Interview with Earl Slone, April 19, 1979

Partial Transcript: I'll just say for the record, just to, just to be sure that we're picking up here that, uh, that this is an oral history interview and my name is Dwayne Cox.

Segment Synopsis: Earl Slone is introduced. He talks about his parents and where they grew up. He talks about his father's job with the Illinois Central Railroad, the dangers of working at the railroad, and his father's death.

Keywords: Accidents; Caldwell County (Ky.); Death; Eastern Kentucky; Education; Fathers; Furniture; Grandfathers; Grandmothers; Grocery stores; Henderson (Ky.); Huntingburg (Ind.); Illinois Central Railroad; Job offers; London (Ky.); Louisville (Ky.); Moving; Paducah (Ky.); Trains; Western Kentucky

Subjects: Families.; Family history.; Railroads

Partial Transcript: So, uh, I was a little delayed in starting my, uh, schooling.

Segment Synopsis: Slone discusses his childhood friends and what they did for entertainment. He talks about where he attended school and describes some of his teachers.

Keywords: Delays; English teachers; Firehouses; High school; Madison Street (Louisville, Ky.); Neighbors; Quality of education

Subjects: Childhood; Education; Louisville (Ky.); Schools; Teachers

Partial Transcript: As I, uh, grew up I--there was a drugstore on the corner of 18th and Madison.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about a local pharmacist, Joseph Everett Leatherman, who let Slone observe his work at the pharmacy. Slone says this may have influenced him to choose a career in the field of pharmacy.

Keywords: Baseball; Drug names; Influence; Joseph Everett Leatherman; Mentors; Prescriptions; Prices; Schools; Use; Working

Subjects: Childhood; Drugstores; Pharmacists.

Partial Transcript: When I got through high school I wasn't, uh, exactly sure what I wanted to do, however I just naturally gravitated toward the College of Pharmacy.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about his first impressions of the Louisville College of Pharmacy. He talks about the founders of the school and how it began with individual pharmacists training apprentices. He talks about the first president of the college. He discusses how changes in drug laws affected the school.

Keywords: Apprentices; C. Lewis Diehl; Drug laws; Education; Founding; Germany; Graduating high school; Impressions; Licensing; State schools; Teaching institutions; University of Louisville; University presidents

Subjects: College administrators; College environment; College histories; College presidents; College teachers.; College teaching.; Educators; Immigrants; Louisville College of Pharmacy; Pharmacists.; Universities and colleges--Administration.; Universities and colleges--Faculty.; Universities and colleges--History

Partial Transcript: And, uh, the first, uh, rooms they rented were on Third Street.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about the first location of the Louisville College of Pharmacy. He talks about relocating and remodeling the school. He talks about the Gingko tree in front of the school. He talks about the design of the building in regard to fire safety.

Keywords: Design; Evacuation routes; Fire hazards; Gingko trees; Henry Clay; Layout; Locations; Lockers; Property; Remodeling

Subjects: Campus planning.; College buildings.; College campuses.; College facilities--Planning.; College facilities.; College histories; Universities and colleges--History; Universities and colleges--Safety measures.

Partial Transcript: Well who were, who were some of the--you said that the school had, uh, two employees: the janitor--or two full time employees: the janitor and, and the dean.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about the deans of the College of Pharmacy. He talks about their work at the school as well as their work at hospitals and military bases. He talks about taking summer classes at the University of Chicago and discusses some of his professors there.

Keywords: "Gray's Anatomy"; Animals; Bacteriology; Botany; C. Lewis Diehl; Camp Taylor; College classes; College courses; Dean Gordon Curry; Deans; Diehl family; Dr. Oscar C. Dilly; Graduation; Henry Gray; Illness; Job offers; Jobs; Professors; Public health; Saint Joseph Hospital (Louisville, Ky.); Summers; Typhoid fever; WWI; World War I

Subjects: Camp Zachary Taylor (Ky.); College administrators--Selection and appointment.; College environment; College students--Social conditions; College teachers--Rating of.; College teaching.; Educators; Pharmacists; Universities and colleges--Administration.; Universities and colleges--Faculty.; Universities and colleges--Professional staff; University of Chicago; World War, 1914-1918

Partial Transcript: You have a lot of peculiar things happen.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about changes in the field of pharmacy and health in general. He talks about younger pharmacists not recognizing the symptoms of smallpox. He talks about how the curriculum in schools has changed and discusses how the students helped one another study when he was in school.

Keywords: Changes; Classrooms; Cooperation; Curriculum; High school education; Leprosy; Patients; Review sessions; Scientific discoveries; Smallpox; Studying

Subjects: College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Books and reading.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Educational change--Kentucky; Louisville College of Pharmacy; Medical care; Pharmacists.

Partial Transcript: Who were some of the, uh, uh--talk about some of the professors that you had at, uh, uh--about, uh, Dean Curry and Dean Dilly and some of the other people who taught in the college of pharmacy.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about Dean Oscar Dilly and his wife Mary Dilly who later became the school's registrar. He talks about their relationships with the students. He talks about Dean Gordon Curry and his wife. He talks about some of his high school principals. He discusses how he learned to control his temper.

