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Nunn Center oral history project documents loss, survival and resilience of Mayfield residents

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FILE - An overturned tree sits in front of a tornado-damaged home in Mayfield, Ky., on Dec. 11, 2021. Gov. Andy Beshear traveled to an event in hard-hit Mayfield on Friday, June 10, 2022, to celebrate the first fully constructed new homes since the town took a direct hit from a tornado last December. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
Mark Humphrey/AP
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AP
FILE - An overturned tree sits in front of a tornado-damaged home in Mayfield, Ky., on Dec. 11, 2021. Gov. Andy Beshear traveled to an event in hard-hit Mayfield on Friday, June 10, 2022, to celebrate the first fully constructed new homes since the town took a direct hit from a tornado last December. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)



December 10 & 11 marked the two year anniversary of the tornadoes that struck and devastated parts of Western Kentucky. On that evening, into the next morning, a high EF-4 tornado directly hit the historic downtown center of Mayfield, KY. Of the 74 people who lost their lives in Kentucky that evening, 24 resided in Graves County, where Mayfield is located. In this edition of Saving Stories, center director Dr. Doug Boyd highlights one of the 22 interviews from the Mayfield, Kentucky 2021 Tornado Oral History Project; a partnership with Dr. Rebecca Freihaut.

Twenty-two residents shared their stories near the six-month mark after the disaster. Eighteen residents who participated in the original interviews agreed to follow-up interviews approximately a year later.

The project serves not only to capture the riveting stories of survival and resilience, but also to serve as a memorial to the loss of life and many of the historic buildings of downtown Mayfield, including their beloved courthouse, other government buildings, eight historic churches (including two historic black churches built shortly after the Civil
War), and other buildings that once served as the bustling center of industry in their community.
Mayfield, KY is the county seat of Graves County and the center of the Jackson Purchase.

Alan Lytle has more than 25 years of experience as a Kentucky broadcaster. Over that span he has earned multiple awards for anchoring, writing and producing news & features for WUKY. He took home the Kentucky Broadcasters Association's Best Radio Anchor award in 2021.