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Re: Vietnam Collections



In response to Mr. Fisher...

Sincerely,
Dr. Ronald B. Frankum, Jr.
Archivist, The Vietnam Archive

The Vietnam Project
Texas Tech University

In 1989, the Texas Tech University Board of Regents established The Vietnam
Archive and The Vietnam Center.  Associate Professor of History James R.
Reckner founded the Vietnam Project after discovering that his students had
little knowledge of America's war in Vietnam.  Dr. Reckner was further
inspired to create The Vietnam Archive after he learned that the
university's library did not contain enough books to support an
upper-division undergraduate course on the Vietnam War.  Dr. Reckner went to
the Lubbock community to recruit Vietnam veterans interested in promoting
further study of the war.  Much to his satisfaction, he found the response
overwhelming and organized the Vietnam Center Advisory Board to help oversee
the direction of the Vietnam Project.  Dr. Reckner is a retired naval
officer who served two tours-of-duty in Vietnam, as senior advisor to the
Vietnamese Navy's River Assault Group 26 (1968-1969) and as senior advisor
to the Vietnamese Navy's River Assault Group 52 (1971-1972).  As a veteran
and historian, Dr. Reckner sought to bring together veterans to help
preserve their history.  He also proposed to bring these veterans together
with the next generation of student and scholars so that this younger
generation could benefit from the first-hand experiences of veterans of the
war.

The Vietnam Archive mission is to collect the documentary record of the
Vietnam War. The first collection received by the archive, a package of
letters from a Navy corpsman to this family while serving in Vietnam,
symbolizes the commitment of the Vietnam Project - to preserve the record of
the individual and provide greater understanding of their experiences.
While the archive continues this commitment as its primary objective, it has
expanded its collection policy to include records of veterans' organizations
and scholars of the period as well as other individuals and organizations
whose share experiences from the war in Vietnam.

As of April 2000, The Vietnam Archive has collected over 4 million pages of
material related to the Vietnam War and Southeast Asia.  The 72-page Guide
to the Holdings of the Vietnam Archive is available, free-of charge, to any
individual interested in learning more about the archive.  The archive's
website, listed below, contains more detailed information on many of the
collections, including finding aids and inventories of some of the
collections.  In addition to the many documents housed in the
state-of-the-art facility, The Vietnam Archive also possesses over 16,000
photographs, 4,000 slides, 2,000 maps, over 10,000 periodicals and books,
and hundreds of audio- and video-tape recordings related to the war.  The
Vietnam Archive continues to actively collect these types of material and
has also begun collecting material from Vietnamese and Third Country
participants as well as material on prominent post war issues such as
P.O.W./M.I.A. and Agent Orange issues.

To further facilitate the collection of these important materials and
history, The Vietnam Archive has hired a full-time Oral Historian to begin
collecting oral histories from veterans and others whose lives paralleled
the war in Vietnam.  The Vietnam Archive staff has also begun a program of
attending veteran reunions to conduct oral histories and explain about The
Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.  The archive cannot exist without
the support of veterans whose histories and experiences make up the core of
its collection.

The mission of The Vietnam Archive is to collect, preserve, and disseminate
material on the Vietnam War.  It is important that this generation have the
ability to access primary documents on the war and the opportunity to learn
for themselves the lessons of Vietnam.  It is equally important that future
generations have a place, other than textbooks, to explore this critical
time in United States and world history.

If you - as an individual veteran - or your organization is interested in
this opportunity to preserve this vital part of our past, please contact us
for further details.

Vietnam Archive Contact Information

Special Collections Library[PARA]Room 108[PARA]Lubbock, TX
79409-1041[PARA]Telephone:  (806) 742-9010[PARA]Facsimile:  (809)
742-0496[PARA]email:  livna@ttu.edu[PARA]website:  www.lib.ttu.edu/vietnam
Archivist:[PARA]Oral Historian:[PARA]Archival Specialist:[PARA] Dr. Ronald
B. Frankum, Jr.[PARA]Mr. Stephen F. Maxner[PARA]Mr. Curtis L. Peoples




-----Original Message-----
From:   M. R. Thurmond [mailto:limrt@LIB.TTU.EDU]
Sent:   Tuesday, May 02, 2000 8:17 PM
To:     lirbf@LIB.TTU.EDU; liclp@LIB.TTU.EDU
Subject:        Vietnam Collections

>Date: Tue, 02 May 2000 14:59:30 -0600
>From: "STEVEN P. FISHER" <sfisher@DU.EDU>
>Subject: Vietnam Collections
>Sender: Archives & Archivists <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
>X-Sender: sfisher@odin.cair.du.edu
>To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
>Reply-to: Archives & Archivists <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
>
> I thought it might be productive to expand this thread into a dialogue
>relating to what we do. Who is collecting Vietnam material? At the
>University of Denver we are now collecting material relating to civilian
>women who served in Vietnam. A group known as the Circle of Sisters has
>been depositing materials with us. Talk about unsung heroes ...
>
> Anyone else want to share what they are collecting in this area?
>
> Steve Fisher
> University of Denver
>
>A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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>
>Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>