This important, unique collection consists of hundreds of hours of Arnold Michaelis' audio, film, and video interviews recorded since 1958 with the world's leading political and cultural personalities.  Martin Luther King, Jr., Adlai Stevenson, Dean Rusk, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Indira Gandhi are just a few of the men and women interviewed by Mr. Michaelis in their own homes. Arnold Michaelis sought “to record for today and posterity, the flavor of the thinking and the essence of the ideas of the men and women whose lives will be studied by future generations.” Michaelis was an executive with Columbia Records, served as host-writer-producer of ‘Music Magazine’ over WQXR, radio station of The New York Times, and has produced, in addition to many commercial radio and television programs, such shows as CBS ‘Invitation To Learning’ and ‘Of Men and Books’. He has taught and lectured at New York University” (Arnold Michaelis, Inc.).

A finding aid for this collection is available in the Media Department. A complete list of interviewees ia available here.

The collection is on 1/4" audioreels, 16mm film, and video.  User copies can be made at a researcher's request.  Rights to this collection are held by the University. Please contact the Media Archives for licensing information. Click here for our Licensing Fee Schedule.