Collections : [Center for Documentary Research and Practice]

This project contains information about the movie theater industry in Bloomington, Indiana in the 1930s to present. Interviewees discuss their remembraences of movie theaters: the movies they saw, the people they worked with, the fires that periodically destroyed the theaters, and their interior decoration. Interviewees also talk about the theater business today and how it has changed over the years.

These four interviews of Indiana physicians focus on the interviewees' experiences in the field of medicine over the twentieth century. They speak of the many changes in medicine over the years, their medical education, and they relate personal anecdotes from their experience practicing medicine.

This project describes the growth and changes in mental health care in Indiana throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The interviewees discuss treatment methods such as chemical or group therapy. They describe the issue of funding at the state and national levels. They discuss patients' rights and the court rulings on them. Community mental health centers are also discussed.

The interviews in this project are centered around the experiences of Koreans who immigrated to the United States and settled in Indiana. Many of the interviewees comment on conditions in Korea, the reasons they decided to leave that country, and the opportunities they found in the United States. In addition, several interviewees speak of the cultural differences they have discovered, and of the development of Korean American communities.

Residents discuss their experiences in the 1974 tornado in Louisville, Kentucky.

These two interviews provide a close look at the research conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory during World War II. The interviewees are both former physics professors at Indiana University who were heavily involved with the Manhattan Project. They reveal the circumstances surrounding their involvement and discuss the Los Alamos Laboratory in detail including many of the personalities present, such as Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller.

Ruth Rives discusses her life history growing up in Germany during the World War II era. She speaks of her family and living environment, and the confusion, fear, and hardships she faced. She speaks of the experiences of her young adult life nursing, doing missionary work in Iran, and immigrating to the United States. She talks about her life as it unfolded in America and her return trips to Germany.

This collection of interviews reflects on the Indianapolis, Indiana neighborhood, Stringtown. While a wide variety of ages is represented, most of the interviewees are older individuals. Pervasive throughout is the idea that Stringtown is a relatively stable, distinct neighborhood with well-defined boundaries. Some of the major topics include the increase of crime and vandalism, the increased delinquency of the children due, in part, to parental neglect, the decline of the community in terms of housing and business, and the lack of education and ambition among many of the residents. Also discussed is the closing of School 16, the familial ties within the community, and the role of church and politics in the neighborhood.

The interviews in this collection concern life in Starke County, Indiana, primarily in the early part of the twentieth century. Dairy and pickle farming, along with their associated industries, are the major topics of discussion, but also described are schools, politics, ethnic communities, other types of farming, and community changes.

This collection of interviews deals with different ethnic groups in Indiana between the 1910s and the 1970s. Most of the interviewees are first generation Americans born around the turn of the century. They share their life histories, discussing mainly the World War II era, what they lived through, what brought them to the United States, and how they adjusted to American life. They discuss their native cultures and traditions, as well as their involvement in American life.