Oral Histories

An initiative that began in 2017, the University Archives has begun to digitize items from the Historical Audio Recordings collection and other collections. We have sorted these recordings into four categories: Lectures and Presentations, Oral Histories, Performances and Speeches. At present the category of Oral Histories is the only category that we are actively adding to. With support from the Office of the Provost, the University Archives has been interviewing current and emeritus faculty, staff and students on their experiences at Eastern Michigan University.

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Serge Barna, Oral History Interview, 2022

Matt Jones

Serge Barna was an active member of the Arm of Honor Fraternity from 1964 until 1968. Brother of Arm Ken Barna, Serge was raised in Detroit, graduated from the Detroit Public Schools System, and was surrounded by aspiring teachers, growing up. Without a solid direction following high school, Barna served a ten-month tour in Vietnam before coming back to EMU and the Arm of Honor. Barna discusses his expectations for college and his perceptions of EMU President Harold Sponberg before speaking of his most memorable Arm brothers and the living conditions inside the frat house. Barna speaks of the complex relationships between the fraternity and the university, and the rules and regulations of fraternity house living. Barna describes the atmosphere on campus the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Alumni Day, Arm of Honor athletic prowess, and the importance of Arm connections long after college graduation.
Shirley Spork, Oral History Interview, 2021, part 1

Matt Jones

1949 Michigan State Normal College graduate and co-founder of the LPGA Shirley Spork has led a life uniquely her own, balancing her love of the game of golf with her passion for teaching and leaving the game of better place for those who come after her. Despite the lack of a competitive women's golf program in the 1940s, MSNC saw Spork emerge as the brightest star of the game as she won the 1947 Women's National Collegiate Golf Championship and was Tam o' Shanter All American Amateur Champion in 1948. She was runner up in the National Collegiate Golf Championship, and won the Michigan State Women's Amateur title. Spork was one of the top ten Money winners of 1951 and toured Europe as the first LPGA pro to conduct clinics in foreign countries. Following the whirlwind tours of the early LPGA, Spork became widely recognized as a teaching professional and it was written that Spork's "gregarious grin and golf know-how made her exceptionally effective in nurturing the potential in junior golfers. Spork has been awarded the Joe Graffis Award for Outstanding contributions to the teaching of golf, the LPGA Teacher of the Year Award and was inducted into the Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame in 1968, and the EMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981. Spork is the namesake of the annual Shirley Spork Invitational. This interview covers Sporks experience at Michigan State Normal College as a student. Part Two describes Spork's time as a professional golfer and co-founder of the LPGA.
Steven Beard, Oral History Interview, 2023

Brooke Boyst

Brooke Boyst, an EMU Historic Preservation graduate student, interviews Steven Beard for the Ypsilanti bicentennial celebration on August 19, 2023. Beard, an "old hippie" since 1975, values Ypsilanti's smaller, friendlier community compared to Detroit and Ann Arbor. He enjoys walking his dogs in Riverside Park and appreciates the city's progress in infrastructure. Beard hopes to be remembered positively and shares his philosophy of dealing with difficult people. He recounts a story about a guest from Antarctica who found 15-20 degrees Celsius a heat wave and a flooding incident in Riverside Park that stranded carp.
Steve Spencer, December 10, 2018

Rachel Burns and Matt Jones

Steve Spencer graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1975 with a degree in speech and education and was an active member of the Black Student Association during his time on campus. After attending Valparaiso Law School, Spencer worked for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for 38 years.
Susan and Sam Westhoff, Interview, 2024

Micah Bookout

Throughout 2024, the city of Ann Arbor celebrated its 200th anniversary with community events, festivals, and art displays that highlighted its rich culture and history. To cap off the celebrations, in December 2024 the EMU Center for Oral History Research invited community members to Skyline High School to share what makes Ann Arbor special. In this interview, Susan and Sam Westhoff talk about family and growing up in Ann Arbor, the city's rich natural landscape, and trips to the Kerrytown Farmer's Market.
Suzanne "Suzy" Wood, Oral History Interview, 2023

Finn Vincent-Fix and Matt Jones

Suzanne “Suzy” Wood attended the Roosevelt School K-12, she graduated a year before the school’s closure in 1969. In this interview, Suzy recounts growing up in the Normal Park neighborhood and activities kids did while living there in the 1950s-60s, and her experiences attending Roosevelt as a studious honors student who stayed out of trouble. Suzy also discusses meeting her husband, Nelson, while at Roosevelt, what dates looked like in the 1960s, and her life beyond Roosevelt.
Taaja Tucker-Silva, Oral History Interview, 2023

