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HATTIESBURG – The voices of those who survived,
endured and lent a helping hand during and after Hurricane Katrina
are being captured through the University of Southern Mississippi's
Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage's Hurricane Katrina
Project.
The Center has enlisted scholars trained in oral history for
the project to secure more than 1,000 interviews with those
who were impacted by Katrina, including emergency management
officers, local officials, residents, relief workers and those
displaced by the storm, among others.
"Our ongoing efforts to document the lives of those who
survived Hurricane Katrina are an integral part of a nationwide
attempt to create a permanent record of what is being called
the worst natural disaster in 20th century America," said
Southern Miss history professor Dr. Curtis Austin, who along
with colleague Dr. Stephen Sloan serves as co-director of the
Center.
The Mississippi Humanities Council, along with the National
Endowment for the Humanities as well as the university, is providing
support for the project. Additional sponsors are also being
sought from other sources.
A variety of outcomes from the project can be expected, Sloan
said, including film and radio documentaries, life histories,
exhibits, curriculum materials, lesson plans for teachers, and
archival collections. The Hurricane Katrina Oral History project
will also be a valuable resource for the university's recently
established Hurricane Katrina Research Center.
"The focus of the center's work has always been Mississippi
and its people, but because of the broad national impact of
this disaster, this project gives us an opportunity to provide
scholars and others doing research, as well as the general public,
with the information necessary to fully understand its effects,"
Sloan said.
As it is positioned in the heart of the storm brought by Hurricane
Katrina, Sloan and Austin believe Southern Miss and the Center,
with their established connections to the area communities impacted,
are appropriate entities with the resources necessary to record
and archive the story of the disaster.
"This (project) will also be a priceless record for families
to have of their own experiences, a testimony to the trials
and challenges of survivors and of those who displayed the best
of humanity in their efforts to help," Sloan said.
Austin said the interviews are proving to be therapeutic for
those with a strong desire to share what they have endured and
overcome – and still struggle with – because of Hurricane Katrina.
"We have found that many people are able to use their interview
as an emotional purgative to release some of the pain and sorrow
that they are sure to feel for years to come," he said.
The Center has been collecting and preserving the stories of
Mississippians since 1971, and currently has nearly 4,000 interviews
that are available to researchers in the Mississippian Room
of the McCain Library and Archives and in the Center's offices
at Southern Miss.
The Center provides access to an increasing number of its
oral histories online. For more information, visit the Center
on the Web at http://www.usm.edu/oralhistory/ .
About The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, founded in 1910, is
a comprehensive doctoral and research-extensive university fulfilling
its mission of being a leading university in engaging and empowering
individuals to transform lives and communities. In a tradition
of leadership for student development, Southern Miss is educating
a 21st century work force providing intellectual capital, cultural
enrichment and innovation to Mississippi and the world. Southern
Miss is located in Hattiesburg, Miss., with an additional campus
and teaching and research sites on the Mississippi Gulf Coast;
further information is found at www.usm.edu.
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Last updated:
01/25/06 |
