Thinking Out Loud: Memories of Work, Life Along Missouri River

KBIA | By Trevor Harris

Published January 29, 2017 at 1:56 PM CST

Fred Oerly celebrates a 2014 catch. Meredith Ludwig collected oral history from Oerly, which is featured on this episode of Thinking Out Loud.

When she set out to collect the oral histories of longtime Missouri River valley residents, Boonville's Meredith Ludwig never imagined that she would end up with over 70 hours from two dozen men and women. Her histories - collected in 2004 - are archived at the State Historical Society of Missouri. KBIA's Trevor Harris talked with Ludwig about her oral histories with the late 'Mayor of Overton' Fred Oerly and Lottie Klein.

Meredith Ludwig on the Missouri River bridge at Boonville. On this week's Thinking Out Loud, we share edited versions of a pair of oral histories collected by Ludwig as part of the Missouri River Folk History Project.

This program originally aired on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

Listen for new episodes of Thinking Out Loud each Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on KBIA 91.3FM.

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Trevor Harris

Trevor serves as KBIA’s weekday morning host for classical music. He has been involved with local radio since 1990, when he began volunteering as a music and news programmer at KOPN, Columbia's community radio station. Before joining KBIA, Trevor studied social work at Mizzou and earned a masters degree in geography at the University of Alabama. He has worked in community development and in urban and bicycle/pedestrian planning, and recently served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia with his wife, Lisa Groshong. An avid bicycle commuter and jazz fan, Trevor has cycled as far as Colorado and pawed through record bins in three continents.

See stories by Trevor Harris