Veterans History Project: The Challenge of Expectations--Perceptions, Pitfalls, and Reality

Abstract

The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress is the nation's largest collection of memories of America's veterans. These first-person recollections are shared through oral histories, memoirs, photographs, diaries, and personal documents. Congressionally mandated, the project is completely reliant upon voluntary participation by both veterans and interviewers. Deeply personal in nature, the project provokes divergent expectations from Congress, veterans and their families, researchers, library leadership, project participants, and folklore/oral history professionals. The paper will address the challenges these expectations create for collecting, archiving, and sharing personal narratives and towards establishing VHP's place in public sector folklore.