Kentucky Derby Memories: Oral History with Jockey Eddie Arcaro

Eddie Arcaro: Courtesy Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries

The Nunn Center’s oral history interview with legendary jockey Eddie Arcaro has been recently uploaded to the Kentuckiana Digital Library.  Arcaro is considered by many as the greatest jockey in horse racing history being the only jockey to have won the Triple Crown twice.  Additionally, Arcaro started as a rider for Calumet Farm in 1934 which is in the news this week.  In honor of this year’s Kentucky Derby, I thought I would point you to two episodes of Saving Stories on WUKY that we recorded featuring Arcaro. 

Listen to the episodes:

Part 1 |   Part 2

If you want to hear the full interview, listen in on Eddie using our OHMS system for searching.

Link to the full interview

To access the rest of the Horse Industry in Kentucky Oral History Project online on the Kentuckiana Digital Library click here.  To read more about Arcaro, check out this article at ESPN.com. 

Nunn Center Partners with BCTC to Interview Student Veterans

The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries has partnered with Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) for the award-winning oral history project From Combat to Kentucky. If you are a student veteran who is currently or previously enrolled at BCTC, we would like to include your story in the project.

From Combat to Kentucky is an ongoing oral history project that documents Kentucky’s student veterans and their individual experiences during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Interviews focus on each veteran’s military experience as well as their transition back into civilian life, particularly into higher education.

These powerful interviews are on our website http://www.c2ky.org and are being accessed all over the world. The Nunn Center has been preserving veteran’s stories for over 30 years and we want to make your story part of history.

To participate or to obtain more information, contact Doug Boyd with the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries at 859-257-9672 or doug.boyd@uky.edu

Kentucky’s Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project Goes Online

The Nunn Center has uploaded 87 oral history interviews from the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Oral History Project featuring individuals associated with the Peace Corps with connections to Kentucky. Interviewees served in the Peace Corps from its inception in 1961 to the present. Volunteers discuss their experiences before, during, and after Peace Corps including their motivations for joining, the application process, training, living situations, difficulties, the job, relationships, coming home, and their impact on the host country and on their own lives.  The online collection is accessible utilizing the  OHMS system connecting searchable text to the corresponding moment in the audio.  The online launch of the interviews corresponds with the publication of  Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers by Angene Wilson and Jack Wilson with a foreword by Christopher J. Dodd.  Published as part of University Press of Kentucky’s Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series, this book draws on powerful reflections from our collection.

“Remembering City Hall” Oral History Project on City Government in Kentucky Goes Online

Photo Courtesy Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries

The Louie B. Nunn Center For Oral History has recently begun the upload of the Remembering City Hall Oral History Project. This oral history project includes interviews with various city officials throughout Kentucky. Interviewees discuss their family, education, careers, experiences, and why they chose to serve in a public office. Other topics include the Kentucky League of Cities, the board’s policies, contributions to the community, and involvement in local economic development. The Kentucky League of Cities (KLC), an association of 370 cities throughout the Commonwealth, is based in Lexington, Kentucky. This organization provides the state with financial, legal, technical, and educational resources, and focuses on policy making, research, and development. To access these interviews go to the Kentuckiana Digital Library.