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A Guide to the Records at the Indiana University Archives

Finding aid prepared by Amanda D. Hunt.

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Indiana University. Bureau of Public Discussion.

Collection No.
C410

Extent
13 cubic feet (13 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
The Bureau of Public Discussion was created as part of the Extension Division at Indiana University in 1915 to promote intelligent discussion of current issues statewide. The collection consists of records of the Bureau including annual reports, reference questions, correspondence, personnel files, financial records, program records, and publications.

Access Restrictions

Select files closed to researchers. Advanced notice required for access to collection.

Administrative History

The Bureau of Public Discussion, originally known as the Bureau for Public Information, was established in 1914 in connection with the Indiana University Extension Division. The philosophy behind the services was that state universities should serve the people of the state and particularly people in isolated parts of the state. Services included aids to teachers in grade and high school, home reading courses, and package libraries consisting of materials from recent books and clippings on various issues.

By the 1930s the Bureau was serving schools, libraries, extension and correspondence students, women’s clubs, and various civic organizations. The programs also expanded to include a Medical Package Library Service. During World War II, the Bureau of Public Discussion served as a distribution center for the Office of War Information and was relocated to the Division of Adult Education and Public Service in 1945, beginning a time of transition.

Under the directorship of Dr. Mary F. Anderson (1946-1961), the Bureau began to focus more on arousing public interest in current issues and critical problems. Some programs were discontinued and beginning in 1945 more attention was paid to issuing Package Library Briefs. Briefs contained short explanations of important problems with a bibliography and were sent out from September to May. The Bureau attempted to be on the mailing list of all organizations in the English speaking world and in 1961 regularly received approximately 325 periodicals.

Robert W. Hattery served as director from 1962 to 1987. In 1969 the Bureau was relocated to the Division of Continuing Education. The Bureau continued many of the same programs and maintained an extensive library of predominantly non-book materials focused on contemporary issues. During this time the Bureau also hosted conferences, seminars, and workshops on topics of current interest. The Bureau of Public Discussion remained in existence as part of the School of Continuing Studies until Hattery’s retirement in 1987.

Arrangement

Collection is organized into five series: Administrative files, Correspondence, Conferences and seminars, Program records, and Publications.

Scope and Content Note

This collection is organized into five series: Administrative files, Conferences and seminars, Correspondence, Program records, and Publications.

The Administrative files contain personnel files and other records pertaining to human resources, records pertaining to the administration of the Bureau, and monthly and annual reports. The records are arranged alphabetically by folder title, and then chronologically. The series spans the period from 1914 to 1973.

The Conferences and seminars series consists of records pertaining to the conferences and seminars sponsored by the Bureau for Public Discussion. The records are arranged alphabetically by topic and within topics, chronologically. Topics include religion and public schools, social problems, and U.S. foreign policy, and files span 1937 to 1966.

The Correspondence series contains materials sent and received by the Bureau. Folders are arranged alphabetically, then chronologically from 1935 to 1972, and include program publicity as well as correspondence with national organizations.

The Program series is further organized into four subseries: General, Environmental programming with the League of Women Voters, Package Library Service, and Reference services. The General subseries contains materials that do not fall into the other categories, including information about the reading courses. The Environmental programming with the League of Women Voters contains working documents from the collaboration between the two groups for environmental programming, including the “It’s Our Environment” workshop. The Package Library Service subseries consists of records about the service, including reports. The Reference services subseries is primarily comprised of reference requests received by the Bureau. Folders are arranged alphabetically within each subseries and cover the period from 1924-1971.

The Publications series includes publications produced by or for the Bureau. This includes the Indiana Federation of Art Clubs Bulletins, the Package Library Briefs, and the U.S Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education Reading Courses. These publications are arranged alphabetically by title with coverage extending from 1920 to 1971.

Restricted materials are listed where they would fall intellectually within the arrangement of the collection but are physically located in Box 13.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • Indiana University. Bureau of Public Discussion --Archives.
  • Indiana University. Bureau of Public Discussion --Records and correspondence.
  • Indiana University. Bureau of Public Discussion --History --Sources.
  • Indiana University. Bureau of Public Discussion --Periodicals.
  • Indiana Federation of Art Clubs --Bulletin.
  • United States. Office of Education --Reading course.
• • Topics
  • University extension --Indiana.
  • Education and state --Indiana.
• • Titles
  • Package library briefs

Separated Material

One photograph of Representative Lee Hamilton pulled from U.S. Policy toward Southeast Asia Working Papers, April 2-3, 1965. Consult the Archives Photographs Curator for further information.

Related Material

See also: Indiana University Bureau of Public Discussion Director’s records, 1956-1977, Collection C340.

