Top of page

Category: Oral History

Soldiers draped in blankets pull a casualty on a sledge through the snow.

VHP’s Newest Online Exhibit: Battle of the Bulge

Posted by: Megan Harris

Today, the Veterans History Project launches a new online exhibit focusing on the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most pivotal and infamous battles of World War II. On December 16, 1944, the German army attacked Allied forces—mostly American units—positioned in the Ardennes Forest, a densely forested area along the borders of Belgium and …

White woman and African American woman posing together for photograph.

COVID Recollections: Now Available – First Collection of Frontline Worker Interviews from the COVID-19 American History Project

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

The first interviews documented for the COVID-19 American History Project--an initiative of the American Folklife Center to create an archival collection of Americans' experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic--are now available in the online collections of the Library of Congress. In this post, learn more about the workers featured in the interviews, find out how to access their stories, and explore how you can have your pandemic story preserved as part of the COVID-19 American History Project.

Euro-American man holding a slice of Tillamook-brand cheese.

New Occupational Folklife Project Documents “Tillamook: Cheesemakers in Coastal Oregon”

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

The American Folklife Center recently posted a new collection of interviews with workers at the Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA), a farmer-owned dairy cooperative in coastal Oregon, to its Occupational Folklife Project website. This post is an interview with Dr. Jared Schmidt, a public folklorist based in Oregon, who conducted the interviews with TCCA workers. In 2021, Schmidt received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to undertake this research.

Los Herederos, a 2023 Community Collections Grant Recipient, Opens Exhibit in New York City Subway Station

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

In this post, Nancy Groce (Senior Folklife Specialist, American Folklife Center) highlights a new exhibition organized by Los Herederos -- a 2023 recipient of a Community Collections Grant (CCG) from the American Folklife Center -- that celebrates the cultural diversity of Queens, New York.

Female child care worker posing for photograph.

COVID Recollections: Interviewing Appalachian Child Care Workers for the COVID-19 American History Project

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

In 2023, the American Folklife Center contracted folklorist Nicole Musgrave to conduct interviews with Appalachian-based child care workers about their COVID-19 pandemic experiences for the COVID-19 American History Project. The post, guest authored by Musgrave, details her inspiration for the project, the initial findings from her interviews, and why documenting child care workers' pandemic experiences is important for understanding Americans' experiences with COVID-19. 

View of museum exhibition

AFC and VHP Collections Featured in the New Exhibition, “Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress” in the New David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery

Posted by: Douglas D. Peach

On June 13th, a new exhibition titled, “Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress,” opened to the public in the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery in the Thomas Jefferson Building. This post highlights items from the collections of the American Folklife Center and the Veterans History Project featured in the exhibition.

Items left in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial: a red rose sits on top of a worn pair of brown boots, with flags and letters positioned on either side.

VHP’s Newest Online Exhibit: In Memoriam

Posted by: Megan Harris

Today, the Veterans History Project (VHP) launches a new online exhibit titled “In Memoriam: Honoring the Fallen,” featuring the stories of 15 servicemembers who died during their time in the military. For many, Memorial Day may feel like nothing more than a day off from work, a holiday that serves to mark the start of …