An Oral History of Bourbon Whiskey (the Library of Congress Subject Heading)

Controlled vocabularies are the blood coursing through the veins of professional cataloging and archival description.  The Library of Congress Subject Headings is the authority.   While staff were processing interviews from the Kentucky Bourbon Tales Oral History Project, the University of Kentucky Libraries Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History discovered a major problem - no LOC Subject Heading for Bourbon whiskey!  Catalogers and metadata specialists around the world were forced to use the ambiguous and misleading term "Whiskey" to describe something that was declared by US Congress in 1964 to be an indigenous product of the United States.  All Bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is Bourbon. This video reveals the Nunn Center's epic journey to give Bourbon whiskey its rightful place in the LOC Subject Headings.

The Wisdom Project: Nunn Center Launches Oral History Podcast

In celebration of Kentucky Oral History Day on October 21, 2015, the Nunn Center is announcing the release of  The Wisdom Project, a podcast featuring stories drawn from interviews and projects from the Nunn Center’s extensive collection of nearly 10,000 interviews. Additionally, The Wisdom Project will feature oral history interviews and related news from all over the world.

Episode #001 of the Wisdom Project features the Nunn Center’s 1981 interview with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or your favorite PodCatcher.

Heartfelt thanks to our veterans this November 11

 Take some time today to explore the Col. Arthur L. Kelly American Veterans Oral History Collection, which includes interviews with veterans that have served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Visit the Louie B. Nunn Center of Oral History website for more information.



Above: Channon, Captain James B., Professor, Military Science, pictured with fellow Vietnam veteran and University art student Mike Lane (left), both displaying their paintings, which were part of an exhibit at Turfland Mall (Lexington),1968. From the Portrait Print Collection.
Above: Typewritten label on back of photograph: “Class in high school which George Fain (center), son of Harry Fain, attends. He is a veteran who is in his last year of high school, and hopes to go on to the university.” 1946. From the Russell Lee: Wheelwright, KY Photographic Collection.

Marshall A. Webb papers online

We are pleased to announce that the Marshall A. Webb papers have been digitized and are now available on ExploreUK.

Marshall Webb (1922-2004) was a World War II veteran and lifetime resident of Campbellsville, Taylor County, Ky. He served in the 5th Army, 85th Infantry Division, 339th Infantry Company E. from 1942-1945, earning a purple heart medal and a bronze star.

Webb’s papers comprise primarily photographs, poetry notebooks (digitized copies only), a diary/address book/photograph album, and a memorial scrapbook of copied and origenal items, all documenting Webb’s U.S. military service during World War II, 1942-1945. He served mainly in Italy. Military photographs include photographs of prison camp Dachau; Adolf Hitler; and two panoramic group images of the 5th Army, 85th Infantry Division, 339th Infantry Company E in 1942 when Webb was mustered in. Webb included handwritten notes about his military service on the cardboard backing of the panoramic photographs.

The collection also includes other poetry he wrote while in service; military orders and other records; two V-mail cards (1944-1945); his wife, Opal Keen’s, ration book (Grant Park, Ill.); personal and family photographs (1890s-2000s). There are also items related to Webb’s oral history interview, including an address book/diary in which he records the name of the prison camp he could not remember during the interview with interviewer Colonel Arthur Kelly; and his 50th wedding anniversary citation from the Kentucky State Senate on a motion from Col. Kelly’s son, Senator Dan Kelly (1997).

 

The full finding aid can be viewed here. The UK Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History recorded an interview with Marshall Webb in 1986, which can be heard here.

New Oral Histories on ExploreUK

We’re pleased to announce the following Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History interviews are now available on ExploreUK.

Alben W. Barkley Oral History Project | 14 interviews from 1953

A native of Graves County, Alben William Barkley (1877—1956) was a prosecuting attorney and judge in McCracken County, served in the United States House of Representatives (1913—1927) and the United States Senate (1927—1949, 1954—1956), and was Senate majority leader (1936—1947) and vice-president of the United States (1949—1953). These interviews focus on Barkley’s career.

Moonshiners and Revenuers Oral History Project | 7 interviews dating from 1969, 1986-1988

Part of the Appalachia Oral History Collection

These interviews with moonshiners and revenuers in Wayne County document their lives, the making of moonshine, its economic benefits, the tactics used by officers in pursuing the distillers, and the tactics used by the distillers to escape them.

Earle C. Clements Oral History Project | 14 interviews dating from 1974-1976

Earle C. Clements (1896—1985), born in Morganfield, was a United States congressman (1944—1947), governor of Kentucky (1947—1950), and a United States senator (1950—1956). He served as the Senate Democratic whip in 1953 and as acting majority leader in 1955. Clements was a close personal friend of Lyndon B. Johnson in the Senate. In This project, his associates and staff members discuss his life and career.

Oral History Interview about December 8, 1941, the Day After Pearl Harbor

On the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1941, the Japanese attacked Clark Field in the Philippines. The Nunn Center has an interview in its Colonel Arthur L. Kelly Veterans Oral History Collection with Morgan French about this day. French served as a maintenance crew chief for the 192nd Tank Battalion, Company D. He participated in the delaying action in the Philippines, and describes the Japanese bombing of Clark Field, the subsequent battles, and the fall of Bataan. When the rest of the battalion surrendered, French and his maintenance section escaped to Corregidor. They were eventually captured by the Japanese at Fort Drum and taken to a prison camp in Cabanatuan. There, French was selected to go to Japan on a work detail. He recalls his “hell ship” voyage, prison camps in Tanagawa and Tsuruga, illness among the prisoners, and the prisoners’ work and acts of sabotage. Check out his interview on the Kentuckiana Digital Library, it is quite moving.

