Interview with Terry L. Birdwhistell, August 7, 2018

Partial Transcript: Okay, we're talking to Terry Birdwhistell, the early pioneer of the Oral History Center at UK.

Segment Synopsis: Terry Birdwhistell is introduced. He talks about the founding of what became the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky. He talks about their first source of funding and the early interviews they conducted.

Keywords: 1971; Balance; Barney Bright; Bill Marshall; Busts; Charles Atcher; Founders; Founding; Fred Vinson; Funding; Funds; Governors; Interviews; Louie B. Nunn; Money; Oral history programs; Political careers; Politicians; Politics; Thruston Morton

Subjects: Interviewing--Technique.; Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Oral history--Methodology.; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Talk, talk about--you keep referencing 'we'.

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell names some of the people involved in the founding and early days of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky. He talks about his own career path in oral history, starting in the department during his graduate school education.

Keywords: 1974; Assistant archivists; Bill Marshall; Bob Ireland; Charles Atcher; David Belt; Experience; Graduate schools; Grants; Happy Chandler; Hired; Ideas; James W. Martin; Jobs; Lucille Little Fine Arts Library & Learning Center; Ollie J. Bowen; Oral history programs; Projects; Student assistants; University archivists; Wages

Subjects: Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: It's interesting you mention Charlie Atcher, um, going to Indiana 'cause, 'cause actually, you know, you know...

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell describes how in the early days of the oral history center, they did not know much about conducting interviews. He describes some of his most memorable experiences from those days and describes the heavy, large equipment they used to record at that time. He describes the process of conducting an interview and then creating a transcription of that interview. He tells the story of almost getting to interview Gerald Ford.

Keywords: "Seat of the pants"; 1974; Airplanes; Alumni/Faculty Project; Archivists; Basics; Batteries; Bill Cooper; Bill Marshall; Charles Atcher; David Brinkley; Difficulty; Duties; Editing; Equipment; Experimentation; Extension cords; First drafts; Funding; Funds; Gerald Ford; Jobs; John McClellan; Lee Nunn; Letters; Microphones; Money; Oral history programs; Political staff; Politicians; Presidents; Proceedings; Projects; Public figures; Reel to reel tape recorders; Reports; Research; Richard Nixon; Robert Riggs; Scheduling; Senators; Taxi cabs; Thruston Morton; Transcribers; Transcribing; Transcription; Typewriters; Warren Commission; Washington, D.C.

Subjects: Interviewing--Technique.; Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Oral history--Methodology.; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky; Washington (D.C.)

Partial Transcript: So '74, you've done, you know, forty-some interviews, um, as a team.

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell talks about how the oral history center began to expand their focus from just the Vinson and Morton projects. He talks about the projects he used to convince the library to keep funding the oral history program. He talks about being offered another job in the library. He talks about attending a meeting of the Association of Moving Image Archivists.

Keywords: 1974; AV archives; Annual reports; Archives; Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA); Audio visual archives; Aural history; CBS; Charles Atcher; Claude Sullivan; Collection development; Collections; Fred Vinson; Future; Importance; Jeff Marks; Job offers; Judy Sackett; Meetings; Monthly reports; NBC; News shows; Oral history programs; Paul Willis; Periodicals, newspapers, and microforms; Projects; Radio News Oral History Project; Radio stations; Ralph Hacker; Sports broadcasts; Steve York; Survival; Thruston Morton; Underway; University of Kentucky Special Events Oral History Project; University of Kentucky Sports Oral History Project; Usage; Vanderbilt University; WAVE-TV; WLAP (Radio station); WVLK (Radio station)

Subjects: Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, so--

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell talks about some of the oral history projects that were proposed in the 1970s and discusses whether they actually came to fruition.

Keywords: Adolph Rupp; Black history; Charles Atcher; Cora Wilson Stuart; Earle C. Clements; Feminist movements; Frontier Nursing Service; George Wright; Happy Chandler; John Sherman Cooper; Journalism; Kentucky State University; Laura Clay; Madeline McDowell Breckinridge; Mary Breckinridge; Minority groups; Muhammad Ali; Oral history programs; Rufus B. Atwood; Sports; Women

Subjects: Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Uh, I mean, yeah, the--I mean, something that, uh--you know, when you figure, you know, Alan Evans doing this thing after, after the Second World War...

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell discusses the possible reasons for the increase in popularity of oral history during the 1970s and 1980s.

Keywords: Alex Haley; Cassette tapes; Expensive; Familiarity; History; Oral history programs; Popularity; Portability; Preservation; Reel to reel tape recorders; Roots: The Saga of an American Family (Book); Technology; Television archives; Television networks; WAVE-TV; Zeitgeist

Subjects: Interviewing--Technique.; Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Oral history--Methodology.; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; Technological innovations; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: You were talking about the geist.

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell discusses the creation of the Kentucky Oral History Commission and its impact on oral history programs as a source of funding. He talks about how the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History became involved with an oral history project on Robert Penn Warren through the KOHC.

Keywords: 1976; Al Smith; Bill Cooper; David Ferrell; English departments; Framework; Funding sources; Historians; Jim Hammack; John Ed Pierce; Kentucky Oral History Commission (KOHC); Meetings; Oral history programs; Otis Singletary; Paul Willis; Projects; Robert Penn Warren; Universities; University presidents

Subjects: Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So the first interview for Robert Penn Warren was in 1977.

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell talks about the uncertainty of funding each year for the oral history program, including his own job and salary. He talks about interviewing for a job with the Filson Club, but ultimately turning the offer down to continue working with the University of Kentucky oral history program.

Keywords: 1975; 1977; Bill Cooper; Bill Marshall; Clothes; Convincing; End; Faculty; Filson Club; Fred Vinson; Fringe; Full time; Funding; Happy Chandler; Hard money; Job offers; Jobs; John Sherman Cooper; Librarians; Libraries; Library; Louisville (Ky.); Oral history programs; Part time; Paul Willis; Pendennis Club; Private historical societies; Projects; Robert Penn Warren; Soft money; Staff; Thruston Morton

Subjects: Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, so you reorient and you're back in the oral history game.

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell describes the workflow of interviewing, transcribing, and editing the transcript. He talks about the expense of this process and how it changed over time due to costs. He discusses the quality of the equipment and recordings in the early days of oral history and how they became aware of the importance of improving audio quality.

Keywords: 1980; Additions; Audio equipment; Audio quality; Broadcast quality; Bruce Smith; Burlington (Vt.); Cassette recorders; Columbia University; Corrections; David Ferrell; Document of record; Expensive; Focus; Improvements; Interviewees; Jim Hammack; Meetings; Microphones; Models; Office of Instructional Resources (OIR); Oral History Association (OHA); Oral history programs; Presentations; Preservation; Production; Projectors; Recording speed; Release forms; Robert Penn Warren; Sessions; Transcribing; Transcription; Transcripts; UKTV; Workflows

Subjects: Interviewing--Technique.; Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Oral history--Methodology.; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: And then Hammack had asked me to do a presentation on, uh, on what we were doing in political oral history.

Segment Synopsis: Birdwhistell discusses the advantages of having the oral history center embedded in the library system at the University of Kentucky. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Administration; Advantages; Archives; Benefits; Bill Marshall; Budgets; Digital; Drawbacks; Embedded; Failing; Funding; Libraries; Library; Money; Operating expenses; Oral history programs; Rates; Recording studios; Student assistants; University of California, Berkeley; Wages; Willa Baum

Subjects: Interviews (Sound recordings); Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History; Oral histories.; Oral history interview; Oral history recordings; Sound recordings.; Sound--Recording and reproducing.; University of Kentucky