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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

About this Collection

The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand narratives of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. Since 2000, VHP has preserved thousands of individual veterans’ collections, which offer users an unparalleled archive of primary source material.

In addition to unedited audio- and video-recorded oral history interviews, VHP accepts memoirs and collections of original photographs, letters, and diaries. You can find more detailed information about the basic requirements for a collection and the kinds of material that VHP accepts via our website (see How to Participate).

Use the left navigation menu to learn more about searching, accessing and using VHP collection materials. Select the “Collection Items” tab above to immediately view descriptive records for thousands of individual veterans’ collections. Please note that we only have descriptive records for veterans who donated their story to VHP.

Serving: Our Voices

The Serving: Our Voices feature presents curated materials from the VHP collections grouped by a wide variety of topical themes. Select the “Serving: Our Voices” tab above to browse these diverse presentations, which introduce the endless research possibilities found in our collections.