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Mary Margaret H. Barr-Koon was born and raised in New Jersey to parents who were originally from the Midwest. An only child, she traveled extensively with her parents, creating a life-long passion for languages. Her mother also fostered an interest in music in her early childhood. She spent two years studying in France and then spent two years at Vassar College. She went to Columbia University for her graduate study. Her master's thesis was a Voltaire bibliography, a subject on which she continued to work after completing her degree. Over the years she has donated various materials concerning Voltaire to different libraries both in the United States and abroad. In addition to her work as a bibliographer, she has worked as a language and substitute teacher. After her marriage, she moved from New Jersey to Indiana to manage her family's farms. She remained in Indiana even after her husband's death. Toward the end of the interview she discusses various individuals and the impact they had on her education and development. She tells about being in Paris in August 1939 and hurriedly leaving because of the war with Germany. She talks about her experience as a woman in academia and the issue of bilingualism in schools. She talks extensively about her travels around the world and the experiences she encountered acting as an interpreter. During the interview she talks about her relationship with her family and her husband's children.
| Interviewee: | Barr-Koon, Mary Margaret H. |
| Call number: | 84-029 |
| Date(s) of Interview: | September 7, 1984-September 8, 1984 |
| Physical Description: | 234 pp.; 9 audiocassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 8 hours, 31 minutes; no index |
| Physical Location: | Interviews are housed in Weatherly Hall North, Room 122. Copies are also housed at the Indiana University Archives in Herman B Wells Library E460. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for the Study of History and Memory office. |
| Access Status: | Open |
| Interviewer: | Koske, Mary S. |
Mary Margaret H. Barr-Koon was born and raised in New Jersey to parents who were originally from the Midwest. An only child, she traveled extensively with her parents, creating a life-long passion for languages. Her mother also fostered an interest in music in her early childhood. She spent two years studying in France and then spent two years at Vasser College. She went to Columbia University for her graduate study. Her master's thesis was a Voltaire bibliography, a subject on which she continued to work after completing her degree. Over the years she has donated various materials concerning Voltaire to different libraries both in the United States and abroad. In addition to her work as a bibliographer, she has worked as a language and substitute teacher. After her marriage, she moved from New Jersey to Indiana to manage her family's farms. She remained in Indiana even after her husband's death. Toward the end of the interview she discusses various individuals and the impact they had on her education and development. She tells about being in Paris in August 1939 and hurriedly leaving because of the war with Germany. She talks about her experience as a woman in academia and the issue of bilingualism in schools. She talks extensively about her travels around the world and the experiences she encountered acting as an interpreter. During the interview she talks about her relationship with her family and her husband's children.
American Association of University Women
American Friends of Lafayette
Australasian University Language and Literature
Association
Ball State University
Barnard College
Barringer High School
Boston Symphony Orchestra
British Museum
Centre National de Recherches Scientifique
Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Columbia University
Dickinson College
Earlham College
Foreign Policy Association
German Arcinugas
Indiana University
Indiana University Lilly Library
International Federation of University Women
Jay County Republican Women's Club
Johns Hopkins University
Kiwani International
Lafayette College
Massachusetts Historical Society
McKendree College
McQuarie University
Middlebury College
Modern Language Association
Montclair State Teachers' College
New York Public Library
Oberlin University
Ohio Historical Society
Ohio Wesleyan University
Oxford University
Rotary Club
Sydney University
United States Navy
University of Caen
Vassar College
Virginia Historical Society
Voltaire Foundation
Washington Square College of New York
University
Yale University
Barr
Harrison
Rockefeller
Chambrun, René de
Voltaire
Barr, Eva Louise
Besterman, Theodore
Bigongiari, Bruno Roselli
Boynet, Emma
Braunschvig, Marcel
Cagle, William
Commager, Henry Steele
Cons, Louis
Coolidge, Grace
Faral, Edmond
Fay, Bernard
Franklin, Benjamin
Gildersleeve, Virginia
Gottschalk, Louis
Hazard, Paul
Hazen, Charles Downer
Hook, Sidney
Jackson, Stewart
Jones, Howard Mumford
Lafayette, Marquis de
Luckstone, Isadore
Manceron, Claude
McCracken, Henry Noble
Monteux, Pierre
Morgan, Ann
Morgan, J.P.
Morize, Andre
Mornet, Daniel
Mudge, Isadore
Muller, Henri
Mussolini, Benito
Orr, Robert D.
Potts, Abby Findlay
Prezzolini, Giuseppe
Riley, Woodbridge
Rockefeller, Nelson A.
Rodeheaver, Homer
Rosenberg, Sam
Servajean, Henri
Souriau, Maurice
Spurgeon, Carolyn
Vanderbilt, Rosamund
Villey, Pierre
Washburn, Margaret Floy
van Roosbroeck, Gustav
Alsace-Lorraine
Amazon River
Ayers Rock, Australia
Barr, France
Beauvais, France
Berkeley, California
Berne, Indiana
Blerancourt, France
Brisbane, Australia
Brussels, Belgium
Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
Columbus, Ohio
County Down, Ireland
Darke County, Ohio
Detroit, Michigan
Easton, Pennsylvania
Fiji
Fort Recovery, Ohio
Gary, Indiana
Goshen, Indiana
Greenville, Ohio
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Hollansburg, Ohio
Illinois
Indianapolis, Indiana
Italy
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Manaus, Brazil
Mississippi River
Monmouth, Illinois
Muncie, Indiana
New Caledonia
New England
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New South Wales, Australia
New York, New York
New Zealand
Newark, New Jersey
Northhampton, Massachusetts
Ohio
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portland, Indiana
Québec
Saint Pierre Miquelon, Québec
San Francisco, California
South America
South Bend, Indiana
South Pacific
St. Lawrence River
Strasbourg, France
Sydney, Australia
Tokoroa, New Zealand
Union City, Indiana
Vermont
Yorktown, Virginia
bibliographer
farmer
teacher
United States Civil War
Great Depression
Voltaire in
America
World War I
World War II
adult education
education
study abroad
travel