Murray’s Universe: An Oral History with UCSC Professor Murray Baumgarten, 1966-2014 Interviewed and Edited by Irene Reti Santa Cruz University of California, Santa Cruz University Library 2014 This manuscript is covered by copyright agreement between Murray Baumgarten and the Regents of the University of California dated September 9, 2014. Under “fair use” standards, excerpts of up to six hundred words (per interview) may be quoted without the University Library’s permission as long as the materials are properly cited. Quotations of more than six hundred words require the written permission of the Head of Special Collections and Archives and a proper citation and may also require a fee. Under certain circumstances, not-for-profit users may be granted a waiver of the fee. For permission contact: Irene Reti
[email protected], Oral Historian, Special Collections and Archives, McHenry Library, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064. Phone: 831-459-2847 Table of Contents Interview History 1 Early Life and Family History 8 Fleeing Hitler’s Europe for Refuge in Panama 13 Moving to New York 25 Schooling 40 UC Berkeley 43 Williams College 44 Always a Refugee 46 Coming to UC Santa Cruz 49 Early Jewish Life at UC Santa Cruz 51 Creating the Course: Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry 56 Undermining the Quarter System 58 More on Jewish Studies 60 Jewish Spaces 63 Thomas Carlyle 65 The Founding of the Dickens Project 77 The Dickens Universe 84 Our Mutual Friend 101 Supporters of the Dickens Project 108 The Dickens Project Pioneering the Use of