As the 2025 hurricane season approaches, a University of South Florida professor is collecting oral histories of the hurricanes Helen and Milton.
“My goal in collecting people’s stories about these storms and its aftermath is to document them for future generations, especially as we see shifts happening in the entity and culture of the community around us (as a result of the storms),” says Dr. Catherine Wilkins, an associate professor at USF’s Judy Genshaft honors college.
Dr. Wilkins has been collecting similar histories about Pinellas Beaches since 2017, amassing an archive called Gulf Beaches Today that explores such topics as the Civil Rights movement on and COVID 19 experiences among hospitality workers. She discussed her research on April 22 on WMNF’s Tuesday Cafe.
Dr. Wilkins is inviting the public to contribute their hurricane histories at Echoes of the Land: Hurricanes, History and Storytelling” on Saturday, April 26 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Jungle Prada de Navaez Park, located at 1700 Park St. N. in St. Petersburg. Jungle Prada is an archaeological site featuring Indigenous Tocobaga mounds and the location of the historical Narváez expedition landing.
Dr. Wilkins says oral histories represent a shift in historical research and education, which in the past focused on memorization of significant dates and the names of presidents and generals and kings. Today, researchers recognize the importance of documenting the lives of everyday people with a diverse range of identities and perspectives.
“So much is lost of our knowledge of the past because we didn’t always do a good job paying attention to what those experiences were like,” she says. “Oral history is an attempt to capture those stories of the lives of everyday people and create this beautiful fabric, a nice quilted view of our present day that researchers in the future can look back on to really understand how folks of all walks of life experienced important historical events like our hurricanes.”
You can share your hurricane story by registering for the “Echoes of the Land” event here.
You can also submit your oral history online here:
Listen to the interview with Dr. Wilkins here or below.
Leave a Reply
