Collections : [Center for Documentary Research and Practice]

This project contains information about local, state, national, and international economic enterprises, focusing mainly on businesses and industries located in and/or originating in the state of Indiana. Some of the industries discussed are the Indiana limestone industry, the local oil industry, coal mining, agriculture, railroads, the automobile industry, banking, insurance, steel production, and supermarkets. The local economic impact of industry and business on a community, unionization, and the workforces of each industry are also discussed.

This project examines the impact of unionization on Guide Lamp and Delco Remy, two automobile plants in Anderson, Indiana, between the years of 1930 and 1982. It details the events of the 1937 sit-down strike at Guide Lamp and the various improvements in working conditions, wages, job security, and benefits that the United Auto Workers helped to influence at the two plants. The project highlights changes in policy towards women, minority groups, and retirees in the factory workplace, and it offers descriptions of the evolving roles of management and the union and changing relationships among workers in the two plants. Finally, the project details the history of the two plants within the community of Anderson at large, and it offers commentary on the then-current problems and challenges facing the automobile industry as a whole.

This collection of interviews gathers information about economic development from some key locations in southwestern Indiana, Indianapolis, and northwestern Indiana, among others. Topics include environmental issues, Brownfield redevelopment, tax incentives, and labor unions. Many issues are the same from one region to another, but some regions, such as northwestern Indiana, emphasize environmental or Brownfield redevelopment over unions or workforce training.

The interviews in this project deal with the history of Indiana, from specific counties, organizations, and institutions to individual residents' memories and experiences. Some of the topics covered include state prisons, education in Indiana, the Lutheran Church in Indiana, and the history of several towns and counties in the state.

In this project, retired professors from the Indiana University Department of History discusses their experiences in the profession. Topics discussed include educational and work history, the history department curriculum, development of the history department over time, prominent people in the department, publishing, teaching, and changes in the student body over time.

This project consists of 27 interviews on the participation of girls in athletics from the nineteen twenties through the nineteen eighties. Organizations such as the Indiana High School Athletic Organization are discussed with regard to female participation in sports. The project also explores sex roles and girls' high school sports in local communities.

This collection of interviews addresses historic preservation in a handful of Indiana towns, such as Madison, New Harmony, Vincennes, and Evansville. The broad emphasis is placed on how the preservation movement began, the major participants, and how it has changed. However, within this broad range, individual historic preservation organizations and projects are not only mentioned, but given much detail.

The history of business can be studied from a variety of angles. These approaches are discussed by the interviewee in terms of business methodology. Different areas of historical study interconnected with that of business are also explored. Books and authors demonstrating the points are shared and problems with the study of new history are also examined.

This collection of interviews primarily delves into the Republican view of Indiana politics from the nineteen twenties to the early nineteen sixties. Major emphasis is placed on both state and national elections and conventions from 1940-1948. The project contains discussions of political campaigns (including finances), the patronage system, and legislation battles. The interviews also reflect on William Jenner by describing his character, beliefs, and influence on Republican politics in Indiana.

This project includes people living in and around Paoli, Indiana. The project includes people's experiences and attitudes toward death, dying, and illness. The interviewees share their feelings on losing loved ones. They discuss the roles of religion, family, fear, and medical interventions in the process of death and dying. They also discuss the various preparations involved including, funerals and wills, as well as personal preparations.

This collection of interviews primarily delves into the Republican view of Indiana politics from the nineteen twenties to the early nineteen sixties. Major emphasis is placed on both state and national elections and conventions from 1940-1948. The project contains discussions of political campaigns (including finances), the patronage system, and legislation battles. The interviews also reflect on William Jenner by describing his character, beliefs, and influence on Republican politics in Indiana.

Interviews include discussion of the Equal Rights Amendment, the women's movement, politics, civic affairs, and the Nineteenth Amendment. Most interviewees were born during the 1930s and discussed their involvement in Bloomington, Indiana from the 1940s-1970s.

Interviewees discuss working at the Bloomington RCA plant from the 1940s until the plant's closing in 1978. They describe the unions, family life, immigration, Brown County farming, and work life.

The interviews in this collection primarily discuss civil rights issues in Claiborne County, Mississippi. Some topics discussed are Black voter registration, school integration, and freedom of choice. The interviewees' childhoods, including the Great Depression and World War II, are also talked about in the interviews. The interviews were conducted as research for the Ph.D. dissertation Common Courtesy: The Civil Rights Movement in Claiborne County, Mississippi by the interviewer.

Interviewees discuss the Black community of Bloomington, Indiana. They also talk about the West Side Community Center as an important gathering place for the community.

This project contains interviews with attorneys in Indiana. Among the topics discussed are the Indiana Judiciary System, the Indiana General Assembly, the United States Legislature, the United States Supreme Court, the Monroe County judiciary system and Monroe County politics. All interviewees reflect upon the public's perception of the legal profession and how is has changed over the years.

This project contains an interview with Marion Woltman, the late Mr. Donnelly's wife. Ms. Woltman, born in 1877, discusses her marriage to the former congressman, author, and vice presidential candidate for the People's Party. She talks about her early childhood, in particular, her emigration to the United States from Norway. Ms. Woltman also speaks about her job as secretary for Mr. Donnelly at the Representative before they were married. Ms. Woltman reflects on her late husband's reading and eating habits and discusses the circumstances surrounding his death in 1901.

These interviews consist primarily of interviewees discussing their relationships with Claude Barnett, their work at the Associated Negro Press, and Barnett's ongoing efforts at improving race relations. In addition, many interviewees comment on the difficulties they encountered while working for the Press and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement.

In this project, educators from Indiana state Christian schools reveal their beliefs about how modern public schools fail to impart the moral education and values that they feel are a requisite part of education. Many interviewees comment on the morally inadequate, corrupt, and even threatening environment that public schools represent to Christian (and other) students. The Christian teachers also elaborate on the teaching methods and programs used to teach students in their schools, as well as the state regulations the Christian schools must adhere to in order to remain open.

The four interviews in the project discuss the creation of the Committee for Environmental Information. The interviewees talk about how they became involved in the group and the politics that they had to deal with along the way. Also discussed are the political and military situations of the time.