Collection Title: Jackson Purchase Oral History Project – World War II
Series Number: OH145
Interviewee: Hortin, Loren Joseph “L.J.”, 1904 – 1992
Interviewer: Hoyt, Michael
Date interviewed: December 10, 1974
Processed by: Benjamin J. Drake
Date processed: November 7, 2011
Description: 1 sound disc (36 minutes)
Abstract: Loren Joseph “L.J.” Hortin details his experiences during the Second World War. He explains day to day life in Murray, Kentucky and the Jackson Purchase. He also reflects upon the sentiments of the population prior to and during the war. He mentions rationing and the illegal trading of ration stamps, as well as the economic consequences of the war. He discusses the economic concerns of the lend-lease program and regional plants that produced ammunition and clothing for the war effort.
Biographical / Historical note: Loren Joseph “L.J.” Hortin was born at Albion, Illinois in 1904. He attended McKendree College at Lebanon, Illinois and graduated in 1927. After graduation, he taught at various high schools in Illinois and worked as a reporter for the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1928, he was hired as a faculty member at Murray State Normal School as an instructor of journalism. From 1930 to 1947, he was a staff writer for the Associated Press, Louisville Courier-Journal and Paducah Sun-Democrat. He acquired a Master of Arts degree from Murray State College in 1943. In 1947, he became director of the School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Hortin returned to Murray State in 1967 and acted as head of the journalism program until his retirement in 1974. Between 1928 and 1938, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Lower Tennessee Valley Association, which sought to construct a dam on the lower Tennessee River. He also was the manager of the City Chamber of Commerce at Murray from 1934 to 1938. He was elected into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 1981 and received honorary doctorates from McKendree College and Murray State University. He died on November 27, 1992.
General information: No user access to original recordings. Use audio user copies, digital derivatives, transcripts, and/or tape indexes. This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission for reproduction must be requested from Murray State University.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Hortin, Loren Joseph, 1904 – 1992
World War, 1939-1945 – Kentucky – Murray.
Calloway County (Ky.) – History.
Murray (Ky.) – History.
