This two-part oral history project was conducted with residents of Mayfield, KY in the aftermath of the catastrophic December 10, 2021 tornado. 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. 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.
https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt76tkzt9w68q
| Mayfield, Kentucky 2021 Tornado Oral History Project Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries kentuckyoralhistory.org |
Tanna Thompson was born and raised in Graves County, KY and her immediate and extended families have lived in the area for many generations. She moved to Mayfield about five years ago to buy a home as a single mother of two children and then remarried about three years ago and became a wife a mother of a stepson. She works as a phlebotomist for Lab Corp. She discusses how she, her husband, her thirteen year old daughter, and her parents (along with pets) sheltered in place in her home in a "coal cellar" type basement and were in the direct path of the tornado. She talks about how all of her family members and pets survived the storm, but her home was destroyed by the tornado, and little could be salvaged out it and she and her family were displaced for about five months before being able to move into permanent housing.
https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt76w74hgvj1d
This interview is a second oral history interview with Casey Jones, who was displaced after the Mayfield tornado of December 10, 2021. Casey recounts the night of the disaster, and discusses this past year in a follow up of her personal recovery from the disaster, as well as the recovery of her community.
https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt712hl26cvq1
| Interview with Tanna Thompson, July 30, 2022 Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries kentuckyoralhistory.org |
