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

Robert H. Ferrell discusses his tenure as a professor at the Indiana University Department of History. He describes how his experiences as a soldier in World War II made him interested in studying history. He talks about his graduate experience at Yale and his mentor, Samuel Bemis. He describes the writing of his dissertation, and other publications after that. He talks about people he knows in the history department, and contacts with other historians in the United States. He describes the importance of being a good teacher as well as a good scholar, which he feels are inseparable despite the push in universities today where scholarship and publishing are valued far above teaching skills. He speaks of the declining quality of students since the 1960s. Finally, he speaks of the reasons for his retirement.

Carol Lee Finkel, née Drevno, was born in Chicago in 1926. She lived there and in Providence, Rhode Island, before coming to Indiana University in 1944. She describes her student days at Indiana University including her School of Music recitals, memorable classes and instructors, and post-World War II changes on campus. After her 1948 graduation, Finkel continued her involvement with the university through alumni association activities and the education of her four children. She describes her post-graduation career as a musician and owner of a wholesale automotive distribution business.