The materials in the Historica Critica collection are arranged first according to the medium on which the interview is preserved: Reel-to-Reel Audiotapes, Cassette Audiotapes, and Videotapes. Within each medium, the materials are in alphabetical order according to the subject of the interview. Some of the reel-to-reel audiotapes have more than one interview subject; these are arranged alphabetically according to the primary subject. It appears that the interviewers transferred the materials on reel-to-reel audiotapes directly to cassettes in several cases. This facilitates the arrangement of the cassettes into alphabetical order according to subject. The dates listed in the finding aid are the dates of the interview. Summaries of the interviews, prepared by Virginia Harris, are found in Box 1.
Historica Critica is a group of active and retired University of Michigan faculty and alumni who believe that the history of the university should be more fully studied, recorded, and celebrated. Toward these ends, Historica Critica has compiled video- and audiotapes of interviews with significant figures of the university faculty, administration, and alumni. The ultimate goal of Historica Critica is to bring about a comprehensive and scholarly history of the university through the use of these tapes.
Members of Historica Critica who have worked on the interview project include: Claude Eggertsen, School of Education; Allen Britton, School of Music Dean; Robert Iglehart, School of Art; Ralph Loomis, English Humanities; Allan Jones, Prakken Publications; Warner Rice, English; Arnold Kuethe, Aerospace Engineering; Arthur Gallagher, former editor of the Ann Arbor News.
Historica Critica has its own criteria for judging whether a member of the university community merits inclusion in its field of significant figures. These criteria, while undefined, seem to cast a net which primarily includes high-level university administrators, Regents, and emeritus faculty. Presidents Fleming and Hatcher; Vice-Presidents Smith, Niehuss, and Pierpont; Regents Roach and Power; and Emeritus faculty Ackley, William Bishop, Britton, Dow, Kuethe, Maurer, Rucknagel, Sears, and Wegman are among those interviewed. Men prominent on the local Ann Arbor scene are also included: Arthur Gallagher, editor of the Ann Arbor News; George Sallade, Ann Arbor Democrat; and Albert Wheeler, former mayor of Ann Arbor.
