Dr. Tom Owen, archivist in University Libraries for 44 years, has found yet another way to get folks engaged in the city’s past.

This summer, Owen unveiled “,” a new YouTube channel featuring segments on local history. In each short episode, he recounts a bygone tale, often uncovering new information using primary sources and research tools found in .

He promises a new segment each month.

, Owen uncovers a 1960s mystery building near Breckinridge and Hancock streets, while telling the larger story of urban renewal in Louisville. In the , he spins the tumultuous tale of an office building at Chestnut and Liberty where working women and children were swept into a heartbreaking labor strike.

“It’s a great story,” he said, with his characteristic enthusiasm.

Owen said the project is an extension of the kind of work he’s done throughout his career.

“Very early on I stumbled into telling pieces of history, episodic stories, blessed with a notion that for something to be important or a story to be interesting, George Washington did not have to have slept there,” he said. “There’s a story under every rock.”

Owen’s inimitable charm and knack for storytelling has made him a favorite in local media through the years. He’s done a local history series for WHAS, KET and Louisville Public Media. Owen, who is a former Louisville Metro Council member, is also known for his walking history tours of downtown neighborhoods.

All of his work is about using stories to reach people and connect them with their past, he says, which influences the present. Now, he’s using the medium of the moment to do it. YouTube, after all, is cheap, easy and immediate.   

“I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do,” he said.

A former Louisville Metro Councilman and caretaker of Louisville lore and history, Owen was cited for his “service to history, to UofL and to Louisville; his work as an archivist, making UofL’s records and archival collections available to researchers; and his walking tours—both the physical tours and their recordings. He made the city his classroom.” He was also praised as a “scholar who popularized history and … elevated history’s importance for many people.”

Owen is known for his walking tours, which capture the color and history of a particular corner of the city as part of a series on local public television, titled . Recently, he also offered weekly tours of UofL’s Belknap campus, detailing the background and stories of various buildings and areas.  His research in this area led to the recent publication of a book in collaboration with Archives colleague Sherri Pawson, .

Owen is also well-known as a politician locally, having served as a Louisville Metro Council member from 2003 until his retirement in 2016, and prior to that, on the old Board of Alderman from 1990 to 1998. He has been an archivist with UofL for 42 years.

The Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor awarded by the Kentucky Historical Society. DSA winners have “provided great services to Kentucky and the field of history in their professional or personal lives.”

Intern Award

Additionally, Hannah O’Daniel, a master’s student at the University of Louisville, received the first Kentucky Public History Intern Award for her exemplary work ethic and diligent attention to the research process. 

O’Daniel had internships at the Filson Historical Society, where she processed archival material to make it available to researchers, and at the Kentucky Historical Society.

At KHS she was involved with several projects:

• She worked with the Kentucky Oral History Commission and helped write the KHS manual for using a system that makes oral histories more widely accessible and searchable.
• She was among the first graduate research assistants who worked with the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Edition (CWGK). CWGK is making thousands of documents available to researchers for the first time. As a GRA, Hannah transcribed documents and researched people mentioned within them to help build the comprehensive database behind CWGK.
• At the CWGK summer symposium this year, Hannah acted as a “reporter,” tweeting it so people who could not attend could learn from the experts gathered there.

The ceremony was held at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort.

is sponsoring Historical Walking Tours through Belknap campus 12-12:50 p.m. every Wednesday from Oct. 4 to Nov. 15. Those interested in participating just need to meet up at the Ekstrom Library Porch (interior of campus side, across from Humanities Building).

The tours will be lead by , veteran walking tour raconteur and local historian, who has been an archivist at UofL’s for 42 years.

“This is a 50-minute opportunity for people to learn something new, appreciate campus and get a little exercise,” Owen said. “I am always struck by the university as a destination — the water features, the pendulum, the plantings, the flower beds, there’s just so much to see and enjoy.”

Owen is especially well-versed in campus history now as he’s been working with Archives and Special Collections colleague Sherri Pawson to pen a new history book, “.” The 128-page book from Arcadia Publishing’s “Campus History Series” is set for release Dec. 4, just in time for the holidays.

“I knew a lot before, but I learned a lot of new things preparing this book, no question,” he said.

One aspect he’ll focus on is the core eight buildings that existed when the university moved onto the site in 1925, and what other buildings have been absorbed into campus through the years and adapted to fit campus needs.

On a recent episode of “UofL Today with Mark Hebert,” Owen and filmmaker Morgan Atkinson talked about recently donating more than 50 hours of interviews with Owen to UofL Archives and Special Collections. Owen and Atkinson discuss the project which dates back to 1990.

The interviews focus primarily on Owen’s career in politics, beginning with his first run for elective office – a seat on Louisville’s now defunct Board of Aldermen in 1990 – and concluding with his retirement from the Metro Council at the end of 2016. Louisville filmmaker Morgan C. Atkinson donated the interviews to Archives and Special Collections.

“We would get together probably four times a year to discuss Tom’s views on current affairs, his political life, his legislative agenda as well as quirky odds and ends that seem a special province of Tom’s,” Atkinson said. “I began the work because I’ve always believed Tom plays a unique role in our community – historian, visionary and gadfly.”

The collection totals some 50 hours of conversation and is available to the public at Archives and Special Collections’ research room in the lower level of Ekstrom Library at UofL’s Belknap campus.

“Talking with Tom was always a pleasure,” said Atkinson, who also collaborated with Owen on the six-part video series, “Tom Owen’s Louisville.”

“With every interview I gained insight into Louisville history, a clearer sense of how politics works (and sometimes doesn’t) and a deeper appreciation for what motivates a committed public servant,” he said.

Memorable discussions include “Tom’s role in the Fairness initiatives [anti-discrimination legislation to protect LGBT rights] and his near-miss race for mayor” in 1998, said Atkinson. “I came away from the experience with the same view I had in 1990: the community of Louisville is fortunate to have a citizen activist like Dr. Tom Owen.”

Heather Fox, Co-Director Oral History Center, says Owen is “rightfully considered a local treasure. He makes an invaluable contribution daily to the many patrons of Archives and Special Collections and to his fellow archivists. We are extremely grateful and pleased to accept the gift from Atkinson.”

In May, Owen celebrated 42 years as an Associate Archivist for Regional History with University Libraries.