Search

Peggy Elliott, born in Matewon, West Virginia on May 27, 1937, was both a student and faculty member at Indiana University. She discusses her time as a female student with children in the 1970s, her work as an administrator at Indiana University Northwest, and the challenges of being a female chancellor. Also she discusses changes to Indiana University Northwest under her leadership and Indiana University Northwest's relationship to the Indiana University system.

Helen Gibbons, born 1929, was a business education professor at IU and IUPU-FW from 1957 until her retirement in 1981. She speaks about her education and interest in business before become a faculty member. She enjoyed observing and helping the student teachers, and discusses teaching methods, students, and other aspects of her career both in Bloomington and Fort Wayne.

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.

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.

Born on July 16, 1944, Edward Robertson, a member of the Indiana University faculty since 1978, became chair of the Department of Computer Science in 1982. He discusses the development of the field of computer science and the university's Department of Computer Science. Robertson also speaks of the various computer equipment used over the years, the decrepit state of Lindley Hall and its usefulness, departmental enrollment, the small number of female faculty members, and funding and its uses over the years. In addition, he recalls the time he spent at the University of Ghana attempting to create a department of computer science in an environment with severe limitations.

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.