Oral history of John Barth

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John Barth, American author, was born in Cambridge, Maryland, May 27, 1930. Barth studied at the Johns Hopkins University and received his B.A. in 1951, his M.A. in 1952. Barth was an associate professor of English, Penn State University, 1953-1965 and professor of English, SUNY, Buffalo, 1965-1973. In 1973, he returned to Hopkins where he was appointed professor of English and creative writing. John Barth is now Professor Emeritus at the University.John Barth is the author of several novels including The Sot-Weed Factor (1960), Giles Goat-Boy (1966), Chimera (1972), Sabbatical: A Romance (1982), The Friday Book (1984), The Tidewater Tales (1987), and The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor (1991). In 1972, Barth was the recipient of the National Book Award in fiction for Chimera. In this interview, Barth discusses his years as a student at Johns Hopkins in the 1940s-50s and his return to Hopkins as a faculty member. He describes changes that led to the development of the Writing Seminars and reflects on serving as a mentor to Hopkins undergraduate and graduate students. This oral history is part of the Mame Warren oral histories series.

Oral history of John Gryder

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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.

Oral history of Mindy Farber

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Mindy Farber graduated with a B.A. in History from Johns Hopkins University in 1974, as part of the first class of undergraduate women to matriculate as freshmen. On campus, Farber was a founder of the Women's Liberation group, which later became the Women's Center. She earned her J.D. from the NYU School of Law, after which she embarked on a long legal career, serving as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Labor and as the Vice President of the Baltimore Women's Law Center. In this interview, Farber describes her time at Hopkins as one of the first female undergraduates and as a campus leader and activist. This oral history is part of the Hopkins Retrospective oral histories series.

Oral history of Richard Macksey

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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.

Oral history of Susan Terranova

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Susan Terranova ('76 BA, '77 MA SAIS) was a member of one of the first undergraduate classes to admit women and was the first woman to join the Johns Hopkins ROTC program. After graduating from the School of Advanced International Studies in 1977, Terranova embarked on a career as an Army officer, teaching at West Point and serving in Korea, Germany, the United States, and Colombia. After retiring from the Army, she began a second career as a foreign languages teacher. In this interview, Terranova recounts her early family life, ROTC at Hopkins during her time, and her career in the Army and as a teacher. This oral history is part of the Hopkins Retrospective oral histories series.