Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky actively collects oral history interviews concentrating on 20th and 21st century Kentucky history, and maintains a collection of over 8,000 interviews made up of over 100 projects. The Center's emphasis has been on political, Appalachian, agricultural, athletic and veterans' history. The Nunn Center for oral history is part of the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections division.
Nunn Center History
The oral history program at the University of Kentucky Libraries was begun in 1973 by Charles Atcher. The program was directed by Terry Birdwhistell, Ed.D. from 1974 until 2005,[1] followed by Jeffrey Suchanek. Since 2008, the Center has been directed by Doug Boyd, Ph.D.].[2] The Center is named after former Kentucky Governor Louie B. Nunn. Major projects have included the Family Farm Project, the Colonel Arthur L. Kelly Veterans Oral History Project, oral history projects on University of Kentucky history, African American history in Kentucky,[3] Kentucky writers, Kentucky's medical history, the history of professional baseball, as well as more recent project featuring the Horse Industry in Kentucky, as well as on the Kentucky General Assembly.
The Collection
The Nunn Center contains over 8,000 interviews featuring a variety of individuals and projects. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History has aggressively undertaken efforts to digitize its collection[4] and in 2008 launched the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) online interface that synchronizes searchable text to audio and video. This system, designed by Nunn Center director Doug Boyd (in partnership with Digital Library Services at UK) allows users to link from their search results tom the coeprresponding moments in the interview. link.[5] OHMS was featured in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education in July 2011.[6]
In October, 2011, the Nunn Center launched SPOKE, the online catalog containing records for each interview and project.
FEATURED PROJECTS
- Alben Barkley
- Black Church in Kentucky
- Blacks in Kentucky
- Blacks in Lexington
- Anne Braden Oral History Project
- Edward T. Breathitt
- Buffalo Trace Distillery
- A.B. "Happy" Chandler
- Christian Appalachian Project
- Earle C. Clements
- Bert T. Combs
- John Sherman Cooper
- Country Doctors and Nurses
- Harry Caudill
- Horse Industry in Kentucky
- Family and Gender in the Coal Community
- Wendell H. Ford
- Frontier Nursing Service
- History of Broadcasting in Kentucky
- History of Education in Kentucky
- History of Medicine in Fayette County, Kentucky
- Walter D. Huddleston
- Immigrants in Coal Communities
- Interscholastic Athletics in Kentucky
- Col. Arthur L. Kelly American Veterans Project
- Veterans of World War Two
- Veterans of the Korean War
- Veterans of the Vietnam War
- From Combat to Kentucky: Student Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
- Kentucky Coal Operators
- Kentucky Conservationists
- Kentucky Family Farm
- African American Farmers
- Family Farm Project
- Tobacco Production Technology and Policy
- Kentucky Folk Art
- Kentucky Legislature
- Kentucky Writers
- Thruston B. Morton
- John Jacob Niles
- Louie B. Nunn
- Peace Corps
- John Ed Pearce
- Politics in Lexington, Kentucky
- Edward F. Prichard
- Race Relations in Owensboro-Daviess County, Kentucky, 1930-1970
- Stanley F. Reed
- Roving Pickets in the Coal Fields
- Cora Wilson Stewart
- University of Kentucky Medical Center
- Urban Appalachian Women in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Fred M. Vinson
- War on Poverty
- Robert Penn Warren
- Robert Penn Warren Civil Rights Project
- Lawrence W. Wetherby
- Charles T. Wethington Alumni/Faculty Project
External links
- Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
- Nunn Center Blog "Saving Stories"
- From Combat to Kentucky Oral History Project: Interviews with Student Veterans
- University of Kentucky Libraries
- Curiosities and Wonders: News and interesting items from the University of Kentucky Archives and the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
- Nunn Center Twitter Feed
- Nunn Center's online catalog www.kentuckyoralhistory.org
References
- ↑ "The University of Kentucky College of Education Alumni Hall of Fame". University of Kentucky College of Education. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- ↑ The Kentucky Archivist, Spring 2008
- ↑ Wright, George C. "Oral History and the Search for the Black Past in Kentucky" The Oral History Review, Vol. 10, (1982), pp. 73-91
- ↑ Weig, Eric, and Kopana Terry and Kathryn Lybarger. "Large Scale Digitization of Oral History: A Case Study", D-Lib Magazine, May/June 2007, Volume 13 Number 5/6.
- ↑ U Kentucky Goes Digital with Thousands of Oral Histories By Denise Harrison, Cindy Skalsky in Campus Technology, 09/09/09
- ↑ Wolverton, Brad. "New Tool Could Help Researchers Make Better Use of Oral Histories," The Chroncle of Higher Education, July 7, 2011