Kentucky Oral History Commission

The Kentucky Oral History Commission:

From tenant farmers and lay midwives to political leaders and nationally acclaimed authors, the Kentucky Oral History Commission (KOHC) reaches across the state to record and preserve the diverse stories that are a part of Kentucky's rich and colorful history.

Since 1976 the Kentucky Oral History Commission has:

Awarded more than 600 grants to individuals, colleges, universities and community organizations, resulting in the collection of more than 25,000 interviews located at repositories throughout the state.

Established a collection of nearly 9,000 interviews, one of the largest in the United States, at the Kentucky Historical Society.

Conducted a multi-year project to document the civil rights movement in Kentucky and to produce educational programs based on the oral history collection. More than 200 interviews have been collected and transcribed. The award winning project also produced eight radio programs, two performance pieces, and the documentary "Living the Story: The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky" which periodically broadcasts on Kentucky Educational Television. Two symposiums were presented on the civil rights project and in 2005 the Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky online database was launched.

2013 Legislative Moments

These are 30 short essays highlighting Kentucky’s oral history collections, found online at Pass the Word (http://passtheword.ky.gov). One was presented each day of the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly session. They are also published in print and distributed online as resources for the general public. Past Legislative Moments have explored Kentucky's connections to Abraham Lincoln and War of 1812 history.

(Each link will open a PDF in a new window)

First U.S. Poet Laureate, Robert Penn Warren, and Todd County Roots

Women's Basketball Banned in Kentucky

80 years later, the Civil Conservation Corp thumbprint is still on Kentucky

South Central Kentucky Basket Making Traditions

“The Philosopher,” Edward F. Prichard Jr.

Mary Wheeler, Paducah’s Songcatcher

Renfro Valley Barn Dance, Preserving Kentucky’s Country Music

“The Man that Moved Mountains” - The Pikeville Cut-Through Project

Land Between the Lakes, the largest inland peninsula in the United States

Creating a Legacy: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

From Washington County to Taiwan, Hugh Grundy was the Perfect Front

Jesse Grider Knew About “The Problem We All Live With”

From Adair County to the National Stage, Allie Hixson Led the Fight for Equal Rights

Baseball in Kentucky

Kenton County Legend Ballard “Pappy” Raborn Taylor

Western Kentucky Black Patch War, 1904 - 1909

The Desegregation of Sturgis High School

Appalachian-Based Settlement Schools Left Their Mark in Eastern Kentucky

Benjamin E. Clement: A Gem of a Legacy

Kentucky’s Nuns: Providing educational, health and social services since 1812

A Personal and Public Advocate for Racial Equality, J. Blaine Hudson Leaves a Large Legacy

Writer and Painter Harlan Hubbard Embraced the Simple Life

African-Americans in Kentucky's Horse Industry

Cora Wilson Stewart: The “Moonlight Lady” who led the Nation Toward Literacy

Greenup County’s Medal of Honor recipients from the Korean Conflict

First Rural Nurse-Midwife Service in the U.S.

Kentucky Bourbon

Immigration and Kentucky’s Coal Industry

Kentucky’s Company D: The Harrodsburg Tankers

Mary Ann Fisher, the Songbird of the South