Lea Heine Papers, 1966-2006

Container Title
Mss 484
Part 1 (Mss 484, Audio 620A, EA 001): Original Collection, 1966-1979
Physical Description: 0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box), 14 tape recordings, and 1 film 
Scope and Content Note

The papers of Lea Heine consist of a tape-recorded autobiography supported by manuscripts and other tape recordings concerning her VISTA experiences. Though the greatest quantity of material concerns VISTA, Mrs. Heine's earlier life is described at length and with candor in the autobiography. Her observations on the turmoil of post-World War I Germany and of the stern social setting of that time are revealing. Her comments on the United States pertain to racial attitudes, the Great Depression, the Prohibition Era, the seamier side of the entertainment world, the American South, and Madison, Wisconsin. Also included is a taped interview with Jim Cavanaugh, a Society staff member, clarifying points in the autobiography, and an indexed abstract he prepared summarizing the autobiography and the interview.

The manuscripts in the collection include clippings primarily from Wisconsin papers about Mrs. Heine's VISTA experiences, diaries she kept while in Florida and Lancaster, booklets drawn by her pupils, printed copies of Me and drafts of unpublished writings, and other papers.

Besides the autobiography and interview, the tapes contain her interview on the Today show and her later reflections on that appearance, an interview on Norma Simpson's WHA radio program Accent on Living, and “talks with young people on a street corner in Jacob's Hollow [Lancaster].” The single film in the collection is a home movie shot by Mrs. Heine in Jacob's Hollow in the summer of 1968.

Box   1
Folder   1
Abstract of Autobiography and Interview (620A/1-11)
Box   1
Folder   2
Clippings about Lea Heine, 1967-1969
Box   1
Folder   3
Diaries, 1966 June 21 - 1967 May 12
Lancaster, South Carolina, Papers, 1966-1968
Box   1
Folder   4
General Papers
Box   1
Folder   5
Pupils' Booklets
Box   1
Folder   6
Mimeo Materials primarily regarding Community Action Programs
Writings
Box   1
Folder   7
General and Me (includes correspondence on Me)
Box   1
Folder   8
What Do A Butterfly Eat?
Box   1
Folder   9
Burs, Band-Aides and Butterflies
Box   1
Folder   10
, Post-1967 Miscellany
Tape Recordings
Physical Description: Cassette tapes 
620A/1-9
Autobiography, 1976
Note: See abstract in Folder 1.
620A/10-11
Cavanaugh Interview with Lea Heine, 1977
Note: See abstract in Folder 1.
620A/12
Today Show Interview, 1969 May 23
Physical Description: 9 minutes, 10 seconds 
620A/12 (continued)
Later reflections by Lea Heine on that interview
Physical Description: 38 minutes, 15 seconds 
620A/13
Interview on Norma Simpson's WHA radio program Accent on Living, undated
Physical Description: 30 minutes 
620A/14
Jacob's Hollow street corner talks
Physical Description: 60 minutes 
EA 001
Home movies, 1968
Physical Description: 1 reel; circa 250 feet; silent; color; 8 mm archival positive 
Scope and Content Note: Home movies shot by Lea Heine in Jacobs Hollow in the summer of 1968. Shots of schoolhouse, children, dump, community center(?), homes, family groups. One sequence of a picnic where the children receive books; another sequence contrasts new suburban ranch homes with the older run-down homes of the area.