Highlights Archives
Collecting and Sharing Veterans' Stories
As we honor the service of America's veterans this week, we want to share a new opportunity to help us collect and share the stories of Wisconsin's veterans. In the past, the Wisconsin Historical Society and Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) have partnered to create and deliver high-quality television programming on state and local history. WPT has been an innovative leader in public television as it has told the stories of Wisconsin soldiers through the groundbreaking and award-winning Wisconsin World War II Stories and Wisconsin Korean War Stories projects. The next installment in this series will be a sweeping look at the experiences and impact of the Vietnam War on Wisconsin soldiers and civilians with Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories.
Local historical organizations are invited to partner with the Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Public Television, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, and the Department of Veterans Affairs in preserving our state's Vietnam War veterans' history by gathering and sharing stories of their service.
Many local societies have strong collections about the involvement of local citizens in the Civil War, World War I and World War II. As Vietnam veterans age, it is important to collect and build programs around this experience while the participants are still available to contribute their perspectives. Local historical societies are well situated to participate in the gathering and sharing of stories at the local level.
We encourage local societies to partner with the project by:
- Emphasizing the collection of late-20th-century materials and stories, including those related to the Vietnam experience, in both artifacts and oral histories
- Partnering with other local groups such as public libraries and veterans organizations to hold public programs surrounding the program
The Society will offer workshops at the state and regional levels to help our partners in this program learn more about collecting recent history. WPT will provide participating organizations with DVDs and promotional packets for the promotion of local programs. Participants will receive training and support in order to gain the tools and resources necessary to present a public program in their own community. To provide more consistency over the program and coordinate promotional efforts, we have planned three phases:
- Partnership Application — Local historical organizations sign up to participate in the program.
- Training — Partners participate in a workshop at the 2009 Local History and Historic Preservation Conference in Wausau on October 9-10. Partners will also attend a second regional training opportunity, dates and locations to be determined. Workshops will be led by professionals with expertise in military history, oral history and community programming.
- Programs and Events — Partners will collaborate with other community organizations (e.g., public libraries, VFW, American Legion, etc.) to present public programs and events relating to the Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories program. Events will take place in spring 2010 in conjunction with the airing of the special WPT program.
To participate in the program, please send a letter or email of interest to:
Janet Seymour
Northern Field Services Representative
Wisconsin Historical Society
105 Garfield Avenue
Eau Claire WI 54701
janet.seymour@wisconsinhistory.org
Include your organization's name, contact information and a main contact person who will be responsible for overseeing the project at your organization. This contact information will be used to communicate with your group and announce training dates and locations.
:: Posted November 10, 2008
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