http://www.unr.edu/oralhistory

This week we’re launching the new website for the published collection of the University of Nevada Oral History Program (UNOHP), which I have directed since July 2009. The website can be found here, and we’re still loading transcripts and tweaking various search functions, but we’ve decided that it’s complete enough for people to begin exploring, and I couldn’t be more proud.

We have items in the collection dating back to 1965, the first year interviews were conducted after the program was founded in 1964. We’ll be adding other transcripts over the next month, for a total of more than 700 interviews on topics ranging from cattle ranching to community bike shops.  The earliest interviewees were born in the 1880s, giving us an incredible record of the entire twentieth century, and in some cases, even earlier.

I’ll be posting about selected items from the collection all week, and on this Memorial Day, it seems fitting to highlight the World War II Veterans Project, a compilation of oral history interviews with 17 Nevada veterans of World War II who bravely served throughout the world. Their words, like those of so many others in the collection, tell a story not just of Nevada, but of America. I am thrilled that they are now available for everyone to appreciate and enjoy.