Collections

"Bloomington Cares" Oral History Project was a class project used to study voluntary organizations that focus on historical and cultural activities in the Bloomington community.

The Career in Librarianship project includes interviews with ten people employed in libraries or library education. Three of the interviewees were Deans of Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science, or SLIS. Others include a SLIS lecturer, a high school librarian, a college archivist, 2 public library directors, and a public library branch head. All of the interviewees worked in Indiana (except for one of the public library directors, who worked in Michigan). Collectively, the interviews consider the training that librarians receive, librarianship as a career, as well as changes in, and the future of, the profession. The interviews were conducted by students of the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science as a project for a class on the history of American libraries.

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.

The collection of interviews in this project reflects James Jones' study of the Kinsey Institute's evolution and reception at Indiana University. He interviews a variety of individuals associated with the Institute by having worked there or having been a member of a foundation that funded Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey's efforts. The interviewees discuss Dr. Kinsey's dedication to his work, his move from studying gall wasps to human sexual behavior, his effectiveness as an interviewer and lecturer, and his personal commitment to the Institute. There is also mention of Dr. Kinsey's influence on science and the Institute's problems with funding. James Jones eventually published a biography of Dr. Kinsey in 1997. It is entitled Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life and it is published by W.W. Norton and Company.

This project is comprised of 59 interviews with doctors who have practiced medicine in the state of Indiana from approximately the nineteen thirties until the nineteen seventies, eighties, and nineties. The doctors share personal anecdotes about their medical practices in both rural and urban areas, their perspectives on the many changes medicine has undergone in the twentieth century, and the greatest satisfaction they received from their profession. Many interviews include physicians' experiences during World War II, African-American physicians' experiences under segregation, and how each individual adjusted to a profession that became increasingly specialized over the years.

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.

The project deals with the beginning, the building, and the growth of the Indiana University (IU) Folklore Institute into an internationally recognized program. The interviewees are mostly students and/or faculty of the folklore program from the 1940s to the 1980s. They discuss those who most influenced and impacted the institute, namely Stith Thompson and Richard M. Dorson. They share their memories and experiences of the time they spent, or continue to spend, in the IU Folklore Institute.

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.

Wilfred C. Bain, dean of the School of Music from 1947 to 1973, discusses his career as an administrator in various colleges. He focuses on his time at the Indiana University School of Music, discussing the policies he feels made the school the success it is today. He also discusses his theories and philosophies behind music education and how he has tried to implement them at the School of Music.

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 consists of fifteen interviews with former professors of Indiana University. Each interviewee discusses his or her childhood, education, career progression, time at Indiana University, and thoughts on retirement. In addition, most professors comment on the tension, rivalry, friendship, strength, and upward mobility within their respective university departments. The Great Depression and World War II are also widely discussed with regard to the impact they had on the interviewees' careers. The results of this project were published in a book, Academic Memories: Retired Faculty Members Recall the Past at Indiana University, by Hanna Griff, Mary Deane Sorcinelli, and Joan Zirker.

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.