Kat Hacanyan

Kat Hacanyan, an EMU Historic Preservation graduate student, interviews Taja Tucker Silva for the Ypsilanti bicentennial celebration. Taja, a biologist and artist, moved to Ypsilanti in 2013 after living in Ann Arbor. She appreciates Ypsilanti's small-town feel, walkability, and natural surroundings. Taja has never left Michigan and values the community's familiarity. She notes improvements in downtown businesses and a decrease in crime since her arrival. Taja hopes for future improvements on Water Street and expresses a desire to contribute to environmental efforts, particularly in removing invasive species.
Ted Ligibel, Oral History Interview, 2019

Matt Jones

Ted Ligibel was director of the Eastern Michigan University Historic Preservation program from his arrival in 1991 until his retirement in 2019. Already a recognized figure in Historic Preservation prior to his tenure at EMU, Ligibel speaks on his upbringing in Toledo where, as a child, he worked in his father's butchery grinding hamburger and dining on raw hot dogs. Ligibel describes the state of Historic Preservation under the Reagan administration and his battles with the mayor of Toledo over the nomination of historic sites. Ligibel also describes the "losing side" of historic preservation and the fact that those losses serve as valuable learning experiences. When Ligibel was appointed director of the EMU Historic Preservation program in 1991, he immediately set out to raise the visibility of the program, reflecting the concept that in the broader field of Historic Preservation, visibility is key to the success of any preservation project. Ligibel discusses the evolution of the Historic Preservation program throughout his tenure, describing the implementation of field school, the creation of graduate assistantships and student orientation, and the importance of vigorous networking even in the earliest stages of student involvement in preservation. Ligibel also speaks on several colleagues including Marshall McLennan, Nancy Bryk, Andrew Nazzaro and Chris Mayda, whom he credits with breathing new life into the Department of Geography and Geology before her death in 2016.
Terrence McDonald, Oral History Interview, 2022

Matt Jones

In 2021, Eastern Michigan University Archives lecturer Matt Jones began documenting the story of Ypsilanti’s Human Rights Ordinance #1279 in an effort to explore the ways in which local queer activism has evolved multi-generationally in Ypsilanti. What began as a refusal of service by a local print shop to a small EMU student group quickly turned into a years-long battle over who was deserving of basic human rights. To the LGBTQ activists and community members documented here, they had always been present in the community: working, paying taxes, painting their houses, mowing their lawns, attending council meetings, and even serving on council. This ordinance battle was about more than just LGBT rights—it was about protecting the human rights of all Ypsilantians. On June 9, 2022, Jones met with longtime University of Michigan faculty member, Director of the Bentley Historical Library, and former Ypsilanti mayor pro-tem, Terrence McDonald. McDonald began his career in Ypsilanti politics by volunteering for Pete Murdock, during which his wife worked on the city council. After McDonald's wife convinced him to run for council in the next election he launched a campaign, and was eventually appointed in 1994. He got to know a lot about civic life in Ypsi, and recalls how Depot Town businesses and community members interacted before the ordinance efforts kicked off. Of course during his career in office, McDonald became involved in the efforts and collaborated with, managed, and listened to different communities in the city so that everything might go more smoothly. In this interview he gives in-depth detail at how a new city charter impacted the way council functioned and how that played into the passage of 1279, and how much goes in to working with council-members and their constituents efficiently.
Terry Auten, Oral History Interview, 2022

Miaire An’Jané Price and Matt Jones

In the Fall of 2022, Matt Jones’s Oral History Techniques class conducted a set of interviews documenting the stories behind the student unrest on Eastern Michigan University’s campus from 1966-1972. Terry Auten was a student at EMU during the late 1960s and early 1970s who travelled to the National Student Conference on Vietnam, held at Cornell University and brought back to EMU his perspective on the War and increased student activism on campus.
Thomas Droste, Oral History Interview, 2023

Akaiia Ridley

In this interview longtime Ypsi resident Thomas Droste explains their experiences with Ypsi Pride, explaining that 2023 is the first time they've attended. Droste explores that this is the first year they fully considered themselves apart of the queer community, sharing that they love the drag shows and thinks that events like Ypsi pride show that Ypsi cares about all of its residents.
Tom Charbonneau, Oral History Interview, 2022

