almost all spent some time living in fear of arrest, surviving in refugee camps, and hoping for better opportunity. They express varying opinions of their hope for a future democratic Burma and express their appreciation for the lives they have now. This project was co-directed by Professor M. Gail Hickey of the School of Education at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne.