Veterans History Project
With the passing of Public Law 106-380, which was sponsored by Representatives Ron Kind, Amo Houghton, Steny Hoyer, and Senators Max Cleland and Chuck Hagel and signed into law by President William Clinton on October 27, 2000, the Veterans History Project came into being. This federally funded oral history project is an attempt to save and preserve the history of the past armed conflicts that have defined the United States.
The Ward M. Canaday Center has been an Official National Partner in the Veterans History Project since 2005. Currently, the Canaday Center houses more than 800 audio and video oral histories of local veterans from World War I through the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Included with these interviews are artifacts, ephemera, and any other collectibles that the veterans interviewed have decided to donate to the project.
After the Canaday Center collects, catalogs, and prepares a copy of the interviews, we forward the originals to the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Veterans History Collection. The Library of Congress maintains a page dedicated to the Veterans History Project where you can search for interviews, including those housed at the Canaday Center. To search for interviews from this page, click on Explore the Collection, which is about halfway down the page. From there, Search VHP Collections. Enter your search term (veteran's name, conflict, custodial institution, etc.) in the search bar at the top right. Make sure that "This Collection" is selected before searching.
An updated list of the oral and video histories present in the Ward M. Canaday for Special Collections is available on ArchivesSpace.
We also have a selection of tapes and files from the Veterans History Project available to view and/or listen to online.
If you are interested in participating in the Veterans History Project through the Ward M. Canaday Center, please contact Tamara Jones at 419.530.4480 or Harold Kinker at 419.868.1950.