Audrey Moore Stewart (1910-2018) graduated in 1932 with a degree in Journalism. She took some graduate courses and finished a second BA in English in 1934. Audrey joined the Alpha Delta Theta sorority and the Glee Club; and she wrote for the Daily Illini. Her family was well-off, so Audrey did not experience financial difficulty in the Depression.
She died in May 2018, just a few days after her 108th birthday, making her the longest-lived interviewee from the Great Depression oral history series.
Barbara Venton Gilbreath Montgomery (1925-2017) attended the University of Illinois in the later portion of World War II, starting in 1943. In this interview she describes her experience dating an army serviceman who was training in the Armory and her experience serving as a junior editor of the Daily Illini within her first few weeks as a Freshman, due to staffing shortages from the war.
Bette Jean Nance Terry (1922-2016) enrolled at U of I in 1940 and became a member of the Alpha Chi Omega fraternity. In the interview Terry recounts her work as a reporter for the Daily Illini and the changes that took place on campus when many of the young men left school for the war, including her recollections of the only woman to assume the role of Chief Illiniwek, Idelle Stith.
In the first of six interviews, Eisenman provides details of his educational experiences at Harvard and the University of Illinois, including his work reporting on the Illini Union protest on September 10, 1968. He also describes his work during the UI centennial and the creation of scholarship funds for students who could not otherwise afford the fees required to attend UIUC.
Florence Hood Miner (1909-2009) graduated in 1929. She joined the Delta Zeta sorority and studied Journalism. In addition, Florence studied dress design in Paris for a year. Florence said her family did not experience hardship during the Depression.
In this 1975 interview with Daily Illini reporter, Greg Miller, Fred Turner discusses Thomas Arkle Clark's personal style of managing students, as well as how this approach changed during Turner's own tenure as dean when he delegated student interactions to several assistant deans. Turner also discusses the history of fraternities on campus including his own involvement with the organizations as a University of Illinois student.
In this 1967 interview with WILL reporter Jennifer Johnson, Fred Turner talked about his first years working for longtime Dean of Men, Thomas Arkle Clark culminating with his replacement of Clark after his retirement in 1931. Turner reflected on the shifting role of faculty in the University and the development of the University's administration during his tenure as Dean. Turner also traced the origins of UI institutions, such as Founders Day, Dad's Day, the Daily Illini and Chief Illiniwek.
Alumn and library staff member Gregg Homerding reflects on the eighties at the University of Illinois. He discusses university athletics, parties, and housing (specifically the Hendrick House). This oral history was recorded as part of the ongoing Oral History project and conducted in partnership with the University of Illinois Library Archives.
