The Autobiography of Mary M. Barr-Koon, 1984
A Guide to the Collection of Oral History Interviews at
Indiana University Bloomington
Finding aid prepared by the staff of the Center for the Study of History and Memory with a grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities Division of
Preservation and Access, 2000-2002
Overview of the Collection
Repository
Indiana University Center for Documentary Research and Practice
Indiana University
Franklin Hall 0030B
601 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: 812/855-2856
Fax: 812/855-0002
E-mail: ohrc@indiana.edu
https://cdrp.mediaschool.indiana.edu
Creator
Indiana University Center for Documentary Research and Practice.
TitleThe Autobiography of Mary M. Barr-Koon, 1984
Project No.
ohrc009
Interviews
1 interview.
Audiotapes, transcripts, and collateral materials.
Physical Location
Interviews are housed in Franklin Hall, Room 0030B. Copies of interview transcripts are also held by the IU Libraries University
Archives.
Contact archives@indiana.edu for more information. For other locations housing the interviews
from this project, please contact the Center for Documentary Research and Practice office.
Language
Materials are in English
Abstract
Mary Margaret H. Barr-Koon talks about her experience as a woman in academia and the
issue of bilingualism in schools. She talks extensively about her travels
around the world and the experiences she encountered acting as an interpreter.
During the interview she talks about her relationship with her family and her
husband's children.
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains a series of interviews with Mary Margaret H. Barr-Koon, lasting 8 hours, 31 minutes. The interview
consists of 9 audiocassettes and a transcript.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Oral history interviews conducted by the Indiana University Center for the Study of
History and Memory from 1968 to the present, with particular focus on the history of
twentieth-century America and the Midwest.
Usage Restrictions
The archive of the Center for Documentary Research and Practice at Indiana University is open
to the use of researchers. Copies of transcript pages are available only when such copies
are permitted by the deed of gift. Scholars must honor any
restrictions the interviewee placed on the use of the interview. Since some of our earlier
(pre-computer) transcripts do not exist in final form, any editing marks in a transcript
(deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked. Audio files may not be copied for
patrons unless the deed of gift permits it, and a transcript is unavailable for that
interview. The same rules of use that apply to a transcript apply to the audio interview.
Interviews may not be reproduced in full for any public use, but excerpted quotes may be
used as long as researchers fully cite the data in their research, including accession
number, interview date, interviewee's and interviewer's name, and page(s).
Preferred Citation
[interviewee first name last name] interview, by [interviewer first name last
name], [interview date(s)], [call number], [project name], Center for Documentary Research and Practice, Indiana University,
Bloomington, [page number(s) or tape
number and side if no transcript; if digital audio and no transcript, cite time when quote occurs].
Interview List
Interviewee
Barr-Koon, Mary Margaret H.
September
7, 1984-September 8, 1984
Call Number
84-029
Physical Description
234 pages; 9 audiocassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 8 hours, 31
minutes; no index
Interviewer
Koske, Mary S.
Access Status
Open
Scope and Content Note
Toward the end of the interview Mary Margaret H. Barr-Koon discusses various
individuals and the impact they had on her education and development. She tells
about being in Paris in August 1939 and hurriedly leaving because of the war
with Germany. She talks about her experience as a woman in academia and the
issue of bilingualism in schools. She talks extensively about her travels
around the world and the experiences she encountered acting as an interpreter.
During the interview she talks about her relationship with her family and her
husband's children.
Mary Margaret H. Barr-Koon was born and raised in New Jersey to
parents who were originally from the Midwest. An only child, she traveled
extensively with her parents, creating a life-long passion for languages. Her
mother also fostered an interest in music in her early childhood. She spent two
years studying in France and then spent two years at Vasser College. She went
to Columbia University for her graduate study. Her master's thesis was a
Voltaire bibliography, a subject on which she continued to work after
completing her degree. Over the years she has donated various materials
concerning Voltaire to different libraries both in the United States and
abroad. In addition to her work as a bibliographer, she has worked as a
language and substitute teacher. After her marriage, she moved from New Jersey
to Indiana to manage her family's farms. She remained in Indiana even after her
husband's death.
