Life History: Ruth Rives, 1998
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 the
Study of History and Memory
TitleLife History: Ruth Rives, 1998
Project No.
ohrc074
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
Ruth Rives discusses her life history growing up in Germany during
the World War II era. She speaks of her family and living environment, and the
confusion, fear, and hardships she faced. She speaks of the experiences of her
young adult life nursing, doing missionary work in Iran, and immigrating to the
United States. She talks about her life as it unfolded in America and her
return trips to Germany.
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains one interview. The interview is 140 minutes and consists of audio tapes and a typed transcripts,
as well as collateral materials.
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
Rives, Ruth
August 7, 1998;
August 12,1998
Call Number
98-030
Physical Description
103 pages; 4 tapes, 1 7/8 ips., 140 minutes; index;
interview questionnaire, interviewee's resumé, article on Berlin, Germany
Interviewer
Truesdell, Barbara
Access Status
Open
Scope and Content Note
Ruth Rives, a.k.a. Waltraud Zekorn, born on May 12 1932, shares
her life story. She speaks a great deal about her family members in Germany,
including her grandmother, her aunt, her mother and father, and later her step-
father, step-brother, and step-sister. She discusses her early life and
education in Germany before, during, and after World War II. She recalls
apartment life in Berlin, food and food rations, and the treatment of children.
She recalls the beginning of the war, the bombing, her family's forced
evacuation, and the hardships and confusion of the time [especially for a
child]. She talks about her return to Berlin, the blockade and airlift, and
becoming a nurse before traveling to Iran as missionary with her first husband.
Again, she returned to Berlin, married an American soldier [though it was
looked down upon], and immigrated to the United States. She discusses forming a
family in America and struggling to make ends meet. Rives talks about her
family today and all that she has experienced and learned in America. She
discusses her American citizenship, and her return trips to Germany.
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Keywords
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Family Names
- Rives
- Zekorn
- Zündorf
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Personal Names
- Zündorf, Arthur
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Place Names
- Alabama
- Berlin, Germany
- Houston, Texas
- Iran
- Russia
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Subjects
- Berlin blockade
- blood bank
- education
- family
- immigration
- missionary work
- rations
- World War II
