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Warrior to Citizen Oral History Project
The Warrior to Citizen oral history project involves a diverse group of citizens, both veterans and non-veterans, working together to document an important piece of Minnesota history. It grew out of a desire to provide a voice for Minnesota veterans about their contributions and their experiences returning to home, work and community life after deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Each interview will be digitally recorded, transcribed into written form, and archived by the Minnesota Historical Society. The stories will also be used to create a traveling exhibit.
Karly Vogel (at right) joined the Minnesota Air National Guard in 2002, partly as a way to pay for college. In 2004—at the age of 20—she requested and was granted a chaplain assistant position at Landstuhl Army Base in Germany, where she spent six months ministering to wounded service members coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, she is a Military OneSource consultant. Listen to excerpts from her interview. (3 min)
Information for oral history interviewers
Interviewers do not need prior training or experience. All interviewers associated with the project participate in a three-hour training offered through a collaboration of the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota National Guard, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship. Digital recording equipment and assistance setting up an interview is provided by the Center for Democracy and Citizenship. Since March 2008, approximately 25 people have been trained as interviewers. For more information, contact Kristin Farrell, project coordinator, at 612-625-0142 or repe0002@umn.edu.
Would you like to tell your story of military service in Iraq or Afghanistan?
Nearly a dozen veterans have given one to two hours of their time to be interviewed. Like interviewers, they have described the experience as positive and respectful. For more information, contact Kristin Farrell, project coordinator, at 612-625-0142 or repe0002@umn.edu.
If you have an interest in helping develop a traveling exhibit, contact Kristin Farrell, project coordinator, at 612-625-0142 or repe0002@umn.edu.
Goals and timeline
- Trained interviewers will collect at least 20 oral histories with recent veterans, participate in the processing of the interviews, and write reflections about their experiences by January 2009.
- The pool of interviewees will include members from each branch of the armed forces, with a range of responsibilities in their service; they will include men and women and come from rural and urban Minnesota.
- Volunteers with varied experiences and perspectives will create an oral history exhibit that will be displayed in the Twin Cities and Moorhead, and possibly other locations around the state.
Partners
Center for Democracy and Citizenship
Minnesota Historical Society
Minnesota National Guard
Minnesota Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Minnesota State University-Moorhead
The Library of Congress has a veteran’s history project and will accept and archive materials from this project. Oral histories will also be considered for submission to National Public Radio’s Story Corps project.
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