Matt Jones

Tom Charbonneau was activ emember of the Arm of Honor Fraternity from 1972 until 1976, and now a member of the Arm of Honor Alumni Chapter. Growing up in Catholic school, Charbonneau grew up in Dearborn, eventually joining the Air National Guard before enrolling at EMU and pledging Arm of Honor. Charbonneau speaks of Vietnam War draft lotteries, and of his introduction to the Arms by their reputation in athletics, and by the fact that many of Charbonneau's friends and former coahces attended EMU and were members of Arm of Honor. Charbonneau speaks of his time as a Residential Advisor at EMU, Arm hazing rituals, his beest friend Steve "Tuna" Thompson, working at the Ypsilanti Beer Cooler, the housemother, fireside conversations, fraternity parties and command structure. He also speaks of Dr. Angelo Angelocci, Scott Rynearson, Marsh Plating, Bimbo's On The Hill, and other Ypsilanti establishments.
Tom Dusbiber, Oral History Interview, 2023

Finn Vincent-Fix and Matt Jones

Thomas Dusbiber attended the Roosevelt School from Kindergarten in 1954 until he graduated in 1966. In this interview, Tom recounts his time at Roosevelt, talking about the quality of the teachers, the struggles of high school athletics, and where the popular hangout spots were when he was in school. He also explores the legacy of the school, and the reasons why so many former students remember it so fondly.
Tom Prieur, Oral History Interview, 2022

Matt Jones

Tom Prieur was active with the Arm of Honor Fratrernity from 1960 until 1963. Coming to EMU from Alpena, Michigan, Prieur is said to have brought several athletes into the fraternity, allowing the fraternity to achieve its athletic dominance on the EMU intramural fields. Quarterback for the EMU football team, Prieur, known as “Puss” to his Arm brothers, describes his introduction to athletics as a child, the occupations of his parents, and being recruited for the FBI following college graduation. Prieur speaks of living in the frat house, hazing rituals, and off-campus hang outs of the fraternity brothers. Prieur also speaks of the importance of talking to his college professors about his academic struggles, the presence of Black players at EMU, and the role of organized crime in the construction field.
Tom Stulberg, Interview, 2024

Alexis Braun Marks

Throughout 2024, the city of Ann Arbor celebrated its 200th anniversary with community events, festivals, and art displays that highlighted its rich culture and history. To cap off the celebrations, in December 2024 the EMU Center for Oral History Research invited community members to Skyline High School to share what makes Ann Arbor special. In this interview, Tom Stulberg talks about being mayor of Lower Town, discovering and correcting local history, and his favorite things to do.
Tony Catros, Oral History Interview, 2024

Matt Jones

Tony Catros, nicknamed "Cassius" by his fraternity brothers, served as an active member of the fraternity from 1963 until 1967. Catros relates his grandparents' immigration to the United States and his graduation from Redford Union High School before applying at EMU on a whim with friend Gary Griswold. Catros describes the differences between the Arms and other fraternities, his employment with Ypsilanti State Hospital while an Arm, and the importance of winning the All-Sports Trophy. He describes the reputation of Arm of Honor prior to his membership, and the initiation period that was part of all pledges' lives. He describes Arm of Honor outings to Silver Lake and other places around the Southeast Michigan region. Catros explains the ways that household chores were done in the Arm house, and the relationship between the Arms and their "sweetheart" of a house mother. Catros describes the close-knit relationships bewteen the Arms even to this day, and relates many of the experiences involving Arms beyond his time as an active member.
Tony Martin, Oral History Interview, 2020

Matt Jones and Alexis Braun Marks

During the course of his tenure with EMU, Martin served as University Police Officer, Associate Director and then Director of the Center of Regional and National Security and Library Assistant 3 in Halle Library among other things until leaving for a job at the University of Michigan School of Nursing in 2019. In this interview, Martin discusses his upbringing in Chicago and Detroit, his pathway to EMU, and his initial forays into law enforcement. Martin details other jobs he has held of campus, including working in Circulation at Halle Library.
Tony Pappas, Oral History Interview, 2022

Matt Jones

Tony Pappas was an active member of the Arm of Honor Fraternity from 1963 until 1968, and currently (2024) serves as the President of the Arm of Honor Fraternity Alumni Chapter. In this interview, Pappas recounts his time growing up on the east side of Ypsilanti, above the Seven Seas Restaurant, owned by Pappas’ parents, on Michigan Avenue. Pappas describes the Ypsilanti of his childhood, particularly Ypsilanti Township and the area directly surrounding the EMU campus. Pappas describes his fraternity brothers, their superior athletic acumen, and the criteria for joining the fraternity, along with the core beliefs and values of the fraternity. As in all of the AoH interviews, Pappas emphasizes the ongoing close relationships sustained with other Arms, during and after his active membership.
Trent Collier, Interview, 2024

