Collections : [Center for Documentary Research and Practice]

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.

"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.

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 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 collection of interviews examines the experiences of Japanese Americans in the Indianapolis area. The interviewees, many of whom were born in Japan prior to World War II, focus on what compelled them to move to Indiana and their impressions of a Japanese American community. In particular, the interviewees detail the work of political and social organizations like the Japan America Society and Japanese American Citizens League. These groups' activities combined the fostering of traditional Japanese cultural forms like art, language, and dancing in the United States with political work like the Redress Movement to confront the experience of internment for many Japanese Americans during World War II.

Renowned folklorist Henry Glassie was interviewed by Barbara Truesdell on March 13, April 4, April 24, April 30, May 7, May 10, May 29, and June 6, 2007 concerning his influences, career, projects, publications, and views on folklore and history. Conducted for the National Council of Public History for their journal, Public Historian.

In this project, four former professionals in the roller skating business recount their experiences as well as their hopes for the future of roller skating. All four men discuss the relationship beteen skating and music. In particular, these men seem to be nostalgic for organ music and the disco era. They also discuss different inventions that revolutionized the skating business, such as floor waxes and in line skates.

In this project, James P. White, the American Bar Association consultant on legal education, discusses the history, changes, goals, conflicts, and mission of that institution. He describes his involvement in legal education activities and the occasionally rocky relations between the association and the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. Law schools, legal specialization, and the commercialization of the legal profession are also major topics within this interview.

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.

The interviews in this project focus on the history of the Council on Foundations, its history and development, its function and goals, and its mission. Central to many of the interviews is the 1969 Tax Reform Act, which had a profound impact on the structure and practice of American foundational philanthropy. The majority of the interviewees are philanthropists or professionals with strong connections to the Council; they share their insights, criticisms, and descriptions regarding the Council in many areas, including diversity, philanthropic ethics, principles and practices, the role of the government, and sources of division within the field of philanthropy.