Collections : [Center for Documentary Research and Practice]

This project interviews people living in Spencer, Indiana. The interviewees include a variety of ages and the time period of their experiences span the 1910s-1970s. The interviews include discussion of small town life and changes throughout the past sixty years. The education system, religious beliefs, and economic conditions of the town and surrounding county are discussed. Many interviewees discuss the Great Depression and its effect on the business owners and farmers of the area. Changing moral standards and generational differences are themes throughout the project.

This collection of interviews provides a perspective of the existence of political socialism in Marion and Elwood, Indiana during the early half of the twentieth century. The interviewees are either retired workers or the wives of workers, and they discuss their own personal involvement with labor unions and the Socialist Party. They also talk about mayoral elections of the 'teens and twenties in which there were Socialist candidates, such as Harry Oatis and John L. Lewis.

This project consists of one interview with Dorinda Beck, a career social worker. Ms. Beck discusses her experiences as a social worker in Pennsylvania and Indiana. She describes her involvement with the Family Service Association of Monroe County as their social worker since the opening of the agency in 1963.

This project features interviews with civil rights activists. They discuss their involvement in the Southern Conference for Human Welfare/Educational Fund. Some of the main topics include segregation, poverty, legislation, and poll taxes.

These interviews were conducted in order to reconstruct the history of the Stones River National Battlefield and the surrounding Murfreesboro area.

This project deals with the Studebaker Plant in South Bend, Indiana primarily between the 1930's and the 1960's, when it closed. The interviewees are employees from all levels, but the majority discuss the blue-collar aspect. They primarily discuss working conditions, the Local 5 union, management, ethnicities, women, World War II and its effects, and the decline and closing of the Plant.

The project deals with Latino immigrants, most of whom are from Mexico and have settled in and around Indianapolis, Indiana. The interviewees discuss immigrating, transitioning into life in the United States, the important role religion--Catholicism in particular--plays in their lives, and the active role they take in their communities. Most of the transcribed interviews are in Spanish.

In the Tuba-Euphonium Oral History Project, seven tuba musicians were interviewed about their early training and subsequent careers in the music industry. Each man--Robert Rusk, Jerry Lackey, L.B. Oliver, Ivan F. Hammond, Kenneth Schubert, Samuel Gnagey, and Paul Krzywicki discussed instrument design and different methods of teaching about and playing the tuba. All five of these men studied at Indiana University and went on to play in other venues. They talk about their experiences with William J. "Bill" Bell at Indiana University as well as Bell's methods of teaching at the school.

This project examines the lives of Ukrainian American immigrants. Two of the interviews are conducted in Ukrainian. The time periods covered are the 1930s-1990s. The interviewees discuss immigration, traditions, religion and Ukrainian American community organizations. Some of major topics are the United States culture, Ukrainian American youth organizations, Ukrainian religious ceremonies in the United States, and Ukrainian language and culture instruction. Ukrainian wedding and holiday traditions are also discussed.

This collection of interviews primarily covers U.S. foreign relations with Great Britain during World War II. While other countries, specifically the Soviet Union, are mentioned, most of the interviewees were in some way connected to Britain. Major topics include the openness in sharing information between the U.S. and Britain, Lend-Lease, and a discussion of various diplomats. Most interviewees complete their post-war history with a description of their duties in the locations they were later reassigned.