Calder, Lendol.
Magelssen, Scott.
Buresh, Scott.
Derber, Jesse.
Fairchild, Chad.
Ferguson, Trent.
Furlong, Matt.
Georgacakis, Justin.
Grana, Stephanie.
Kirkpatrick, Randy.
Nagel, Beth.
Pillard, Jake.
Pokora, Jon.
Scott, Andrew.
Stone, Eric.
Thomas, Jim.
Tracey, Katie.
Wilkins, Brandon.
Brown, Mel.
Carnithan, David.
Carinthan, Diane.
Castro, Lupe.
Foster, Nancy.
Garcia, Maryann.
Gardner, John.
Goldstein, Jeff.
Hart, Thomas.
Hoyt, Timothy.
Keppy, Bruce.
Kerr, Jim.
Mason, Sue.
Perez, Jesse.
Phillips, John.
Pillard, Allen.
Reeg, Stanley.
Renk, Bill.
Tracey, Tom.
Vallejo, Rudy.
Wendell, Mark.

English

Seven interviews are restricted, five tapes are restricted.

Oral history.
Quad Cities (Ill. and Iowa)--Economic conditions.
Agricultural machinery industry--Quad Cities (Ill. and Iowa)
Recessions--United States.
Agriculture--Economic aspects--Quad Cities (Ill. and Iowa)
International harvester Company of America.

Kirsten Mathisen, 2013.

Augustana College Special Collections
Thomas Tredway Library
639 38th Street
Rock Island, Illinois 61201
309-794-7643
specialcollections@augustana.edu

Lendol Calder’s spring 2004 history seminar interviewed local residents about the 1980s economic recession in the Quad Cities. The recession was related to the farming industry, which affected the large local economy that was based on farm machinery manufacturing. The series of layoffs, unemployment, and the overall attitude of the time are illuminated through interviews with perspectives from former factory workers to community leaders. Specific events discussed include the closing of the International Harvester plant and the lighting of the Centennial Bridge. Scott Magelssen, then a theater professor at Augustana, compiled the interviews into a radio play that aired on Augustana’s WAUG radio station on November 8, 2004. In 2007, further collaboration with this project resulted in the book titled Lights Out! It was published through Augustana’s East Hall Press by English professor Karin Youngberg and students.

The “Last One Out of the Quad Cities, Turn Out the Lights” Radio Drama Collection is from 2004 and measures 8.5 linear inches. The majority of this collection consists of written interviews and interview tapes.
The Interview records series includes twenty written interviews and a coinciding “Interviewee Life History Form” for each.     
The Redacted Interviews subseries hold seven additional interviews that have restricted access.
The Interview Tapes series is made up of twenty-six cassette tape recordings of the interviews. Some tapes are also restricted.
The Radio Play series contains two programs from the November 8, 2004, performance of the radio play.

Materials in this collection are arranged alphabetically in each series. The interview written records are ordered by the name of the interviewer, whereas the tapes are labeled by the name of the interviewee.