Terry Birdwhistell, esteemed historian, author and educator, dies at 72

Terry L. Birdwhistell, a historian, author and educator who helped create the University of Kentucky’s esteemed oral history program in his 50-year career there, died on Sunday, according to UK officials. He was 72.

“Terry was a person who knew more about the history of the University of Kentucky than anyone else,” Charles T. Wethington, UK’s 10th president, said in a release. “He was the university’s historian … As far as I’m concerned (Terry) is the father of the oral history program at the University of Kentucky, which has received national and international recognition. Terry is Mr. Oral History at UK as far as I’m concerned”

Birdwhistell was born in Lawrenceburg and spent much of his youth in Hopkinsville. He earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Georgetown College, before coming to UK to earn master’s degrees in both history and library and information science. While studying for his master’s degrees in 1973, he took a job in UK Libraries and never left the university. He also earned a doctorate in higher education from UK’s College of Education, where he taught oral history for many years to generations of students.

Over five decades, Birdwhistell assumed increasing leadership roles in UK Libraries and became nationally prominent for his work as an oral historian. In addition to his tenure as Dean of UK Libraries, Birdwhistell also served as Associate Dean for Special Collections and Digital Programs, University Archivist and Founding Director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History.

As dean, Birdwhistell oversaw 11 libraries in the Commonwealth’s library system, a more than $20 million budget with nearly 4 million volumes, 73,000 series subscriptions and some 400 online databases. He was founding director of the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center.

Among many other distinctions, Birdwhistell served as co-editor of “Kentucky Remembered: An Oral History Series,” published by University Press of Kentucky; produced two documentaries on Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and served as the president of several professional associations, including the National Oral History Association.

He was the author or co-author of 15 published books, including most recently, “Our Rightful Place: A History of Women at the University of Kentucky, 1880-1945,” “James Franklin Hardymon, A Memoir,” and “Washington’s Iron Butterfly: Bess Clements Abell, An Oral History.”

Birdwhistell helped create and build UK’s oral history program, doing nearly 1,000 oral history interviews himself about Kentucky governors, senators and other politicians and University of Kentucky presidents.

Current UK President Eli Capilouto said it was Birdwhistell’s capacity for, and commitment to, listening that made it so “easy for those whom he questioned in his countless oral histories to open themselves with stories and lessons of their paths of both success and failure.

“So much of it is contained in the 50-year treasure trove that is the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History or the archives of the UK Libraries that he led, revered and watched over so that all of us might be able to unlock and better understand a bounty of history and humanity,” Capilouto said.

Along with historian and close friend George Wright, Birdwhistell also chronicled the history of race relations in the state.

“The three books I’ve written about race relations couldn’t have been written without him,” said Wright, who dedicated his third book to Birdwhistell. Birdwhistell’s last oral history interview, conducted only weeks ago, was with Sarah Clark Newby, Wright’s fifth- and sixth-grade teacher, who was among the first Black students at UK.

Birdwhistell is survived by his wife, Janice, a longtime UK administrator in the College of Communication and Information; his daughter, Jessie, and son-in-law, John Smith; and grand-daughter, Zoe.

In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to the endowment fund that is being established in memory and honor of Terry’s work at the University of Kentucky. Gifts may be sent for the Terry L. Birdwhistell Endowment Fund to the Office of Philanthropy, University of Kentucky, PO Box 23552, Lexington, KY 40523.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date at the University of Kentucky.