The Veterans History Project at Central Connecticut State University:

 

The national Veterans History Project (VHP) was created in 2000 when the U.S. Congress voted unanimously to preserve and archive the oral histories of men and women who have served in any of our nation’s wars. The project, housed at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., collects and preserves the taped interviews, photographs and documents of American veterans. Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) is proud to be an archive partner with the Library of Congress since 2005. 

The VHP at CCSU collects and preserves the oral histories of Connecticut’s veterans.  In addition to the video taped interview, photographs, military documents, letters, diaries, memoirs, etc. are collected and submitted to the Library of Congress.  All collections are also archived in the CCSU Elihu Burritt Library and placed on line in a digital archive which is accessible to students, researchers, scholars or anyone with an internet connection.  Participating in the VHP is an ideal opportunity for student learning, not only at the college level but also in middle and high schools.   Entire university classes, as well as individual students and community volunteers, have benefitted by collecting and archiving the oral histories of Connecticut’s veterans. 

The VHP website provides resources for educators to use in their classrooms including  curriculum units of study developed for the VHP by Connecticut history teachers and a Speakers Bureau, allowing teachers or civic groups to invite veterans to speak to their classes or groups.

To learn more about the VHP at CCSU, or to listen online to some of the fascinating stories from our Connecticut heroes, please click here.

Eileen Hurst is the Associate Director of the Center for Public Policy & Social Research and the Director of the Veterans History Project at CCSU.