Oral History Digital Collection - Example

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, National Park Service, Nathan King.  www.nps.gov
  

  This week's readings discuss design, purpose, marketing, and management of online historical "oral histories" and archives.  Ken Burns' PBS documentary on the Vietnam War has generated debate among fans, historians, veterans, and the general public.  One organization, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, used the attention generated by this documentary to promote its "The Wall of Faces" project to collect details about those honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC.  This site allows users to submit data, photos, and bios about those named on The Wall. 

     The org used a newspaper commentary piece to promote discussion of the war, the documentary, and for the public to visit and contribute to their site.

     The piece says:
"The Vietnam War, the film series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, just completed its debut airing on PBS.

I know some Vietnam veterans loved the film, some hated it. Some feel their perspective was not represented, or something important was left out.

In my experience, everything about the Vietnam War is still contentious. But that is good, because there will be lots of online discussions, many local events, and numerous other opportunities for veterans to say what they think.

THAT’S what we want. We want Vietnam veterans to finally share their experiences, to tell their stories, to vent their outrage, to remind us of their pride for having served their country even though they feel their country didn’t support them. We want them to pull out photos of their buddies, to leave remembrances on the Wall of Faces, to visit The Wall, to share what they think it all means."

The Wall of Faces: http://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/

Commentary: https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/vietnam-vets-rolling-thunder/2017/09/28/love-or-hate-the-ken-burns-vietnam-series-at-least-its-getting-veterans-talking/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%209.29.17&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

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