Two UVA students dig up Nelson County history

By Erin McGrath

Published: July 2, 2008

Two University of Virginia students are calling Nelson County home this summer.

Courtney Proffitt, 21, of Covington and Abigail Haymes, 22, of Chatham, are working with the Oakland Museum, the Nelson County Historical Society, the Millenium Group and the Nelson Heritage Center to gather information on events that have shaped Nelson County’s past.

The internships, paid for by a grant from the University of Virginia, focus on gathering and organizing information on Hurricane Camille and the integration of Nelson’s school system.

Proffitt and Haymes are also preparing a temporary exhibit for the opening of the Oakland Museum in August on Hurricane Camille and setting up an oral history center at the Heritage Center in Arrington.

“It’s been fun,” Haymes said. “I feel like I’ve learned so much already just about museum life. People just giving their time to a cause they believe in and uniting to build something from nothing. That’s kind of what I was looking for when I took on this internship.”

Proffitt began the internship in late May. Haymes joined her in early June. The two began tackling their numerous projects with scanning and organizing the information from Nelson Memorial Library on Hurricane Camille and adding it to a database that will be accessible at the Oakland Museum.

Both students have family ties to the event that killed more than 150 people in Nelson County in August 1969.

Proffitt’s grandfather was a state trooper in Charlottesville who worked for five days straight during the aftermath of the hurricane in the northern part of the county.

“He would just always kind of mention it as one of the big stories of his career,” Proffitt said. “I think that’s what made me initially interested in (the internship).”

Part of the internship includes gathering interviews about people’s experiences in the county during Hurricane Camille. Proffitt and Haymes interviewed Proffitt’s grandfather two weeks ago to get his account of the event.

Similarly, Haymes’ grandfather and his brother were staying in the Lovingston Hotel when Camille hit. They were part of the crew building U.S. 29.

“We’ve lived in Chatham for generations, but they were up here the night of the flood,” Haymes said. “When I saw the description of the internship, I didn’t apply for any of the other ones, I only applied for this one because I’m not a history major, museum science or anything but I just wanted to know more about (Hurricane Camille).”

Proffitt and Haymes have interviewed others about their experiences during the event, and on the integration of Nelson County schools. By the end of their internship in August, they plan to talk to more than 20 people.

The two are also designing plans for an oral history center to be located at the Nelson Heritage Center. They will write a proposal for the Millenium Group to use for obtaining grants.

Another part of the project will be taking the oral history interviews already available at the Heritage Center and digitizing them.

“I feel like the ultimate goal down the road is to be able to have this center with computers or TVs with maybe editing equipment and you can just come in to a library of tapes or DVDs of certain people and watch their history,” Proffitt said.

“They want this to be a community effort and have trained volunteers who can come and help people do this,” Haymes said. “I think it’s a really cool initiative. But it’s kind of just a work in progress.”