Transcripts, recordings and photographs of oral history participants are now publicly available. All interviews from 2009-present were recorded digitally. Earlier recordings were digitized from other media types held in the University’s Archives and contain both interviews and recorded events that provide insights into IWU’s life and culture.
The project goals are below. Alumni past their 50th anniversary and faculty, staff and administrators with more than 30 years of service at IWU have priority for participation. We need interviewers to make this project sustainable! If you are interested in conducting interviews, contact archives@iwu.edu.
The purpose of this oral history project is to record memories of people’s experiences at IWU. In addition to basic biographical information interviewers will be prepared to ask questions based on the subjects’ affiliation (alumni, staff, faculty, administrator) with the University. Subjects should feel free to share reflections on any part of their IWU experiences that they would like.
Personal anecdotes of administrators, staff and faculty are welcome in addition to comments directly related to their role on campus and their opinion about the changes that took place during their tenure.
All interview subjects will be asked to sign an interview agreement form permitting the University to use all or part of their recordings and/or transcriptions for exhibitions online or in physical formats. After the transcription is complete, the subject may review and correct it as needed. Permission for us to use this interview may be revoked until this final review time.
The archives will gladly accept historical photographs of the interviewees or of the campus from the time they were involved with it. We will make scans and return originals only on request. Permission to exhibit loaned material digitally over the Web or printed and displayed in-house must be given at the time of the loan. Outright donations are quite welcome and will be accepted after the standard archives’ donor agreement is signed.
Contact archives@iwu.edu to schedule an interview or for details on donations.