Related Repositories

The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center collects and preserves the firsthand interviews and narratives of United States military veterans from World War I through the present. In addition to audio- and video-recorded oral history interviews, VHP accepts memoirs and collections of original photographs, letters, diaries, and other historical documents from veterans who served in the US armed services from 1914 through the present. VHP also collects oral histories with Gold Star Family members, defined as a parent, spouse, sibling, or child of members of the Armed Forces who died as a result of their service during a period of war.

The following repositories also collect and preserve oral histories, memoirs, and other materials related to veterans and wartime experiences. This list is not exhaustive: there may be other institutions of interest to you. Please consider these as you decide where to donate your materials. In addition, housing your materials with others of a similar topic makes them more visible to researchers focused on that topic.

Please contact institutions before sending materials to learn more about their collecting policies and the kinds of materials they can or cannot accept—neither the Veterans History Project, the American Folklife Center, nor the Library of Congress can speak for their collecting policies.

Please note that in order to donate materials to a repository affiliated with a specific branch of service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines), you (or your family member) must have served in that branch or have materials pertinent to that branch.

Artifact Donation Reference List

Because the Veterans History Project cannot collect 3-dimensional artifacts, such as medals, canteens, dog tags, helmets, uniforms, etc., you are encouraged to consider contacting the following repositories if you have artifacts to donate. This list is not exhaustive: you may wish to consider historical societies or museums in your local area.