Finding aid for the Oral History Project files and recordings
ORALHIS

Summary Information

Repository
Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center
Creator
Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.).
Title
Oral History Project files and recordings
ID
ORALHIS
Date [bulk]
Bulk, 1988-2018
Date [inclusive]
1950-2018
Extent
12.0 linear feet 15 document boxes, 4 boxes of recordings, and digital files
Language
English

Preferred Citation note

The suggested citation for the material is "[item], Oral History Project files and recordings, Box [box number], from the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, USA."

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Background on the Project

The Institute for Advanced Study's Oral History Project was established in 1988 in order to, in the words of interviewer Patricia H. Labalme, "obtain as full an oral record as possible of memories of the early years of the Institute and its most significant participants." Labalme served as Associate Director of the Institute from 1982 to 1988, Secretary of the Corporation from 1982 to 1992, and Assistant to Institute Director Phillip Griffiths from 1992 to 1997. She began the project in 1988 in response to a suggestion by then-Director Marvin Goldberger that she write a history of the Institute. She thought it best to begin by interviewing various people associated with the early history of the Institute, especially since at the time many of the early Faculty had either died or were quite elderly. Labalme conducted interviews with 14 Faculty members, Faculty spouses, past Director Harry Woolf, and others associated with the history of the Institute, with a particular focus on the School of Historical Studies.

Betsy Devine, the wife of Frank Wilczek, who was a Professor in the School of Natural Sciences at the time, was also interested in compiling a record of the early history of the Institute in the late 1980s. She focused her attention on the early history of the School of Mathematics, and interviewed 10 Faculty members and others associated with the School's history.

Elliott Shore, then Librarian of the Historical Studies-Social Science Library, conducted interviews with Faculty, former Members, and past Director Carl Kaysen, between 1993 and 1996 for a history of the School of Social Science to be written in conjunction with the School's 25th Anniversary.

Institute Associate Director for Development and Public Affairs Rachel Gray conducted an interview with Armand Borel in 2001.

Sheldon Hochheiser, an outside oral historian, conducted interviews with Freeman Dyson and Robert Langlands in 2007 and 2008.

The Institute received an endowment for its Archives from the Leon Levy Foundation in 2009. This funding included support for expanding the Oral History Project. Linda Arntzenius, an independent scholar and former Publications Officer of the Institute, began in 2009 to conduct interviews with Faculty, Faculty spouses, Trustees, former staff, and others associated with the history of the Institute.

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Scope and Contents note

The Oral History Project files and recordings include administrative files, background research, transcripts, and audio recordings related to interviews conducted for the project.

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Arrangement note

The records are grouped chronologically by interviewer; interviews are arranged alphabetically by subject thereunder. The interviewers for the Oral History Project were Betsy Devine (1986-1990), Patricia Labalme (1988-1997), Elliott Shore (1991-1996), Rachel Gray (2001), Sheldon Hochheiser (2007-2008), and Linda Arntzenius (2009-ongoing). Betsy Devine's records include research files for a proposed history of the School of Mathematics. Also included with the Oral History Project files are the recordings of two 1978 interviews between Director Harry Woolf and former Member Gaines Post.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center

Historical Studies-Social Science Library
Einstein Drive
Princeton
NJ, 08540
609-734-8375
archives@ias.edu

Conditions Governing Access

Some interviews have been closed to researchers for a period of time at the request of the interview subjects. Please contact archives@ias.edu for information on the conditions of access for specific interviews.

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Collection Inventory

Betsy Devine files 1986-1990 

Biographical information 

Box

George David Birkhoff 

1

Armand Borel 

1

Kurt Gödel 

1

Phillip A. Griffiths 

1

Harish-Chandra 

1

Solomon Lefschetz 

1

Marston Morse 

1

Oswald Veblen 

1

Hermann Weyl 

1
Box

IAS Oral History Project Card file 1989 

1

Correspondence, including original signed release and transcript for Donald Spencer 1988-1990 

1

IAS grant proposal for Math history 1988 

1

Interviews 

Michael Atiyah October 1, 1989 

General note

Materials closed pending receipt of a signed release form.

