The colors and design of both this blog and the Vietnam Center and Archive website have been used to comply with the Texas Tech University (of which the Center & Archive is a part) identity guidelines. In 2006, the University hired a consulting firm to develop a unified look for all media, including both print and online, produced by the University and its organizations. This firm extensively utilized the University’s colors of Red and Black as the basis for all of the designs, and developed a shield symbol for use by all academic units. The guidelines also include guidelines for other colors that can be used, usage of images, fonts and typography, etc.
Blog
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The Spring 2008 Friends of the Vietnam Center Newsletter Now Available Online (Vol. 15, Issue 1)
The Spring issue of the Friends of the Vietnam Center newsletter is now available for download on the Vietnam Center newsletters page.
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Vietnam Archive Opens Collection of Political Prisoner Records
Documents tell story of U.S. allies and employees sent to Vietnamese reeducation camps.
Texas Tech University’s Vietnam Archive hosted the grand opening of its Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association Collection May 28 in the Marshall Formby Room of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. At the conclusion of the Vietnam War, thousands of U.S. allies, employees and Vietnamese dissidents were imprisoned in communist reeducation camps. The collection provides more than 10,000 primary sources for studying the experiences of these prisoners and refugees and their families who immigrated to the U.S. once they were released. Donated in 2005 to Texas Tech by the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, the collection contains 156 linear feet of documents meaning the materials stretch approximately 52 yards when stacked end-to-end. “We hope this collection will help historians and others understand the experiences of this group of Vietnamese immigrants,” said Ann Mallett, project archivist for the collection. “These people were our allies; they were U.S. employees or they didn’t agree with communism and they were forced into reeducation camps. The collection contains photographs and handwritten letters, so it is very personal, and it gives another piece of the story of the Vietnam War – what happened after the war ended to these people who were our allies.” -
Dr. Kelly Crager delivers Memorial Day keynote address
Dr. Kelly Crager, head of the Oral History Project at the Vietnam Center and Archive, delivered the keynote address for the May 26th Memorial Day Program at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Frederickburg, Texas. The title of Dr. Crager’s address was “Honoring our Veterans and Their Families.” After his presentation, Dr. Crager held a book signing for his recently published book Hell under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma-Thailand Death Railway.
National Museum of the Pacific War
Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post Online -
Senior Editor Victoria Lovelady Honored
The faculty and staff of the Vietnam Center and Archive extend our congratulations to Senior Editor Victoria Lovelady on her recent graduation from Texas Tech University. Mrs. Lovelady has earned a B.A. in Communication Studies. She was also awarded the Undergraduate Academic Achievement Award and the Undergraduate Service Award by her department. Congratulations, Victoria!
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Session Videos and Presentations from the March 2008 6th Triennial Symposium Now Available Online
Session videos and presentations from the 6th Triennial Symposium are now available online at the link listed below. There are versions of the videos for both high-speed and slower connections.
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Oral Historian Kelly Crager publishes article
Dr. Kelly Crager’s article, “‘God Knows What’s Going to Happen to Us’: The ‘Lost Battery’ of Texas’s ‘Lost Battalion’ in World War II,” will appear in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in the July 2008 edition. The article presents a history of the little-known E Battery of the Lost Battalion, whose members were captured by the Japanese on Java in March 1942 and who spent the remainder of the war laboring for their captors in the Japanese home islands. His account follows the men throughout their experiences and attempts to explain their high survival rate; one of the most important factors for their survival was the comradeship shared among these Texans POWs. Dr. Crager based this study on oral history interviews with survivors of the experience, as well as on governmental and U.S. Army documents gathered at war’s end. Dr. Crager is the current head of the Oral History Project at the Vietnam Center and Archive.
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Vietnam Archivist to join panel discussion at regional conference
Amy Hooker, C.A., Reference Archivist for the Vietnam Center and Archive, has been invited to participate in a panel discussion at this year’s annual meeting of the Society of Southwest Archivists in Houston, TX, on May 24, 2008. The panel is titled “CA-Wannabes: aWeb 2.0 Lifeline” and will discuss how Internet tools such as blogs, wikis, listservs, and chatrooms aid archivists in preparing for the Academy of Certified Archivists Examination. Ms. Hooker earned her archival certification in 2007.
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Amy Hooker, C.A. joins the Vietnam Archive as our new Reference Archivist
The Vietnam Archive is pleased to announce that Amy Hooker, C.A. has joined the Vietnam Archive as the new Assistant Archivist for Reference. Ms. Hooker’s primary duties will involve responding to reference inquiries by email and telephone, as well as assisting patrons and researchers in our reading room. She will also contribute to the development of reference policies and public service projects to include online reference tools, outreach activities, and exhibits.
A native of Midland, Texas, Ms. Hooker earned a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in History from Texas Tech University. She completed a master’s degree in Museum Science at TTU in 2000. As part of her degree program, Ms. Hooker completed an internship at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum in Juneau, Alaska. She returns to Tech after seven years at the Petroleum Museum in Midland, where she served as Director of Collections and Archives. She became a certified archivist in 2007. We are happy to welcome her to the team!
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Oral Historian Kelly Crager Publishes Book
Hell under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma-Thailand Death Railway by Kelly E. Crager has been published this month by Texas A&M University, Military History Series. Dr. Crager is Assistant Archivist and head of the Oral History Project at TTU’s Vietnam Archive.
