Tennessee university recording Black families’ oral history

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP): Middle Tennessee State University will be recruiting for an oral history project during Murfreesboro’s Juneteenth celebration on Saturday.

MTSU researcher Jason McGowan is collecting the stories of Middle Tennessee African American families for a yearlong project that began in February. The project is funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to MTSU’s Albert Gore Research Center.

McGowan will be at the historic Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center during the Juneteenth celebration, where he will answer questions and arrange to record the stories of the area’s Black families.

McGowan said the project is not just for MTSU or academia, but also for the people who tell their stories.

“Oral history just provides a medium to preserve family genealogy, record one’s relationship with their families, with their communities, and with the era in which they live,” he said in a news release. “You’re simply allowing us to share your experiences.”