Veteran's History Project

Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.

P. O. Box 73067

Washington, DC 20056-3067

Motivated by a desire to honor our nation’s war veterans for their service and to collect their stories and experiences while they are still among us, the United States Congress authorized the Veterans' History Project in October 2000. President William J. Clinton signed the authorizing legislation on October 27, 2000. The legislation calls upon the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to collect and preserve audio- and video-taped oral histories, along with documentary materials such as letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and home movies, of America’s war veterans and those who served in support of them. The VHP is especially interested in veterans who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars. It includes all participants in those wars – men and women, civilian and military. The project also wants interviews of those veterans who served between the various wars.

What can we do? All Americans, and especially AAHGS members, are encouraged to participate. By interviewing a veteran or war worker as part of the VHP, you honor those who served our nation during difficult and dangerous periods in our history. You are participating in a national project initiated by Congress to promote public learning and to encourage discussion across the generations about our nation’s wartime activities and the how a veteran's life in the military differed during peace times. Your interview(s) will become part of the AAHGS Collection of the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. Your interviews will be available for viewing on the LOC/VHP website, and the veterans historical recollections will be preserved in a protected environment for posterity.

We want you and AAHGS to receive proper credit for all your assistance in making this a great community project. Please send all completed interviews with proper documentation to:

    Richard E. Barnes
    AAHGS Veterans' History Project Coordinator
    6818 Middlefield Terrace
    Fort Washington, MD 20744-1518

Download Veteran's History Project questionnaire .
(You must have Adobe Reader® to view this form)

For more information, you may download forms from the Library of Congress web site www.loc.gov/folklife/vets/; call LOC and record a message at (888) 371-5848l; speak to a live person at (202) 707-4916, or email vohp@loc.gov.

To contact the AAHGS VHP Coordinator by phone (202) 707-9600 (day), (301) 423-6609 (evening), or by email riba@loc.gov or riedbagen@yahoo.com.