This collection contains interviews with important members of the University of Minnesota Morris campus, including many interviews done for the Promise of the Prairie documentary.
The digitization of some of these oral histories was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Any views, findings, opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the State of Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society, or the Minnesota Historic Resources Advisory Committee.
Some additional interviews with UMN Morris faculty and administrators are available in the UMN Digital Conservancy, including interviews with Jack Imholte, Bettina Blake, Bill Stewart, and Bill and Ida Stewart.
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Dennis Johnson Interview
Dennis Johnson
Dennis Johnson, professor and dairy scientist with the Department of Animal Science in the West Central Research and Outreach Center, was interviewed for the University of Minnesota Morris documentary Promise of the Prairie: Education in Three Parts.
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Jacqueline Johnson Interview, 2022
Jacqueline Johnson
Jacqueline (Jacquie) Johnson was the 5th chancellor of UMN Morris, leading the campus from 2006 until her retirement in 2017. During her time at UMN Morris, she worked to promote the Morris campus in the UMN system and implement new sustainability practices. She continued teaching Sociology classes remotely for the University of Minnesota Morris after her retirement.
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Jacquie Johnson Interview
Jacqueline Johnson
University of Minnesota Morris Chancellor Jacquie Johnson was interviewed for the University of Minnesota Morris documentary Promise of the Prairie: Education in Three Parts.
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Eric Klinger Interview
Eric Klinger
Eric Klinger, professor emeritus of psychology, was interviewed for the University of Minnesota Morris documentary Promise of the Prairie: Education in Three Parts.
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Eric Klinger Interview, 2016
Eric Klinger
Eric Klinger, professor emeritus of Psychology, discusses his education and career path that eventually lead him to University of Minnesota, Morris. He talks about the early years of UMN Morris, community relations, campus planning and growth.
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Margaret Kuchenreuther Interview 04/24/2023
Margaret Kuchenreuther and Kayde Moore
Margaret Kuchenreuther, Biology professor, discusses the Biology discipline, SOFA (Something on a Friday Afternoon), and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Edward J. LaFave, Jr. Interview, 1978
Edward J. LaFave Jr.
Edward J. LaFave Jr. was the managing officer of Citizens Bank of Morris and was active in civic affairs. He was one of the longtime leaders of the West Central Education Development Association (WCEDA).
In this interview, Edward LaFave discusses the many ways in which the West Central Education Development Association (WCEDA) helped to establish the University of Minnesota Morris.
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Ardath Larson Interview, 2016
Ardath Larson
Ardath Larson began as a librarian at UMN Morris in 1966, and officially retired in 2004. However, she returned twice to help in an interim capacity after her retirement, and continued to serve as the library gift coordinator until her death in 2017. In this interview, Ardath talks about the path that led to her hiring at UMN Morris and the early years of UMN Morris, including the construction of the library. She discusses the changes over time of the student body along with technology changes that happened in the library.
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Les Lindor Interview, 2004
Les Lindor
Les Lindor attended WCSA from 1934-1938. He was an instructor in the Ag Engineering department and was superintendent of buildings and grounds from 1949 through 1959 for WCSA, and for UMM from 1960-1965.
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Les Lindor Interview, Part I
Les Lindor
Les Lindor attended WCSA from 1934-1938. He was an instructor in the Ag Engineering department and was superintendent of buildings and grounds from 1949 through 1959 for WCSA, and for UMM from 1960-1965.
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Les Lindor Interview, Part II
Les Lindor
Les Lindor attended WCSA from 1934-1938. He was an instructor in the Ag Engineering department and was superintendent of buildings and grounds from 1949 through 1959 for WCSA, and for UMM from 1960-1965.
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Andy Lopez
Andy Lopez
Andy Lopez, professor of Computer Science, discusses his education and career path that took him to University of Minnesota, Morris. He also talks about the evolution of campus wise computer usage and services at UMN Morris and the changes within the Computer Science discipline.
