The Vietnam Center and Archive has received a three year, $144,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to digitize the Orderly Departure Program (ODP) files of the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association Collection (FVPPA).  This collection of approximately 250,000 pages is comprised of the records of more than 10,000 Vietnamese applying to immigrate to the United States following the end of the Vietnam War.  Many of the applicants were former re-education camp detainees.

The FVPPA collection, brought to the Archive in 2005 by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, is one of the largest and most significant collections available to researchers studying the Vietnamese American immigration experience.  The ODP files, according to Associate Director Mary Saffell are  “as important to the study of Vietnamese Americans as the Ellis Island records are to the families of immigrants from the early 20th century.”

It is expected that digitization, which will begin in February, will take three years to complete.  As the items are digitized, they will be added to the Virtual Vietnam Archive.  You can also follow the progress of the project and see recently digitized files from the collection at http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/vahp/digitization.php.

This is the second grant the Center has received from the NHPRC for this collection, including funding received in 2008 to originally process the collection.

Author Lewis “Bob” Sorley will speak this week as part of our 2012 Guest Lecture Series.  Dr. Sorley’s lecture will be held on Wednesday, January 25th at 7:00pm in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech School of Law.  Admission is free and open to the public.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series or about Dr. Sorley see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS.

Today is the start of Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration, and 2012 is the year of the dragon.  To celebrate this traditional holiday, we have created an online exhibit that is an exploration of the Tet holiday and its customs, history, and traditions, supplemented with items from our collection.  To learn more about this unique holiday, please visit the exhibit at http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/tet/.

We also remember Tet for the events that happened across the Republic of Vietnam on January 31st of 1968, known as the Tet Offensive.   Early that morning Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces launched surprise assaults on nearly all of the provincial capitals and urban areas of South Vietnam in an effort to bring about the collapse of the South Vietnamese government.  To learn more about the Tet Offensive and the events of that day, visit our online exhibit at http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/exhibits/Tet68/.

Tet, the Vietnamese New Year
Today – Thursday, January 19th
3:00-5:00pm
The International Cultural Center’s Hall of Nations, Texas Tech University

This is a free event and open to the public.

Traditional Vietnamese food will be served. A special presentation will be given by the Vietnamese Student Association at Texas Tech. Please join us and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makes Vietnam so remarkable.

January 23rd, 2012 ushers in the Lunar Year of the Dragon. In Vietnam, one of 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. In many Asian cultures, including Vietnam, the Year of the Dragon is considered to be the most desirable year to be born in, as the dragon brings luck, strength, independence, nobility, wisdom, and a promising future. It is believed that the Year of the Dragon brings good fortune to people, including wealth, health, good marriages, and new children.

The Vietnamese people regard Tet as their most important holiday. Food preparation for Tet is very time consuming and often requires days of cooking and, prior to the celebrations, people clean, paint, and decorate their homes. People avoid cleaning during Tet so that good luck will not be “swept away.”

We hope you will be able to join us today as we celebrate this special event!

For more information, please call 806-742-3742.

Event flyer: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/tet/tet2012.pdf

Tet, the Vietnamese New Year
Thursday, January 19th
3:00-5:00pm
The International Cultural Center’s Hall of Nations, Texas Tech University

This is a free event and open to the public.

Traditional Vietnamese food will be served. A special presentation will be given by the Vietnamese Student Association at Texas Tech. Please join us and learn more about the rich heritage and culture that makes Vietnam so remarkable.

January 23rd, 2012 ushers in the Lunar Year of the Dragon. In Vietnam, one of 12 animals of the zodiac represents each year. In many Asian cultures, including Vietnam, the Year of the Dragon is considered to be the most desirable year to be born in, as the dragon brings luck, strength, independence, nobility, wisdom, and a promising future. It is believed that the Year of the Dragon brings good fortune to people, including wealth, health, good marriages, and new children.

The Vietnamese people regard Tet as their most important holiday. Food preparation for Tet is very time consuming and often requires days of cooking and, prior to the celebrations, people clean, paint, and decorate their homes. People avoid cleaning during Tet so that good luck will not be “swept away.”

We hope you will be able to join us on January 19th, 2012 as we celebrate this special event!

For more information, please call 806-742-3742.

Event flyer: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/events/tet/tet2012.pdf

The Vietnam Center and Archive is proud to present the first speaker in our 2012 Guest Lecture Series, Dr. Bob Sorley, on Wednesday, January 25th at 7:00pm in the Lanier Auditorium of the Texas Tech University School of Law.  The lecture is free and open to the public.

A graduate of West Point, Sorley served as an executive officer in Vietnam from 1963-1966. He later served as Assistant Secretary of General Staff, Office of the Chief of Staff, and commanded a tank battalion in West Germany. This was followed by time on the faculty of the US Army War College and later work as Chief of the Policy and Plans Division of the CIA. Sorley is the author of numerous books, including A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam.

Dr. Sorley will be available to sign copies of his book following the lecture.

The mission of the Vietnam Center and Archive Guest Lecture Series is to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of students, faculty, and the community at large by bringing distinguished individuals to campus for presentations on specific aspects of the Vietnam War, its lasting impact on American politics, society and culture, and on contemporary issues in Southeast Asia.

This lecture series is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation.  For more information on the 2012 VNCA Guest Lecture Series see http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/GLS, or contact Mary Saffell at 806-742-9010 or mary.saffell@ttu.edu.

The Fall 2011 issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter is now available online.  This issue contains an article on the ten year anniversary of the Virtual Vietnam Archive and an overview of the Center and Archive’s scheduled events for 2012.

If you would like to receive a full color printed version of this newsletter in your mailbox, please consider becoming a friend of the Vietnam Center. Membership information can be found on our Friends of the Vietnam Center webpage.

Links:

Fall 2011 Issue: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/items.php?item=999nl00050

Newsletter Back Issues: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/friends/newsletters.php

Membership Information: http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/friends/

As many of you have already heard, Associate Archivist Ty Lovelady will be leaving the Vietnam Center and Archive on January 6th. Ty has accepted a new position as University Archivist in the Special Collections Library of the University of Texas at Dallas, which he will begin in the next few weeks.

Ty started at the Archive over ten years ago while finishing up his Master’s thesis here at Texas Tech, working as an Archival Specialist digitizing materials for the Virtual Vietnam Archive. Promoted to Associate Archivist in 2007, Ty has been responsible for, among many other things, collection accessioning, processing, and donor relations. If you’ve had contact with the Archive recently, you’ve probably interacted with Ty.

Ty has been an invaluable member of the Center and Archive staff and will be greatly missed, and we wish him the best of luck in Dallas!