Collections : [Indiana University, Center for Documentary Research and Practice]

Born on September 9, 1924, Phyllis R. Klotman joined the Indiana University faculty in 1970 and served as professor and in other capacities until 1996. She taught Afro-American studies, film studies, and women's studies in addition to serving as Indiana University's first affirmative action officer and as dean for women's affairs. Klotman also was the founder and longtime director of the Black Film Center/Archive. In this interview, she discusses racism, African-Americans, minority students, female faculty, anti-Semitism, and minority enrollment at Indiana University. In addition, Klotman details the creation and development of Afro-American studies at the university, especially in the context of the Department of English.

Born on November 12, 1920, George Nakhnikian joined the Indiana University faculty as a member of the Philosophy Department in 1968 and served there until his retirement in 1988. In this interview, he recalls his childhood as an Armenian in Bulgaria and his immigration to the United States. Nakhnikian also discusses his participation in World War II, his use of the GI Bill to complete graduate school and his quick rise to chairmanship of the Department of Philosophy at Wayne State University. In addition, he recalls his undergraduate years at Harvard University and his coming to the Indiana University Department of Philosophy. Nakhnikian discusses departmental tensions, his years as chair, and the growth of the department.

Rudy Pozzatti, born on January 14, 1925 in Telluride, Colorado was a professor of fine arts starting in 1956. He discusses his experience in World War II with the 659th Field Artillery Battalion, his education at University of Colorado, Boulder, and coming to Indiana University in 1956. Further, he discusses his printmaking, development of the printmaking program, sculpture, his work with students, and his current projects.

Henry H. H. Remak, born on July 27, 1916, discusses his family background and youth in Germany, his education, his long association with Indiana University and recalls much of the university's history from the years spanning 1936 through 1996. A long-time faculty member, Remak discusses his career in languages, particularly German and French, and speaks of the German Department and the Institute for Advanced Study. Dr. Remak comments on the beauty of the Indiana University campus, the social anti-Semitism he experienced in the United States, the effects of World War II on enrollment in the German Department, and German Americans and culture in America. In addition, he speaks of teaching, especially in the context of the Cold War, McCarthyism, and the Vietnam War and the unrest of the nineteen sixties. Professor Remak shares anecdotes about two of the most well-known figures in the history of Indiana University, Herman B Wells and Alfred Kinsey, and he speaks of the increased and misplaced emphasis on academic specialization, the teaching vs. research debate, and faculty tenure.

Raymond Smith, born in 1917, earned his graduate degree in 1939 from the Indiana University Department of Speech as part of the first class to receive a graduate degree from this department. Smith speaks of the Great Depression and the employment and financial constraints it inflicted. He served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II as a radio instructor, after which he completed his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin in 1950. From 1950 through his retirement in 1982, Smith served as a professor in Indiana University's Department of Speech, later Department of Speech Communications. Smith discusses some influential members of Indiana University's Department of Speech and university faculty including Robert E. Barton Allen, Robert Milisen, Lee Norvell, and psychology professor, Snoddy.

Cecilia Hendricks Wahl, a 1938 Indiana University alumnus, returned to Bloomington in 1953 when she and her husband became employees of the university. In this interview, Wahl describes her coming of age in the town of Bloomington, her mother and aunt's faculty positions at the university, her undergraduate years, and interest and involvement in the Department of Speech, specifically the theater aspect of this department. She speaks of the impact of the Great Depression and World War II on her life and her jobs, including radio station manager and secretary to the Indiana University board of trustees. In addition, Wahl recalls her participation in the Association of Women Students, or AWS, and, later in life, the Bloomington Hospital, and the Annuitants. She speaks of the changes manifested by fraternities and sororities over the years and the rapid changes of the turbulent sixties. Finally, she fondly recalls members of the Indiana University Department of Speech, including Lee Norvelle and Bill Kinzer.