MEDIA ADVISORY: Library of Congress to House Louisiana Veterans’ Stories Collected by LSU Students
August 15, 2022
Leroy Poydras shares items from his World War II service as a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy at an Oral History Day event with the Veterans History Project, 2019.
– Photo: Brian Baiamonte, LSU Libraries' Harry T. Williams Center for Oral History.
BATON ROUGE – This fall, LSU Libraries and the Ogden Honors College are offering a course in which students will work with Louisiana veterans to create oral history interviews that will be housed jointly at the LSU Libraries T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History and the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, or VHP.
Members of the media are invited to a presentation on August 30 by Monica Mohindra, director of the VHP, who will speak with the oral history students about 1) the partnership between LSU and the Library of Congress, 2) why those who served in the military should tell their stories, and 3) the importance of preserving these narratives at the local and national level.
While World War II is thoroughly documented through the lens of oral history, this collaboration between LSU and the Library of Congress will attempt to fill the lack of stories of veterans who served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the Persian Gulf Wars. Furthermore, the class will strive to document stories of those who are notably missing from most war narratives, such as people of color and women.
WHAT: Monica Mohindra, director of the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, will speak about an LSU collaboration to preserve Louisiana veterans’ narratives of their time serving in the military.
WHEN: Tuesday, Aug. 30, 1:30-3:15 p.m.
WHERE: Hans and Donna Sternberg Salon, LSU French House located at Highland Road and S. Campus Drive
RSVP: Email christinew@lsu.edu or jwarr28@lsu.edu to RSVP and receive a media parking pass.