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Andy Lopez Interview
Angel Andres Lopez
Andy Lopez, former computer science faculty, was interviewed for the University of Minnesota Morris documentary Promise of the Prairie: Education in Three Parts.
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Dian Lopez
Dian Lopez
Dian Lopez, professor of Computer Science, talks about her path to University of Minnesota Morris and her memories of the university when she began teaching in 1970. She also talks about the progression of the Computer Science discipline.
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Bernice Lund Interview, 1978
Bernice Lund
Bernice Lund was born in 1913 near Canby, Minnesota. She went to normal training and became a rural school teacher in the Porter, Ruthton, Canby, and Breckenridge school districts. She received her masters in mathematics in 1940 and continued teaching high school on and off through the years. In 1960 she was offered a position at UMN Morris in the mathematics department. She retired in 1977.
In this interview, Bernice Lund discusses her family history, rural schools, and UMN Morris and the surrounding community.
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Tom Mahoney Interview, 1986
Tom Mahoney
Tom Mahoney discusses the Vietnam War and its effect on the University of Minnesota Morris.
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Tom Mahoney Interview, 2017
Tom Mahoney
Tom Mahoney ’70, of Hancock, was the creator and founding director of the Grants Development Office at the University of Minnesota, Morris. In this interview, Tom talks about his background and how he made his way to Morris. He talks about his time as a student and the events that eventually lead to the creation of the Grants Development Office. He also discusses some of the more major grants he was a part of during his tenure at Morris.
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Madeline (Maddy) Maxeiner Interview, 2017
Madeline Maxeiner
Maddy Maxeiner '76, vice chancellor emeritus for external relations, talks about her early background and how she decided on UMN Morris as a student and her path to becoming a vice chancellor.
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Roger McCannon Interview, 2018
Roger McCannon
Roger McCannon, retired director of Continuing Education Regional Programs and Summer Session (CERP), talks about his time at University of Minnesota Morris. Roger came to UMM in 1975 and retired in 2004. Roger talks about the evolution of CERP that eventually became to the Center for Small Towns (CST). Roger has written about this history which can be found at, https://www4.morris.umn.edu/sites/morris.umn.edu/files/csthistory2004.pdf.
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Barbara McGinnis
Barbara McGinnis
Barbara McGinnis begin her career at University of Minnesota Morris in 1961. Barbara McGinnis served as a reference librarian at Briggs Library for more than 25 years. She was born and raised in Danvers, MN. and spend the majority of her life in West Central Minnesota. She talks about the beginning years of the university, in particular women's issues.
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Thomas McRoberts Interview, 1986
Thomas McRoberts
Tom McRoberts discusses the Vietnam War and how it affected the University of Minnesota Morris.
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Leslie Meek Interview, 2019
Leslie Meek
Leslie Meek '89, professor of psychology, talks about her time as a student at UMM and as a faculty member. She talks in-depth about student advising and interaction.
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Jeff and Linda Melander Interview, 1984
Jeff Melander and Linda Melander
Jeff and Linda Melander attended UMN Morris from 1971-1975. They met each other and eventually married during their years at UMN Morris. At the time of the interview, they resided in Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Jeff and Linda were very instrumental in the formation of the University of Minnesota Morris Saddle Club which has remained in existence and grown since its founding in the early 1970s.
In this interview, Jeff and Linda discuss the early years of the Saddle Club and the importance of the Saddle Club to them and to their college education.
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Willard Micklish Interview, 1978
Willard Micklish
In this interview, Willard Micklish discusses the founding of the University of Minnesota Morris, including information on the West Central School of Agriculture and community reactions. Micklish was active in the West Central Education Development Association and managed the Golden Cream Dairy.
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Patrick Moore Interview
Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore '82 was interviewed for the University of Minnesota Morris documentary Promise of the Prairie: Education in Three Parts.