VOCES Oral History Project

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Photo, Albert Jose Angel, VOCES Oral History Project
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VOCES (Spanish for "voices") began as the project of a University of Texas professor of journalism. Rivas-Rodriguez sought to record the stories of Latinas and Latinos who served during World War II. However, since 2010 the archives have expanded in scope, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, to also include experiences from the Korean War and Vietnam War.

The majority of the interviews found on the site focus on veterans. However, civilian experiences are included as well. The "Stories" section can be browsed by name, war, city of birth, state of birth, and branch of service. A rather easy to overlook bar at the bottom of the page also permits you to find stories based on thematic content such as "citizenship" and "racism/discrimination." Each individual name is connected to a short narrative based on the individual's interview. These include direct quotations from the man or woman in question, but there is no transcript of the entire interview itself. You may also find photographs accompanying each story.

Maybe you would like your students to conduct similar interviews, particularly if no names are available from your home town. If so, be sure to visit "Learn to Interview." Here you can find a series of short videos describing the process of preparing for, conducting, and processing oral interviews. If you would like to provide an interview for the site, a downloadable PDF kit is available describing guidelines and containing the questionnaires used by the project.

Additional sections include "Resources" and "Publications." The former includes external links and an 85-page downloadable educator's guide, while the latter offers links to past VOCES newsletters and newspapers.

Vietnam Veterans National Memorial [DC]

Description

The Vietnam Veterans National Memorial offers a place for reflection and personal interaction with the memory of military personnel killed in the Vietnam War. Designed by artist and architect Maya Lin (born 1959) as a minimalist sculpture with a highly reflective surface, viewing the monument requires visitors to confront both themselves and the names of the fallen simultaneously. U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War spanned 1950 (the arrival of U.S. military advisors in Vietnam) through 1973.

The site presents the memorial only.

Writers Among Us: Seth Jacobs

Description

Professor Seth Jacobs traces his research into the history of the Vietnam War and the discoveries that he incorporated into his book America's Miracle Man in Viet Nam: Ngo Dinh Diem, Religion, Race, and US Intervention in Southeast Asia. Jacobs argues that a midcentury religious revival in America, as well as policymakers' racist perceptions of Asians, led the United States to support the disastrous, autocratic Diem regime in South Vietnam, when other candidates for U.S. support existed.

Presidents at War

Description

Former JFK advisor and historian Arthur Schlesinger, journalist Tom Wicker, and veteran political analyst and former Nixon staffer Kevin Phillips explore the varying legacies of the United State's wartime presidents.

Vietnam and the Presidency: Inside the White House I

Description

34th president Jimmy Carter (through a taped interview) discusses his experiences with the aftermath of the Vietnam War during his presidency. A panel discussion including former U.S. secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig, special counsel to JFK Theodore Sorensen, and special assistant to LBJ Jack Valenti on presidential policies at the time follows. Daughter of JFK and JFK Library Foundation president Caroline Kennedy introduces the event.

Vietnam War and the Presidency: Lessons Learned

Description

A panel including former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, Senator Chuck Hagel, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, NBC newsanchor Brian Williams, and former ambassador to Vietnam and POW Pete Peterson examines perception of the Vietnam War today and what effects the war and perceptions of it have had on the U.S. and continue to have.

Audio and video options are available.

Vietnam War and the Presidency: The Presidential Tapes

Description

A series of professors and historians look at the presidential tape recordings of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon B. Johnson, focusing on what these tapes reveal about the presidents' decisions and roles during the Vietnam War. The panel also discusses the significance of such recordings in general—to memory, to the press, to historians—and what they reveal about the character of individual presidents.

Audio and video options are available.