The following is a guest post by Owen Rogers, liaison specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP).
Although housed at the Library of Congress, the Veterans History Project is completely reliant on the voluntary participation of people around the country interviewing the veterans in their lives and communities. Since April is National Volunteer Month, this is perfect time to say thank you to all our volunteers, both individuals and organizations alike.
One group of stellar volunteers is that of Lawrence Cohen, Joan Guberman and Dr. Naomi Platt from Leisure World of Silver Spring, MD. They recently hand-delivered 30 veterans’ oral histories that were recorded during VHP’s “Do Your Part, D.C.” campaign. In truth, Leisure World residents have done their part for nearly a decade, and their efforts yielded nearly 150 previous collections submissions.
As a grass roots oral history project, these neighbor-to-neighbor recordings reflect the meaningful connections forged through VHP, as well as the opportunities for communities to archive their historical contributions.
Access the previously submitted Leisure World collections here. Visit www.loc.gov/vets to find out how you can volunteer this month or any other.
Happy National Volunteer Month!