Raoul Bott May 4, 1989 

Shiing-Shen Chern April 28, 1989 

Michael J. Larsen May 28, 1990 

Saunders Mac Lane November 13 and 14, 1990 

Deane Montgomery January 2-3, 1989 

Atle Selberg June 11, 1989 and June 15, 1989 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1037/Selberg_OH_1989_final.pdf]

John Maynard Smith November 17, 1988 

Donald Clayton Spencer October 20 and 21, 1989 

Albert Tucker October 1988-June 1989 

Hassler Whitney September 20, 1988 and September 23, 1988 

IAS Math History 

Box

Bibliography and catalogs of papers 

3

Princeton Math 

3

Refugees 

3

Refugees 

3

Box contents/note 

4

IAS 1930s - General 

4

History and Philosophy of Math 

4

Oppenheimer - IAS, 1947-1966 

4

IAS Recent History - post-1976 

4

Charles John Wetzel - Thesis 

4

Norbert Wiener 

4

Der Frosch-Maeusekrieg (Kaysen IAS, 1966-1976) 

4

Elizabeth Wilczek's Research (requests for Veblen Papers) 

4

Elizabeth Wilczek's Research (requests for Veblen Papers) 

4

Betsy Devine papers on Birkhoff, von Neumann, etc. 

5

von Neumann, Birkhoff biographies 

5

Ergodic Theorem 

5

Oswald Veblen, 1920-1929 

5

Oswald Veblen, 1930s 

5

Oswald Veblen, pre-1920s (Birkhoff letters) 

5

Oswald Veblen, 1923-1925 (Birkhoff and Gromwall) 

5

1931 

5

1932 

5

1932 

5

1933 

6

1933 

6

1934-1935 

6

IAS Bulletins, 1930-1946 - Member Lists 

6

1936-1937 

6

1938-1939 

6

1940-1949 

6

1950- 

6

IAS History pre-1950 - Beatrice Stern's notes 

6

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Patricia Labalme files 1988-1997 

Box

Summary of Oral History interviews, September 1, 1988 to September 1, 1989 1989 

7

Oral History status report May 1997 1997 

7

Oral history best practices and guidelines 1989-1991 

7

Marantz audio recorder 1991 

7

"Gleanings from the Archives" - Olden Manor 1990-1991 

7

Oral History report and release forms 1991 

Interviews 

Marshall Clagett March 4 and 14, 1996 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/208/Clagett_Marshall_OH_1996.pdf]

J. Richardson Dilworth March 9, 1990 

John Huxtable Elliott May 15, 1990 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1021/Elliott_John_OH_19900515.pdf]

Ralph E. Giesey June 12, 1990 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1029/Giesey_Ralph_OH_19900612_final.pdf]

George Frost Kennan August 30, 1989 and February 27, 1990 

Conditions Governing Use note

George F. Kennan placed the following conditions on the transcript: "Embargoed until the after (sic) deaths of the persons mentioned -- or their names could be omitted if the material would be used before that time."

Margaret L. Meiss March 21, 1991 

Benjamin Dean Meritt November 10-12, 1988 

Lucy Shoe Meritt November 12, 1988 

Grant Sanger April 6, 1989 

Dorothy Morgenstern Thomas June 1, 1990 

Dorothy Burr Thompson October 19, 1988 and December 5, 1988 

Kurt Weitzmann and Josepha Weitzmann-Fiedler March 21, 1989 and May 3, 1989 

Harry Woolf December 8, 1993 and December 20, 1993 

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Elliott Shore files 1991-1996 

Box

Oral history report and release forms 1991 

8

Letters to various professors re: oral interviews 1996 

8

Emails re: oral history interviews 1996 

8

Elliott Shore's notes 1994-1996 

8

Interviews 

Marshall Clagett March 4 and 14, 1996 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/208/Clagett_Marshall_OH_1996.pdf]

Clifford Geertz December 6, 1995 

General note

Closed to researchers pending receipt of a signed release form.