Keywords: "Dad Curry"; "Mom Dilly"; "Mother Curry"; Collections; Dean Gordon Curry; Dr. Oscar C. Dilly; Drugstores; High school principals; Knowledge; Louisville Male High School; Mary E. Dilly; Patients; Personality; Professors; Registrars; Relationship with students; Temperament; Trouble

Subjects: College administrators--Rating of; College discipline; College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Social conditions; College teachers--Rating of.; College teachers--Social conditions; College teaching.; Educators; Universities and colleges--Administration.; Universities and colleges--Faculty.

Partial Transcript: What would have been a, a, a typical day in the life of--or, or in your life when you were a student at the College of Pharmacy from the time you got up till the time you went to bed?

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about his daily schedule while attending the Louisville College of Pharmacy. He talks about working in the labs on campus. He talks more about the professors at the college, their work as pharmacists and chemists, and the classes they taught.

Keywords: Botany; Chemistry lab; Chemists; College classes; College courses; Dean Gordon Curry; Dispensing lab; Dr. Ferdinand Stoll; Dr. Gillis; Dr. Oscar C. Dilly; Drugs; Drugstores; Gold; H. Otto Hausgen; Illness; Jobs; Materia Medica; Pharmacognosy; Plants; Professors; Relationships; Rivalry; Schedules; Shelby Smith; Stores; Studying; Typical day; Working

Subjects: College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Employment.; College students--Social conditions; College teachers--Social conditions; Educators; Universities and colleges--Faculty.

Partial Transcript: What sort of, uh--I know there was, uh, uh, there was a--at the same time that there was the College of Pharmacy in Louisville there was a medical school and a dental school.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about the relationships between students at the College of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, College of Dentistry, and College of Law in Louisville. He talks about student hangouts in Louisville, and discusses students gambling on campus.

Keywords: Dental school; Dr. Oscar C. Dilly; Fights; Gambling; Interaction; Law school; Local hangouts; Medical school; Recreation; Relationships; Restaurants

Subjects: Campus violence; College campuses.; College environment; College majors; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Louisville College of Pharmacy; University of Louisville; University towns

Partial Transcript: What, uh, this--(coughs)--this might not be it--this might be a hard question but, uh, what, uh--when, when you were--when you graduated in 1923--uh, that's right isn't it, 1923?

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about his duties as a pharmacist after graduating from the Louisville College of Pharmacy. He talks about how drug laws like the Harrison Narcotics Act have affected the field of pharmacy and have affected the number of people with addictions.

Keywords: Addicts; Changes; Compounds; Corns; Drug laws; Drug manufacturing; Drug-oriented; Effects; Elixirs; Harrison Narcotics Tax Act; Making drugs; Marijuana; Morphine; Narcotics; Patient-oriented; Preparation; Remedies

Subjects: Drug abuse--Law and legislation--Kentucky; Drug addiction; Pharmacists

Partial Transcript: What were your, what were your, uh, duties at the, at the General Hospital and what do you remember about the General Hospital?

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about working at the Louisville General Hospital. He talks about the equipment that was available, the types of illnesses he treated, and the remedies he made.

Keywords: Anesthesia; Babies; Cough remedies; Drugs; Duties; Equipment; Louisville General Hospital; Prescriptions; Quality; Remedies; Responsibilities; Smallpox; Vaccination; Venereal diseases (VD); medicine

Subjects: College graduates; Hospitals.; Medical care; Medical centers; Pharmacists

Partial Transcript: So you were, uh--le--tell me if I'm wrong about this. This--you were a young man of about twenty-one or two there at the, uh, at the Louisville General Hospital.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about why he was offered a position as Dean of the Louisville College of Pharmacy. He talks about the conditions he set before accepting the position.

Keywords: Columbia University; Conditions of acceptance; Dean Gordon Curry; Deans; Death; Dr. Ferdinand Stoll; Dr. Oscar C. Dilly; Education; Fellowships; Illness; Job offers; Military; Schools

Subjects: College administrators--Selection and appointment.; College environment; College teachers--Job satisfaction; College teachers--Leaves of absence; College teachers--Social conditions; College teaching.; Educators; Louisville College of Pharmacy; Universities and colleges--Administration.; Universities and colleges--Faculty.

Partial Transcript: The third thing was there had been some overtures from the University of Louisville.

Segment Synopsis: Slone talks about why he did not want the Louisville College of Pharmacy to merge with the University of Louisville. He talks about attempting to create a mutually beneficial merger with the University of Kentucky and discusses his negotiations with UK president Herman Donovan. He talks about taking a leave of absence late in his career to work in Indonesia, resigning as dean upon his return, and continuing to teach until his retirement a few years later. He discusses his opinions of UK president John Oswald. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Competition; Cooperation; Dean Martin White; Dr. Herman Donovan; Dr. John Oswald; Indonesia; Leo Chamberlain; Lexington (Ky.); Louisville General Hospital pharmacy; Negotiations; Retirement; Rotating deanship; State schools; Year to year

Subjects: College administrators; College environment; College histories; College presidents; College teachers--Leaves of absence; College teachers--Social conditions; Educators; Universities and colleges--Administration.; Universities and colleges--Faculty.; Universities and colleges--Finance; Universities and colleges--Mergers; University of Kentucky; University of Louisville