True stories of everyday people
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Carol Bussell
Born in New York, Carol Bussell is a professor at IUPUI who uses stories in her teaching. She came to her Life Stories intervew with family artifacts, journals, diaries, photos, and most importantly books!
Sally Jane Perkins
Reflecting on her path to professional storytelling, Sally Perkins tells of preparing to tell a flannel graph story at church, before she knew how to read, at the age of five! She has been telling stories in public ever since.
Martha Annexton Karatz
After graduating from Northwestern with a teaching degree and working in England for a while Martha Karatz moved to Paris. There she landed a luxurious job as a private teacher for a wealthy family in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. But how long could this last…?
Lou Ann Homan
All that her three little boys wished for Christmas was a pony. But in order to raise the $75 dollars to pay for it their homesteading mother would have to bake THIRTY PUMPKIN PIES for Thanksgiving … with no electricity, no running water and a wood burning stove! This...
Frances Whitener
After a childhood in Martinsville, North Carolina, reading plays and dreaming of being a teacher of drama, Frances faced the frightening real life drama of serious heath issues. When Frances and her husband Rick came to Indianapolis they found job opportunities,...
Mary Jo Huff
Storyteller and “50-yard-line-Momma” Mary Jo Huff tells about the different kinds of people and the many ways of expressing team spirit from the bleachers at I.U. Bloomington football games.
Shannon Samson
Even though her newly adopted dog was female, Shannon changed her pet’s name to Matt Damon. Find out why.
Doris Virginia Bond
In 1946 when Doris was eight years old her father had a travel trailer built and took the family on a six month journey from Canada, across the United States and back. Doris recalls the highlights.
Karl Lee Manders
In an excerpt of his oral history Dr. Karl Manders describes his early work in Indianapolis finding non-surgical treatments for patients with chronic pain.