Albert O. Hirschman April 19, 1994 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/210/Hirschman_Albert_OH_19940419_final.pdf]

Carl Kaysen July 6, 1994 

Orlando Patterson November 6, 1996 

General note

Closed for research pending receipt of a signed release.

István Rév August 30, 1996 

General note

Closed for research pending receipt of a signed release.

William Sewell May 23, 1995 

Quentin Skinner February 17, 1995 

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Rachel Gray files 2001 

Armand Borel November 2, 2001 

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Sheldon Hochheiser files 2007-2008 

Interviews 

Freeman Dyson June 19, 2007 and June 20, 2007 

Robert Langlands April 21, 2008 

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Linda Arntzenius files 2009-2018 

Box

Project updates 2009-2017 

14

Signed release forms 2009-2017 

Arrangement note

Arranged in folders chronologically by year, and alpabetically thereunder. Signed release forms for the current year are stored with the archivist's current files.

14

Interviews 

Stephen L. Adler February 7, 2017 

Conditions Governing Access note

At the request of Stephen L. Adler, this interview is closed to researchers "for 30 years from date when I put my memoir in archives." Professor Adler donated the manuscript of his memoir to the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center on March 12, 2014; his oral history interview will be opened after March 12, 2044.

Lily (Nan) Agar July 9, 2009 

Christine Ayoub May 10, 2014 

Neta Bahcall November 16, 2011 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/187/Bahcall_Neta_OH_20111116_final.pdf]

Alice Bigelow; Marc Bigelow; Nick Bigelow; George Dyson March 23, 2013 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/186/Bigelow_Family_OH_20130323_final.pdf]

Enrico Bombieri April 5, 2017 

Conditions Governing Access note

This interview is closed to researchers during the lifetime of Professor Bombieri.

Gaby Borel March 17, 2010 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/188/Borel_Gaby_OH_20100317_final.pdf]

Glen Bowersock April 22, 2009 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/625/Bowersock_Glen_OH_20090422_final.pdf]

Olga (Dottie) Bowman November 8, 2016 

Conditions Governing Access note

Closed until November 8, 2021.

Caroline Walker Bynum February 26, 2014 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until February 26, 2029.

Eugenio Calabi January 21, 2016 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/209/Calabi_Eugenio_OH_20160121_final.pdf]

Giles Constable March 22, 2010 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/624/Constable_Giles_OH_20100322_final.pdf]

John Dawson May 30, 2013 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1020/Dawson_John_OH_20130530_final.pdf]

Pierre Deligne February 24, 2012 

Conditions Governing Access

Two pages of this interview are closed until April 17, 2022. The remainder is open without restriction.

Freeman Dyson November 9, 2009; June 2, 2016 

George Dyson November 11, 2010 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1032/Dyson_George_OH_20101111_final.pdf]

Imme Dyson February 12, 2014 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until February 12, 2064.

Akrevoe Emmanouilides November 12, 2010 

Momota Ganguli 2018 

Conditions Governing Access note

Closed for 10 years from the date of the interview.

Robert Geddes December 17, 2009 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1022/Geddes_Robert_OH_20091217_final.pdf]

Roberta Gernhardt September 18, 2017 

Kristen Ghodsee May 9, 2014 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1023/Ghodsee_Kristen_OH_20140509_final.pdf]

Helen Goddard February 2, 2016 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1038/Goddard_Helen_OH_20160202_final.pdf]

Peter Goddard November 12 and 19, 2014; December 3 and 11, 2014 

Conditions Governing Access

An edited transcript of the interviews is open without restriction; this transcript includes the entirety of the November 12, 2014 interview and portions of the later interviews. Audio of the November 12, 2014 interview is available without restriction.