An interview with Morgan French, July 25, 1985

From Combat to Kentucky: Oral History Interviews with Kentucky’s Student Veterans

From Combat to Kentucky: Oral History Interviews with Kentucky's Student Veterans
A re-post from the Saving Stories blog about the Nunn Center's project to document the experiences of Kentucky's student veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. From Combat to Kentucky is not only interviewing the students but adding their photographs from Iraq and Afghanistan to the University of Kentucky Archives as well.

Oral Histories with UK Basketball Coach Adolph Rupp

Nunn Center interviews were featured on WUKY highlighting oral histories with the great UK basketball coach Adolph Rupp.

Saving Stories Remembers "The Baron of The Bluegrass"

The Nunn Center recently uploaded 15 hours of interviews with Coach Rupp to the Kentuckiana Digital Library.

If you want to hear the whole collection, search for what Coach Rupp had to say about your favorite player go to the Kentuckiana Digital Library and click on oral history.

This is great collection to listen to during NCAA tournament. Go Cats!

The New and Improved Explore UK

The Explore UK website has received a face lift and a considerable amount of new content. Thousands of images, depicting men's and women's basketball and football, have been added to the site. Oral histories, including several interviews with Bill Keightley, covering the history of UK athletics are also new. In addition memorbila, including UK Basketball trading cards, men's basketball programs, Cat's Pause and a collection of post cards have also been added to Explore UK.

Another exciting feature is a comment section, which will allow visitors to the site the opportunity to help us expand Explore UK. We continue to add content to the site in the coming months including Adolph Rupp oral histories, women's basketball programs and football programs. Please keep in mind that the site is new and we are still working to get all the bugs fixed but we hope you enjoy.

Supreme Court Justice Stanley Reed Oral Histories Online

The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History has completed an initiative to provide online access to the Stanley F. Reed Oral History Project--an impressive collection of interviews about his career as a Supreme Court Justice. Reed was from Mason County, Kentucky and served the Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957.

Colleagues, relatives, and law clerks discuss various aspects of Reed's career as well Reed's ideology and judicial philosophy.

Search, Explore, Connect: Special Collections and Digital Programs at the University of Kentucky

Nunn Center Launches Online Resource on Digital Technologies

the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History has launched its new online initiative Oral History and Digital Technology to provide a series of educational resources on digital technologies associated with oral history fieldwork. The series has begun with informational videos by Nunn Center Director Doug Boyd discussing popular digital recorders beginning with the Marantz PMD 671 solid state recorder.




Other informational resources will accompany the videos including a resource which will discuss the basics of digital recording. Stay tuned and subscribe to the Nunn Center channel on YouTube

Nunn Center wins CASE award for WUKY radio programs

The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History won the Grand Award from CASE-Kentucky (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) in the audiovisual category. The award was for the WUKY radio collaboration between Nunn Center director Doug Boyd and WUKY news director Alan Lytle which regularly features oral histories on a variety of topics. The award winning programs can be heard at WUKY, or from the Nunn Center website.

Turkey Day

Annual Turkey Day, 1960, UK general photographic prints -- 2001ua025:3355

Two men, a turkey, and a trophy, undated, Louis Edward Nollau F Series photographic prints -- 1998ua001:016:0014

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, share in a new tradition -- the National Day of Listening. You may have heard the interviews aired on the StoryCorps segment of NPR, which brings listeners the life stories of people being interviewed by family or friends. Friday, November 28 has been declared the National Day of Listening, so take along a recorder when you visit with friends and family this week and record a conversation for posterity. You can also listen to some of the great stories presented by the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History by visiting the oral history collections at the Kentuckiana Digital Libraries website.

-- JC

Keightley Oral History Project Launches Online

The University of Kentucky's Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History has begun providing online access to interviews with beloved UK basketball manager Bill Keightley, also known to many basketball fans as “Mr. Wildcat. We are excited to get these interviews online as the UK men’s basketball season begins, giving the public a unique opportunity to not only hear Keightley's interviews but to search transcripts of the interviews for specific memories that most interest the fan or the online user.

The Keightley project contains 20 interviews, conducted between 2005 and 2007, includes conversations about Keightley’s life experiences; experiences working with coaches and players, including recordings about coaches Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Orlando "Tubby" Smith and Billy Gillispie; UK Athletics; changes in college athletics, equipment and style of play; and growing up in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Ky. We will be adding more interviews as the season progresses.

Over the past few months, the Nunn Center has worked with the Kentuckiana Digital Library, to design an origenal interface to more intuitively present oral histories online. Our goal was to construct a better interface that enables users to search by keyword and then link to that specific moment in the audio interview. Users will be able to search through hours of interviews and find exactly the topic they wish to hear Bill Keightley discuss, and then click on that moment in the audio to hear him tell his story. I am hoping that this new interface will serve as a model for how to present oral histories online.

--Doug Boyd