-
Keywords
-
-
Corporation Names
- American Association of University Women
- American Friends of Lafayette
- Australasian University Language and Literature
Association
- Ball State University
- Barnard College
- Barringer High School
- Boston Symphony Orchestra
- British Museum
- Centre National de Recherches Scientifique
- Children's Museum of Indianapolis
- Columbia University
- Dickinson College
- Earlham College
- Foreign Policy Association
- German Arcinugas
- Indiana University
- Indiana University Lilly Library
- International Federation of University Women
- Jay County Republican Women's Club
- Johns Hopkins University
- Kiwani International
- Lafayette College
- Massachusetts Historical Society
- McKendree College
- McQuarie University
- Middlebury College
- Modern Language Association
- Montclair State Teachers' College
- New York Public Library
- Oberlin University
- Ohio Historical Society
- Ohio Wesleyan University
- Oxford University
- Rotary Club
- Sydney University
- United States Navy
- University of Caen
- Vassar College
- Virginia Historical Society
- Voltaire Foundation
- Washington Square College of New York
University
- Yale University
-
-
Family Names
- Barr
- Harrison
- Rockefeller
-
-
Geographic Names
- Alsace-Lorraine
- Amazon River
- Ayers Rock, Australia
- Barr, France
- Beauvais, France
- Berkeley, California
- Berne, Indiana
- Blerancourt, France
- Brisbane, Australia
- Brussels, Belgium
- County Down, Ireland
- Columbus, Ohio
- Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
- Darke County, Ohio
- Detroit, Michigan
- Easton, Pennsylvania
- Fiji
- Fort Recovery, Ohio
- Gary, Indiana
- Goshen, Indiana
- Greenville, Ohio
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- Hollansburg, Ohio
- Illinois
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Italy
- Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
- Manaus, Brazil
- Monmouth, Illinois
- Muncie, Indiana
- New Caledonia
- New England
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New South Wales, Australia
- New York, New York
- New Zealand
- Northhampton, Massachusetts
- Newark, New Jersey
- Ohio
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Portland, Indiana
- Mississippi River
- Québec
- St. Lawrence River
- Saint Pierre Miquelon, Québec
- San Francisco, California
- South America
- South Bend, Indiana
- South Pacific
- Strasbourg, France
- Sydney, Australia
- Tokoroa, New Zealand
- Union City, Indiana
- Vermont
- Yorktown, Virginia
-
-
Occupations
- bibliographer
- farmer
- teacher
-
-
Personal Names
- Barr, Eva Louise
- Besterman, Theodore
- Bigongiari, Bruno Roselli
- Boynet, Emma
- Braunschvig, Marcel
- Cagle, William
- Chambrun, René de
- Coolidge, Grace
- Commager, Henry Steele
- Cons, Louis
- Faral, Edmond
- Fay, Bernard
- Franklin, Benjamin
- Lafayette, Marquis de
- Luckstone, Isadore
- Gildersleeve, Virginia
- Gottschalk, Louis
- Hazard, Paul
- Hazen, Charles Downer
- Hook, Sidney
- Jackson, Stewart
- Jones, Howard Mumford
- Manceron, Claude
- McCracken, Henry Noble
- Monteux, Pierre
- Morgan, Ann
- Morgan, J.P.
- Morize, Andre
- Mornet, Daniel
- Mudge, Isadore
- Muller, Henri
- Mussolini, Benito
- Orr, Robert D.
- Potts, Abby Findlay
- Prezzolini, Giuseppe
- Riley, Woodbridge
- Rockefeller, Nelson A.
- Rodeheaver, Homer
- Rosenberg, Sam
- Servajean, Henri
- Souriau, Maurice
- Spurgeon, Carolyn
- Vanderbilt, Rosamund
- van Roosbroeck, Gustav
- Villey, Pierre
- Voltaire
- Washburn, Margaret Floy
-
-
Subjects
- adult education
- education
- Great Depression
- study abroad
- travel
- United States Civil War
-
Voltaire in
America
- World War I
- World War II