Home

The Kentucky Oral History Commission

***Click here to view documentary broadcast information***

...because every life tells a story

Created in 1976, the Kentucky Oral History Commission provides for the collection of interviews with Kentuckians throughout the state. From former governors and nationally acclaimed authors to tenant farmers and lay midwives, these oral history interviews have added the voices of individual Kentuckians to the historical record and significantly enhanced our understanding of the past.

The commission’s programs are based on a comprehensive approach to history and provide assistance to both professional and amateur oral historians. Through grants, workshops, publications, conferences, and special projects, the commission helps individuals and institutions use oral history to accomplish a variety of education and preservation goals. Such activities support the development of an extensive oral history collection containing more than 8,000 interviews available to the public through the special collections department of the Kentucky Historical Society.

The Kentucky Oral History Commission is comprised of a twelve-member board: ten are appointed by the governor, and two members (the director of the Kentucky Historical Society and the commissioner of the Department for Libraries and Archives) serve as ex-officio members. The program is administered by the Kentucky Historical Society, where it is located. An advisory board consisting primarily of historians actively working with oral history assists commission members.