The following is a guest blog post by Owen Rogers, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). Although I’ll proudly wear the title of “record nerd,” I don’t focus on fidelity; rather tethered memories of shows, bands and the building anticipation of a long drive into the city. This past unseasonably cold weekend saw …
The following is a guest blog post by Owen Rogers, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). Among VHP’s oral histories, memoirs and correspondence, we frequently find humorous anecdotes about jokes, pranks and creative punishments. This post began as an “April Fools” ruse developed from some of the more absurd scenarios recounted by veterans …
Although we often don’t like to admit it, much in life comes down to chance, luck and serendipitous encounters. In April 2014, I attended a panel presentation at the National Council on Public History Annual Meeting in Monterey, California, on the area’s military history. One of the presenters was Enid Baxter Ryce, an artist, filmmaker …
The following is a guest blog post by Tea McCaulla, an English instructor at Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center (PRCTC) in Ohio. Each year, she incorporates the Veterans History Project (VHP) into her classroom curriculum, and her students reap the benefits of experiential learning. This year, they received state-wide recognition. Earlier this month, four students …
Periodically, the Veterans History Project (VHP) sets aside a day for Library of Congress employees to preserve the stories of the veterans in their lives on-site, using VHP’s recording equipment. Whenever we announce the opportunity to participate in this way, our colleagues enthusiastically respond and quickly make appointments to bring in their spouses, parents, siblings …
As a kid, I hated milk. Unfortunately for me, it was a requisite part of dinner at my house. I remember sitting alone at the dinner table long after everyone else had left it, unwilling to drink my glass of milk so that I might be excused. Nowadays, I will happily gulp down a latte …
Maybe it was the eyes that you first noticed when you glanced at the portrait above: they are a vivid, piercing blue. Then, maybe you looked at the caption, and you realized that those eyes were painted more than 70 years ago, in 1944. Perhaps if you looked closely, you noticed the location of the …
The following is a guest post by Owen Rogers, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). In second grade, I asked my teacher why American soldiers were fighting – and dying –in Somalia. Images of GIs slain in Bakaara Market clashed with the invincible G.I. Joes I carried in my knapsack, and in my …
The following is a guest post by Andrew Huber, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). As students have returned to school across the country, young people are learning not just about reading, writing and arithmetic, but about service, honor and sacrifice as well. Classrooms and student groups nationwide take part in the Veterans …