The headquarters for one of the nation’s most prestigious and respected groups of historians now has a home at MTSU
The Oral History Association is the leading organization for people who work to preserve and make known the myriad oral history narratives of America. In 2017, the group, also known as OHA, chose MTSU as the site of its national headquarters.
The organization boasts a diverse membership of scholars, activists, journalists, psychologists, folklorists, and others interested in bringing the historical experiences of both everyday people and elites to light. Louis Kyriakoudes, director of MTSU’s Albert Gore Research Center, and Kristine M. McCusker, a History professor, will serve as co-directors of the new OHA headquarters.
The relocation to the Murfreesboro campus will “advance MTSU’s research, public engagement, and public outreach, both to scholarly and professional environments and also to the general public,” Kyriakoudes said.
It’s yet another example of the prominence of the Gore Center, a unit of MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts that already collects, arranges, maintains, and preserves all manner of historical materials about MTSU, American democracy, and middle Tennessee life in general and is a literal treasure trove for researchers.
Kyriakoudes and McCusker wrote the proposal for the OHA headquarters relocation to MTSU with an emphasis on collaborating with many on-campus partners, including the Gore Center, Department of History, the Public History master’s and doctoral program, Center for Historic Preservation, Center for Popular Music, and College of Liberal Arts.
“With key supporting internal partners that work in historic preservation, archival management, cultural resource management, museum management, history, and music, the MTSU team represents many of the core constituents within OHA’s active membership,” said Dan Kerr, chair of the OHA search committee and director of the public history program at American University in Washington, D.C. MTSU
story by Gina K. Logue
Read MTSU RESEARCH here: MTSU RESEARCH- Research for Tennessee Vol. 1 No. 1 Spring 2018
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