Additional records such as newsletters, annual reports, bulletins, and publications may be accessed in the Archives of Institutional Memory http://institutionalmemory.iu.edu/aim/

Administrative Information

Container List

---

Series: Box 1 Administrative files, 1914-1973,  undated 

---

Annual Reports, 1914-1960 

---

1914-1929 

---

1929-1937 

---

1937-1949 

---

1950-1960 

---

Bureau of Public Discussion, 1923-1965,  undated 

---

General, undated 

---

Scrapbook, 1923-1925 

---

General File, 1946-1957 

---

General File, 1960-1962 

---

Research Paper, 1961 

---

General File, 1963-1964 

---

General File, 1965 

---

City Officials of Indiana Towns and Cities, 1961 

---

Constitution Sesquicentennial, 1937 

---

Discontinued Projects, Old Reports, 1949-1956  

---

Division of Adult Education, Operating Procedure, 1952 

---

Education Committee on Human Relations Commission, 1969 

---

Foreign Exchange Rates, 1958-1968 

---

Forms, undated 

---

Indiana General Assembly Candidates, 1958-1959 

---

Indiana State Board of Health, Hattery, 1969-1973 

---

Inventory, 1952 

---

Labor Organizations, 1953 

---

League of Women Voters Education Fund, 1970 

---

Library Notices, Printing Plant Samples, undated 

---

Magazine subscriptions,

---

1967-1968 

---

1968-1969 

---

Mailing List,

---

Names added to mailing list, 1958-1959 

---

Names to be taken off mailing list, 1963 

---

Monthly Reports, 1966-1967 

---

Orders,

---

General, 1969-1973 

---

Sources from which we order frequently, undated 

---

Box 2 Personnel Files,

---

Staff Position Reclassification, 1962-1963 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Staff, 1965-1971 

---

1965-1969 

(Restricted items removed)

---

1967 

(Restricted items removed)

---

1968-1971 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Staff Service Report, 1970-1971  

---

Anderson, Mary F., 1962-1966 

---

Auberbach, Kenneth D., 1972 

(Restricted)

---

Carmichael, Mary Lynn, 1970 

(Restricted)

---

Christian, Portia, 1970-1971 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Cruver, Marion, 1949-1967 

(Restricted items removed)

---

DeCabooter, Alfred A., 1964-1967  

---

Dexheimer, Wolfgang, 1969 

(Restricted)

---

Elam, Elizabeth, 1963-1964 

(Restricted)

---

Findley, Janna, 1971 

(Restricted)

---

Frame, Jan, 1967-1970 

(Restricted)

---

Geoffrion, Charles, 1970 

---

Glenn, Steve, 1971 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Gray, Alice, 1967-1971 

(Restricted)

---

Greenfield, Karen, 1964 

---

Griffith, Nancy, 1965-1968 

(Restricted)

---

Grupper, Samuel M., 1967-1971 

(Restricted)

---

Hansen, John, 1970-1971 

(Restricted)

---

Hartwig, Gerald, 1969-1970 

---

Howard, Ed, 1966-1967 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Hurst, Richard, 1962-1967 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Jaffe, Lea, 1971 

(Restricted)

---

Kelley, Sherry P., 1965-1966 

(Restricted)

---

Kirkpatrick, Meredith, 1969-1971 

(Restricted)

---

Krasovskis, Ieva, 1964-1965 

(Restricted)

---

LaMaster, Kathyrn, 1963-1964 

(Restricted)

---

McDonogh, F. Allen, 1966-1967 

(Restricted)

---

Medsker, Karen Lynn, 1970 

(Restricted)

---

Messick, Rosemary, 1967 

(Restricted)

---

Montgomery, Phyllis Ann, 1969 

(Restricted)

---

Owen, Kent, 1968-1969 

(Restricted)

---

Parrish, Mike, 1964-1971 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Pazol, Lawrence, 1966-1967 

(Restricted)

---

Phillips, Harry, 1967-69 

(Restricted)

---

Rae, Katherine, 1961-1964 

(Restricted)

---

Rainov, Jeliazco, 1968 

(Restricted)

---

Raper, Heath, 1969 

(Restricted)

---

Rydell, Ernest E. Jr., 1970-1971 

(Restricted)

---

Scarola, Jane C., 1970 

(Restricted)

---

Snapp, Norma Pauline, 1965 

(Restricted)

---

Snider, John, 1967-1968 

(Restricted items removed)

---

Staudt, Martha, 1948-1968 

(Restricted)

---

Walters, James Charles, 1970 

(Restricted)

---

Wiley, Bill, undated 

---

Work Study Information and timesheets, 1966-1967 

---

Work Study, 1966-1972 

---

1966-1967 

(Restricted items removed)

---

1967-1968  

---

1968-1969 

---

1969-1970 

---

1970-1971 

---

1971-1972 

---

Personnel Management, 1963 

---

Recruitment, 1962-1968 

---

Services Given, 1949-1960 

---

1949-1953 

---

1953-1956 

---

1956-1958 

---

1958-1960 

---

Social Organizations, Indiana, by town, 1956 

---

Statistics on Use, 1954-1960 

---

Subject Guide, 1946 

---

Survey of Faculty Perceptions, Correspondence, 1974 

---

Teletype Messages for November to December 1966 

---

Vigo County Public Library, 1969-1970 

---

War Information Center, 1942-1946 

---

General, 1941-1944  View item(s)

---

Discussion Guides,

---

America, the Passage to Freedom with the use of the film "The Flag Speaks", undated  View item(s)

---

"The Battle is in Our Hands," undated  View item(s)

---

Manpower, undated  View item(s)

---

Post-War Peace Planning, undated  View item(s)

---

Race and Culture, undated  View item(s)

---

"What is the Arm behind the Army," undated  View item(s)

---

Woman Power, May 1944  View item(s)

---

Key Reading Lists, 1942  View item(s)

---

Brochure, between 1941-1945 

---

Reading Lists, 1942  View item(s)

---

Wisconsin Higher Education Act Title 1, 1965-1969 

---

Women’s Clubs, 1951-1959 

---

World War II Key Centers of Information and Training, 1942 

---

Yearly Reports to Director of IU Library, 1944-1961