Russell Baker, born August 14, 1925 in Morrisonville, Virginia, a small town across the state line from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia and not far from Frederick, Maryland, is a notable American author and Hopkins alumnus. An essayist and journalist for many years, Baker won his first of two Pulitzer Prizes in 1979 for his writing for The New York Times. He is notably one of the longest-running columnists in the history of the New York Times and The Baltimore Sun. Three years later, his first autobiography, Growing Up, won Baker his second Pulitzer. The primary subject of this first autobiography, his most well-known work, was his childhood in Virginia during the Great Depression, while the focus of his second autobiography, Good Times, was his extensive and varied half-century career in journalism, including a close look at his time with The Baltimore Sun. In this oral history, Russell Baker describes his childhood, World War II, and his student days at Hopkins (1942-1947), specifically his courses in English, his work with the News-Letter, and his general impressions of Hopkins. This oral history is a part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.

Helen Blumberg, a Baltimore native, entered Hopkins as a sophomore in 1970 as part of Johns Hopkins' first class of female undergraduates in the School of Arts and Sciences. She graduated in 1973. In this oral history, she describes her lifelong connections to Hopkins, via her father who was himself an alumnus and the director of alumni relations in 1970, and her personal experiences as one of Hopkins first female undergraduates. She touches on Baltimore as a city, student unrest on campus, and feminism. This oral history is part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.

Richard Macksey was born in 1931. He received his B.A from Johns Hopkins in 1953 and earned his Ph.D. from the University in 1957. Macksey went on to work for the university as a professor teaching critical theory, comparative literature and film studies. He also served as the co-founder and director of the Johns Hopkins University Humanities Center. Macksey is also known for his extensive private library, which is home to more than 70,000 books and manuscripts. In this interview, Macksey recounts Hopkins' early history and those who were instrumental in shaping it. This oral history is a part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.