GACA Collection 166. Oral History Interviews with John Kendall and Chester Johnson, 1994-1995: Overview

Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online through our digital collections.

To learn more about this collection please see the finding aid link found above, and/or visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives to use these primary sources.

Oral History Interviews with John Kendall and Chester Johnson, 1994-1995.  GACA Collection 166.  ½ Hollinger box and 1 cassette box.

ABSTRACT:
The Oral History Interviews with John Kendall and Chester Johnson collection contains transcripts and original audio-cassette tape recording of interviews with John Kendall and Chester Johnson.  Interviews were conducted by John Kendall, Chester Johnson, and Edi Thorstensson.  Conversations took place in the Gustavus Adolphus College Archives from February 1994 to February 1995.  The tapes were transcribed by Gustavus Adolphus College Administrative Assistant Janine Genelin during the summers of 2003 and 2004.  In the interviews Kendall discusses his education, family life, and career while Johnson talked about the history of Gustavus Adolphus College including the V-12 program and other topics from the 1940s-1960s.

John Seedoff Kendall (28 August 1928-26 July 2002) attended Gustavus Adolphus College and graduated with a B.A. in psychology in 1949.  He continued his education with a M.A. in psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1951, a B.D. from Augustana Theological Seminary in 1954, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota during 1959.  He was a professor in the Psychology Department at Gustavus Adolphus College from 1958-1965 and 1968-1981.  He received the Edgar M. Carlson award for Distinguished Teaching in 1973.  In 1981, he became Gustavus Adolphus College’s 12^th president and served for ten years during which Gustavus Adolphus College became a Phi Beta Kappa institution and received a grant from the F.W. Olin Foundation to build a new science hall.

Chester O. Johnson graduated from Augustan College with a B.A. in 1935.  He then received an M.A. from the University of Chicago.  He was Gustavus Adolphus College professor in the Geology Department from 1940-1978 and then given the title of emeritus.  After his retirement from teaching, he became the Lutheran Church Archivist at Gustavus Adolphus College from 1978-2001.

This collection is divided into two sections: John Kendall Interviews and Chester Johnson Interviews, then arranged chronologically.