Interview with Georgia Keen


  • Identifier1980oh042
  • Date12/9/1979
  • InterviewerHughes, Karol K.
  • IntervieweeKeen, Georgia
  • DescriptionLibrarian and Registered Nurse
  • LocationElizabethtown, KY
  • Duration1:19:04
  • Time Summary79 --- Background --- --- Would you tell me something about your family? --- --- Keen gives some basic family history including names and marriage dates. --- --- Buckhorn, Kentucky --- --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 312 --- Before Buckhorn --- --- Let's go back to Buckhorn again, just a minute. --- --- Keen talks about her family growing crops. She describes the process of making shucky beans and how other food was preserved. --- --- Shucky beans --- Agriculture--Kentucky;Food--Preservation --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 1069 --- Church --- --- One of my most vivid memories was of church. --- --- Keen says that when she was little, she went to a church that scared her. --- --- Perry County, Kentucky --- --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 1291 --- Coal mining --- --- You were mentioning that your father was a coal miner, do you have any memories about coal mining. --- --- Keen recalls her father coming home covered in dirt from the coal mine. She describes him getting off work and dying. --- --- Black lung --- Children of coal miners;Coal miners;Coal mines and mining--Kentucky;Lungs--Dust diseases --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 1557 --- After father's death --- --- You told me quite a bit about your parents, did they influence you in any way? --- --- Keen describes her family being uprooted after her father's death. The younger children were shuffled through several households while their mother worked. --- --- Buckhorn, Kentucky --- --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 2179 --- Entertainment --- --- You went through elementary school and high school in Buckhorn. --- --- Keen says that for entertainment they went to the movies or community parties. They were always chaperoned. --- --- Buckhorn, Kentucky;Community party;Socials;Song of the South --- --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 2691 --- Education and career --- --- When I left I was so naive, I needed to be re-educated. --- --- Keen describes her educational path to being a nurse. She also talks about her career. --- --- Berea College;Buckhorn, Kentucky;Gibbered;Nurse training;Polio vaccine --- --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 3094 --- Neighbors --- --- Do you remember any interesting acquaintances or neighbors? --- --- Keen tells stories about her neighbors and members of the Buckhorn community. --- --- Buckhorn, Kentucky;Foster;MacIntosh, Sis;York --- --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 3269 --- World War II --- --- The war, I remember that was a shattering thing. --- --- Keen describes the fear that she felt during World War II. She talks about having to use ration coupons. --- --- Buckhorn, Kentucky --- Ration books;Rationing;World War, 1939-1945--Kentucky --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- --- ::: 3981 --- Country life --- --- Overall, how do you see the advantages of growing up in the country? --- --- Keen says that her family was poor but they were raised with good values. --- --- Buckhorn, Kentucky --- --- --- 17 --- --- --- --- ---
  • RightsContact Special Collections and Archives, Crabbe Library, Eastern Kentucky University for reproductions, rights, and permission to publish.
  • IndexerAllen-Daniels, Crystal
  • Funding SourceIndexing funded by the Kentucky Oral History Commission

Citation

“Interview with Georgia Keen,” William H. Berge Oral History Center, accessed October 5, 2024, https://oralhistory.eku.edu/items/show/4846.