John Gryder, a longtime chemistry professor at Hopkins, was a noted civil rights activist in Baltimore. He attended the California Institute of Technology for his undergraduate and some graduate work and received his Ph.D in chemistry from Columbia University in 1948 before coming to Hopkins to teach later that year. Gryder partnered with Rev. Dr. Chester Wickwire, the campus chaplain for many years, to help desegregate Baltimore and provide equal educational opportunities for African Americans during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. In this oral history, Gryder discusses being a professor and administrator on campus through various Hopkins presidencies and how Hopkins has changed as an institution from the 1950s forward, especially during the heyday of the student movement in the 1960s. This oral history is part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.

Markley Gordon "Reds" Wolman was geomorphologist whose passion for his discipline, dedication to his work, and his uniquely creative ways of looking at problems, resulted in a wide-ranging career. Among the many hats he wore were scientist, environmental activist, teacher and mentor, university administrator, and government advisor on the local, state, national and international level. Wolman was born in 1924 in Baltimore the son of Anne and Abel Wolman. His father was a sanitary engineer whose accomplishments ranged from developing chlorinated water, to designing water supply systems for cities throughout the world, to advising on the safe use of nuclear power. The younger Wolman, known throughout his life as Reds, attended the Park School in Baltimore graduating in 1942. He began his college career at Haverford College, but left to join the U.S. Naval Reserves after his first semester. When discharged in 1946, Wolman enrolled at the Johns Hopkins University where his father was in the Department of Sanitary Engineering. Wolman graduated in 1949 with a degree in Geology and All-American Lacrosse honors. He then took an MA (1951) and PhD (1953) from Harvard University. In 1951, Wolman embarked on a career of nearly 60 years that combined research, service to the profession, and educating the next generation of scientists. In this interview, Wolman discusses his undergraduate career at Johns Hopkins, his memories of notable faculty and administrators including Hopkins president Isaiah Bowman, and the faculty culture he experienced at Hopkins. This oral history is part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.

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.

Ross Jones, a native of Haddonfield, New Jersey just outside Philadelphia, graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1953 with a B. A. in History, after which he served for three years in the U. S. Army. While at Hopkins, Jones was highly involved with many student groups and activities, including the News-Letter, for which he was co-editor. He received a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University before moving back to Baltimore to work at Hopkins in 1961 as the executive assistant to then-president Milton S. Eisenhower. Since then, Jones has occupied many positions with the university including, most notably, as vice president of the university. In this oral history, Jones describes his experiences at Hopkins as a student in the 1950s, his work under multiple Hopkins presidencies (since 1961), and how Hopkins has changed in the last half-century. This oral history is part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.

Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower, president of the Johns Hopkins University, opens the show by explaining the 1701 replica model of the universe, the symbol of this oldest TV series on air. Assisted by costumed reenactors, Sidney Painter, professor of history at Johns Hopkins, describes the history of the Middle Ages, the life of knights, and the development of the feudal system. William the Norman spread the feudal system to Anglo-Saxon England where King John disregarded feudal customs. Dr. Painter tells how the Articles of the Barons, based on feudal law, were drafted by Stephen Langdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, granted under duress by John at Runneymeade in 1215, and ultimately revised into the Magna Carta, guaranteeing liberty to freemen and the Church of England and limiting the king's powers.

A dramatization of feudal lords, ladies, minstrels, fools, and acrobats in a banquet hall illustrates points about medieval life in this program. Dr. Sidney Painter, professor of history at The Johns Hopkins University, discusses chivalry, from the French "chevalier", or knight, referring to the ideals of the knightly class. He summarizes the events of the Middle Ages and notes that warfare and women were the guiding influences of that period. The knights, originally barbarous in desires and actions, listened to "chansons de geste", poems of war, but they became more civilized as troubadours changed their tunes. "The Story of Roland", for example, suggests that knights were to protect the church and punish criminals. Courtly poems laid the foundation for "preux", a term denoting prowess and all the virtues of chivalry. Women such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and her daughter Marie further influenced men's behavior by supporting such troubadours as Chretien De Troyes, who wrote "Erec et Enide".