The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History in the University of Kentucky Libraries announces the release of the Mayfield, Kentucky 2021 Tornado Oral History Project, documenting firsthand accounts and experiences of many residents of Mayfield, Kentucky, following the catastrophic tornado that struck on December 10, 2021.
This collaborative project, conducted in partnership with Dr. Rebecca Freihaut, who conducted the 40 interviews for her doctoral dissertation, is available online through the Nunn Center’s innovative Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) system. The project seeks to commemorate the losses and celebrate the resilience of the western Kentucky community in the face of adversity. Dr. Freihaut conducted her first round of interviews in 2022, and conducted followup interviews with most of the same individuals later in 2023. These oral history interviews provide a poignant longitudinal narrative of survival, resilience, and the profound impact of the disaster on the historic town of Mayfield.
The project serves as a testament to the resilience of the Mayfield community. The oral history interviews are now accessible to the public through the Nunn Center’s online repository at https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt76tkzt9w68q or , allowing researchers to search, listen, and learn from the stories of Mayfield residents who experienced the tornado’s impact firsthand.
Learn more about the project in this press release, or in this video segment of season 2 Episode 146 of Kentucky Edition on Kentucky Educational Television (KET):