Goodwin College’s Student Veterans, in collaboration with the Hoffman Family Library, are participating in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP). Created by Congress in 2000 as part of the American Folklife Center, the goal of the project is to collect and preserve firsthand interviews of America’s wartime veterans. Primarily an oral history program, VHP relies on volunteers, both individuals and organizations, throughout the nation to contribute veterans’ stories. In addition to audio- and video-recorded interviews, VHP accepts memoirs and collections of original photographs, letters, diaries, maps, and other historical documents from World War I through current conflicts. Learn more at https://www.loc.gov/vets/

The collaboration of the Hoffman Family Library and the Veteran Coordinator in the Veteran Student Services Department presents a unique opportunity to support the project — and to help tell the stories from within our community. “As a librarian, I had been very aware of the existence of this project for years and hoped to be in a position to help veterans participate in it one day,” said Susan Hansen, Director of the Hoffman Family Library. “Once I joined Goodwin and met Veteran Coordinator Craig Jordan, I knew the time had come! The library staff is looking forward to working with Craig to add our Goodwin veterans’ stories to this preeminent national project.”

“The opportunity for our Goodwin veterans and for the College community to be involved with this Library of Congress Project is exciting,” adds Jordan. “To have these stories archived in our own library as well as in Washington, D.C. for future generations to better understand the realities of war is remarkable