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Oral history interview with Joseph Kruskal, 2000

Creator: Kruskal, Joseph B., 1928-2010
Project: Sheila Michaels civil rights organization oral history collection
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :transcript: 50 pages sound file : digital preservation master, WAV files (96 kHz, 24 bit)
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

Joseph Kruskal was born in 1928 to a Jewish family in New York City. He received both a bachelor's degree and master's degree from the University of Chicago and a PhD from Princeton University in 1954. Kruskal became a mathematician, statistician, computer scientist, and psychometrician. He is the namesake of Kruskal's Algorithm and the Kruskal Tree Theorem. He was a fellow of the American Statistical Association, president of the Psychometric Society, president of the Classification Society of North America, and a longtime employee of Bell Labs. Kruskal was also an active supporter of civil rights and a member of numerous activist organizations, including the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Urban League, and the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). He initiated the Fair Housing Council of South Orange and Maplewood in 1963. Kruskal died on September 19, 2010

Scope and Contents

Kruskal begins the interview by detailing his family background and the political positions of his parents, community, and school. He explains his relationship to Judaism and the influence of his four older siblings. Additionally, Kruskal explains the personal impact of major historical events during his childhood, including the Great Depression, the Pearl Harbor attacks, and World War II. Kruskal discusses the career of his father and the divorce of his parents as well as his family's talent for mathematics. He recounts his introduction to CORE while working in Washington, D.C. and his continued devotion to the organization. Kruskal recalls his time in the suburbs of Newark, New Jersey, and the discriminatory real estate practices that contributed to segregation there. In this discussion, Kruskal acknowledges his privileged position within the unjust system. He discusses how his recognition of privilege led to his creation of the Fair Housing Council of South Orange and Maplewood, including his trials in the organization. Other topics of discussion include: Kruskal's experience with teaching, the Newark unrest of 1967, his involvement with the ACLU, his experience in local politics, and his family's religious beliefs

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