Micah Bookout

Throughout 2024, the city of Ann Arbor celebrated its 200th anniversary with community events, festivals, and art displays that highlighted its rich culture and history. To cap off the celebrations, in December 2024 the EMU Center for Oral History Research invited community members to Skyline High School to share what makes Ann Arbor special. In this interview, Trent Collier talks about raising a family in Ann Arbor, getting involved in community groups, and finding moments of calm in graduate school.
Walter Kraft, Oral History Interview, 2024

Finn Vincent-Fix and Elizabeth Allen

Walter Kraft is the Vice President for Communications at Eastern Michigan University, a position he has been in for over 14 years. In this interview, Kraft recounts how he got into communications, working his way from intern to News Director at Channel 7 in Detroit, and shifting from news to public relations after becoming Vice President of Caponigro PR. Kraft explains how he ended up in his current position at EMU, how the communications department has evolved since he started, and bringing the “You Are Welcome Here” slogan to EMU. Kraft describes the shift from “You Are Welcome Here” to “All Are Welcome Here,” the advertising campaign for the new slogan, and his role in the Afghan resettlement project writing articles and organizing the PBS special.
William Shelton Oral History Interview, 1998 April 3

Laurence Smith

William Shelton served as President of Eastern Michigan University from 1989 until 2000. In this interview, Shelton discusses the importance of good faculty/administrator relationships, marketing the university, and university fundraising. Shelton also evaluates his presidential predecessors on their merits and what he saw as their shortcomings. This interview is the first in a series of two interviews. This interview was conducted for the purpose of gathering primary research for Laurence Smith’s book, Eastern Michigan University: A Sesquicentennial Portrait (1999).
William Shelton Oral History Interview, 1999 April 19

Laurence Smith

William Shelton served as President of Eastern Michigan University from 1989 until 2000. In this interview, Shelton details his upbringing in the Mississippi Delta and the hardships his family endured in his youth. Shelton details his experience as a student at Memphis State University, and as vice president for Institutional Advancement at Kent State University. Shelton also speaks about changing the controversial EMU logo and mascot. This interview is the second in a series of two interviews. This interview was conducted for the purpose of gathering primary research for Laurence Smith’s book, Eastern Michigan University: A Sesquicentennial Portrait (1999).
William Shelton, Oral History Interview, 2021

Susan Wentz and Matt Jones

William Everett Shelton (b. 1942) was president of Eastern Michigan University 1989-2000, and is universally recognized for his work to do away with the EMU logo and mascot, seen as culturally insensitive to many inside and outside of the university. In this interview, Shelton recounts his rise to higher education administration from his roots in segregated southern schools, and the turmoil surrounding the change of the EMU logo and mascot. Arriving on the heels of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission recommendation that all Michigan schools with culturally insensitive logos and mascots make changes to those depictions, Shelton was thrust into the spotlight as a brand new university president grappling with painful institutional growing pains. This interview centers around the values espoused by Shelton in his recommendation to the Board that EMU should, in fact, change the logo and mascot, that change is inevitable, and that it was the responsibility of universities to encourage growth and change along with the rest of American culture. Shelton also wrestles with his legacy at EMU as he describes the backlash from alumni unhappy with the logo change and the longterm effects of the Board's decision to drop the Huron logo.
William Stephens Oral History Interview, 1998 May 13

Laurence Smith

Colonel William Stephens served on the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents from 1996 until 2001, serving as vice chairman and being named EMU Regent Emeritus in 2001. In this interview, Stephens details his experience as a black student in a majority-white college in the 1950s, his extensive military service, and his involvement with the United States Republican Black Caucus in Washington D.C. Stephens also discusses his service on the EMU Board of Regents, and his desire to ensure that Board members act as honest brokers for the University. This interview was conducted for the purpose of gathering primary research for Laurence Smith’s book, Eastern Michigan University: A Sesquicentennial Portrait (1999).
Women in Physical Education, Oral History Interview, 2007

Claudia Wasik

EMU Physical Education professor Claudia Wasik sat down wth five members of the Physical Education Department from Michigan State Normal College and Eastern Michigan University for a recorded talk about their time at the university and some of the changes they witnessed. Interviewees describe their formative experiences in their hometown, the difference between the PE program at EMU with other schools, and early teaching assignments at EMU. They describe their favorite courses and activities, and the condition of the facilities used for women's athletics int he 1960s nd 1970s.