Every Veterans story is important. Participation in the Veterans History Project (VHP) can help preserve the stories of these individuals.
About VHP
Established in 2000 by Congressional legislation, the Veterans History Project (VHP) has its roots in a simple family gathering. While at a Father’s Day picnic, Representative Ron Kind (D-WI) overheard his father and uncle swapping stories from their service in World War II and the Korean War. Realizing the fleeting nature of these reminiscences, he grabbed a video camera to record his relatives’ accounts for posterity. This brief experience was the impetus for Congress to create a national, grassroots oral history initiative, which would allow participants to interview veterans in their lives and communities, with the resulting recordings archived as part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. VHP’s collecting scope quickly grew to include other types of original source materials, such as letters, diaries, and photographs; in 2016, new legislation expanded the scope to include oral histories from “family members of the Armed Forces who died as a result of their service during a period of war.”
For over 20 years, the Veterans History Project has collected, preserved and made accessible the firsthand narratives of U.S. military veterans.
How to Participate
Veterans from all branches and ranks who served at any point since World War I are eligible to participate in the Veterans History Project, even if they did not see combat. Anyone, including students ages 15 or older, may volunteer to record an oral history interview or gather and donate a veteran’s original photographs, correspondence or other materials. Veterans may also chose to submit their own collection materials to the Library of Congress. VHP is a grassroots effort and reliant on voluntary participation of people around the country interviewing the veterans in their lives and communities. In our “how-to” video we show you everything you need to create your own VHP interview which will be preserved for future generations in the Library of Congress.
VHP Field Kit
A VHP Field Kit to assist with the interveiw process can be found at https://www.loc.gov/programs/veterans-history-project/how-to-participate/vhp-field-kit/
Sample Interview Questions
Some sample interview questions can be found at https://www.loc.gov/programs/veterans-history-project/how-to-participate/sample-interview-questions/
More Resources
More resources on this Library of Congress project can be found at https://www.loc.gov/programs/veterans-history-project/about-this-program/
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