Portions of the November 19, December 3, and December 11, 2014 interviews are sealed for periods of 15, 30, and 40 years after the date of recording. The remaining portions of the transcripts, therefore, will be available to researchers after December 11 of the years 2029, 2044, and 2054.

Peter Goldreich March 3, 2011 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until March 3, 2021.

Oleg Grabar December 1, 2009 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1034/Grabar_Oleg_OH_20091201_final.pdf]

Rachel Gray November 15, 2011 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until November 15, 2021.

Vartan Gregorian February 10, 2016 

Conditions Governing Access note

Closed until February 10, 2021.

Marian (Taffy) Griffiths September 19, 2016 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until September 19, 2026.

Phillip A. Griffiths June 16, 2009 and July 7, 2009 

Conditions Governing Access

The audio recording, and pages 24-29 of the June 16, 2009 interview, are closed until July 7, 2029. The remaining pages of the two interviews are closed until July 7, 2019.

Christian Habicht April 29, 2009 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until April 29, 2019.

Ralph Hansmann May 6, 2010 

Lily Harish-Chandra April 9, 2009 

Nancy Hingston July 7, 2017 

Sarah Hirschman November 5, 2009 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/211/Hirschman_Sarah_OH_20091105_final.pdf]

Piet Hut March 31, 2011 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until 3/31/2041, with access permitted before then by written authorization from Professor Hut only.

Rosanna Jaffin February 25 and March 21, 2011 

Helene Kaplan February 27, 2012 

David Leslie Kennedy May 3, 2017 

Immanuel (Ike) Kohn May 2, 2011 

Transcript (PDF)

[https://albert.ias.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12111/1063/Kohn_Immanuel_OH_20110502_final.pdf]

Charlotte Langlands April 12, 2016 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed to researchers until April 12, 2026.

Robert Langlands October 21, 2009 

Irving Lavin May 11, 2010 

Marilyn Lavin 

Conditions Governing Access note

Closed to researchers pending receipt of signed release form.

Box

Transcript 

13

Audio recording 

Arnold J. Levine December 3, 2014 

R. Duncan Luce December 2, 2011 

Jack Matlock April 7, 2011 

Dusa McDuff May 18, 2017 

Louise J. Morse and Louise A. Morse January 9, 2009, February 2, 2009 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until February 2, 2019.

Louise A. Morse and Maria Fortiz-Morse March 25, 2017 

John Forbes Nash May 2, 2012 

Melvyn Nathanson February 1, 2016 

Gerda Panofsky April 9, 2010 

Conditions Governing Access

Transcript closed until April 9, 2020.

Peter Paret June 23, 2010 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed during the life of the interviewee.

Allen Rowe January 13, 2010, January 19, 2010 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until January 19, 2020.

Joan Wallach Scott May 14, 2015 

Karen Uhlenbeck April 15, 2015 

Conditions Governing Access note

Closed until April 15, 2030.

Caroline Underwood May 27, 2010 

Michael Walzer April 12, 2010 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until April 12, 2020.

Morton Gabriel White June 29, 2009 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until May 27, 2031.

Marina von Neumann Whitman May 7, 2011 

Mary Wisnovsky April 30, 2009 

Conditions Governing Access

Closed until April 30, 2019.

James D. Wolfensohn June 2, 2015 

Pat Woolf 

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Gaines Post files 1978 

Harry Woolf 

Box

Audio Recording August 29, 1978   3.0 audiocassette 2 full cassettes plus one shared with Harry Woolf 1978 interview 3 audiocassettes downstairs; 3 audiocassettes upstairs (1 shared with Harry Woolf 1978 interview)

16

Audio Recording October 20, 1978   1.0 audiocassette 1 cassette shared with Gaines Post interview

16

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