GFWC International ConventionWomen’s History and Resource Center Workshop, June 11, 2007

“Hindsight is 20/20: Club Histories Revealed”

The Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress

-- VHP overview-- Oral history-- Managing collections-- Organizational value-- Two samples

                                      

                           

The Library of Congress Veterans History Projectsigned into law by President Bill Clinton, Oct. 27, 2000 (PL 106-380)

“…so that Americans will always remember those who served in war and may learn [from the veterans

themselves] of the heroics, tediousness, horrors, and sacrifices of war.”

Wanted: First-person narratives—oral histories and other documents

Scope: America’s war veterans: World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam

War, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq wars; men and women; all branches and all ranks

Oral history = people’s history

• First-hand history

• Colorful details

• Accepted historical methodology

• Trend to use oral histories

• Photos, letters, etc.

                                                                                              

VHP provides interviewing “whys” and “hows”

• Mission statement• Who created it • Who is eligible• How to interview• Legal agreements• What happens to

materials

This public project empowers volunteers

to conduct the interviews

• Relative or friend• Age 16+ is best• Workshops for organized

groups• Information Kit: sample

questions and technical tips

Left: Diane Salmon & her uncleEdward Charles Bishop, WW2 vet

Sample questions helpnovices begin interviewing;

vet does all the talking!

For VETERANS:

• Why [Navy] not [Army]?

• How did you get your particular job assignment?

For CIVILIANS:

• What was your main work?

• How was daily life different from peacetime?

VHP Oral History Workshopsled by professionals

--Set interview standards:

30-90 minutes long

--Help demystify the process

--Energize team

--Ensure good interviews

Transcripts: benefits and downsides

• See content at a glance

• Saves wear & tear on tape

• Time consuming!!

Small sample:Tom Swope (interviewer):

Tell us a little bit--so we get it on tape--about the secrecy and their radar training.

Anthony Adams (vet): Oh, yeah, the radar training.

Down in Boca Raton we used to go to class every morning, and you went through a barbed gate, and you stayed in class. When the class was over, when you walked out, they searched your pockets.

Volunteers send collections: VHP’s holdings as of October 2006

50,025 vets’ collections

-- 24,983 recordings

-- 323 original diaries

-- 46,417 photographs

-- 101 letter collections (10+)

• Men: 37,025; women: 4,000– WWI: 1% (222)– WWII: 58% (23,856)– Korean War: 14% (5,606)– Vietnam War: 17% (6,802)– Persian Gulf: 2% (1,026)– Afghanistan/Iraq: 1% (338)

Adding 900 more @ month

William Joseph O’Keeffe, World War II

Manage your collection!

• Keep track of who, when, where

• Database of collections• Summarize contents• Transcribe if possible• Need policy on other

items (letters, photos, artifacts)

Mail call: 200 interviews per week

Arrange & store collections for your use AND long-term

How can we use collections?• Publications

• Public programs

• Museum exhibits

• Long-term historical value

(Right: Market in Vietnam, by Aldo Panzieri, 1969)

                                 

Publications share stories & promote

the organization

Publisher: Library of Congress and National Geographic

Interesting public programs use stories & build public awareness

”War’s End” program panel, Anniversary of VE-Day and VJ-Day2005

Museum exhibits: Artifacts with oral histories tell the story visually

The human side of wartime: Jerry Brenner, World War II: his wife’s “Kiss” letter

Beware pitfalls!

• Bog down in planning

• Unclear mission

• Scope s-p-r-a-w-l

• No support; one person does all

• Fail to manage your collections

You can have so much fun, you avoid tough job of managing!

Samuel Boylston, WWII, Pacific theater: illustrated envelope

VHP Sampler

1—Sharolyn Walcutt, Vietnam War, Navy nurse, on duties aboard hospital ship (interviewer: 16 year-old student)

2—Darlene Iskra, Persian Gulf War, Navy commander of USS Opportune (interviewed by LC staffer Rachel Mears)

Sharolyn Walcutt, Vietnam War

US Navy nurse, and hospital ship Repose

                                

Darlene M. IskraPersian Gulf War, 1990-1995, US Navy

Enlisted in the Navy in 1979 with modest ambitions. She was one of the first women to graduate from Navy dive school. She had a talent for supervision. In 1990, she became the first woman to take command of a U.S. Navy ship, aptly named the USS Opportune. Her ship was on stand-by duty during the Persian Gulf War.

VHP oral history project benefits organizations

-- Institutional identity

-- Public relations

-- Staff/members work together

-- Interviewees feel honored

-- Volunteer interviewers gain new skills

-- Unique material for books, programs, exhibits, Web presentations, etc.

Learn about the Library of Congress Veterans History Project

www.loc.gov/vets

email: Sarah Rouse

Senior Program Officer, srou@loc.gov