UK HealthCare

KCSP Launches an Oral History for 10th Anniversary of Passage of Lexington's Smoke-free Law

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 8, 2013) − In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Lexington's Smoke-free Policy and in honor of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing is launching a series of oral histories produced by StoryCorps to air on WUKY beginning Nov. 21.

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives. StoryCorps is featured on National Public Radio (NPR).

StoryCorps came to Kentucky in June to collect oral histories from many people involved in the early smoke-free efforts at the local level all the way to statewide. A total of 36 people took part in sharing their experiences. Speakers include policymakers, business owners, community leaders, and smoke-free advocates. Discussions about Kentucky leading the nation in lung cancer through personal stories and experiences with smoking cessation and radon exposure are included. 

Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 45,000 interviews with nearly 90,000 participants. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and millions listen to their weekly broadcasts on their listening page (StoryCorps.org/Listen/) and on NPR's Morning Edition.

WUKY plans to air StoryCorps segments, on select Thursdays at 8:35 a.m and 5:45 p.m from Nov. 21, the day of the Great American Smoke-Out, through April 2014, when Lexington’s smoke-free ordinance was first implemented in April 2004.  The stories will all be focused on the personal stories of people who have been involved in tobacco control in Kentucky over the past 10 years since Lexington became Kentucky’s first smoke-free community.

An introductory segment will run on Tuesday, Nov. 19 as a teaser for the series that will also appear on their website and will create an overall context for the StoryCorps series.

For more information about the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, visit www.kcsp.uky.edu.

Media Contact: Ann Blackford at 859-323-6442 or ann.blackford@uky.edu