| Name | Frederck Kraus Oral History Interview |
| Dates | 1994 |
| Extent | 0.10 cubic foot |
| Historical Note | Frederick Kraus was born in 1910 in Prague, Austria-Hungary, the son of Dr. Frantisek Kraus, a stomatologist, and Olga Beckova. He received an MD from Charles Ferdinand University in 1934 and a DDS from the State Institute of Dental Surgery in 1935. In 1935 Kraus married Amy Wiener (1903-1993) and they were parents of a son and a daughter. During the late 1930s, Kraus was in private dental practice in Prague, but with the German annexation of the Sudetenland, Kraus, his wife, and their son fled their native land. By the early 1940s, they had resettled in the United States. In the US, Dr. Kraus completed a DMD at the Tufts College Dental School in 1943, and there he first met Dr. Joseph F. Volker. Dr. Kraus volunteered for service in the US Army during World War II, serving in Europe as assistant division dental surgeon in the 29th Infantry Division. Soon after the war, Dr. Kraus accepted a faculty position at the Tufts dental school. In 1953 Dr. Joseph F. Volker, who was the inaugural dean of the School of Dentistry in Birmingham, convinced Kraus to accept a position as head of dental service at the new Birmingham Veterans Administration Hospital; Kraus was also given a clinical appointment in the dental school. Dr. Kraus remained in Birmingham for the rest of his life and held a faculty appointment at UAB after 1954. He was the acting chair of the microbiology department from 1969 until 1970. During the 1960s, he was active in the Civil Rights Movement, first as a member of the local Council on Human Relations, and later in the Concerned White Citizens. It was as a member of the latter that Kraus participated in the marches in Selma, Alabama, in March of 1965. Newspaper articles from the time referred to Kraus as a spokesman for the group. Kraus retired from UAB as a professor of Microbiology and was named professor emeritus by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System. Dr. Frederick Kraus died in Birmingham on April 6, 2002, he was survived by his daughter and by two grandsons. |
| Scope and Contents | One VHS videotape of an oral history interview; transcript available. |
| Arrangement | N/A |
| Accession Number | M1994-16AV |
| Provenance | The Frederick Kraus oral history interview was conducted on December 14, 1994, by University Archivist Virginia E. Fisher. |
| Copyright | The UAB Archives owns the copyright this interview and maintains its proprietary rights to the collection. |
| Fnding Aid | Printed descriptive guide by William A. Harris, revised by Tim L. Pennycuff, available in repository. |
| Access Points | Alabama Council on Human Relations. Civil rights z Alabama. Dental schools z Alabama z Birmingham. Kraus, Frederick W., d 1912-2002. University of Alabama at Birmingham. University of Alabama. b School of Dentistry. |
| Document Types | Videocassette; Transcript |
| Location | Manuscript Stacks |
| Related Series | MC45, UAB Archives Oral History Interview Collection, 1950-1995 (for printed transcript) |
| Physical Condition | Acid free folder, acid free box |
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Copyright: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.