News and Announcements

Former Veterans History Project graduate student Caleb Pittman recently reached out to us to share information about a new initiative that he is working on to support veterans’ wellness: The Creative Arts for Veterans (CAV) Book is an interdisciplinary (human rights, social work, and art therapy) designed therapeutic guidebook to aid in improving well-being through arts-based exercises infused with social work and art therapy practices, veteran narratives, and supplemental veteran-centric wellness resources. CAV Books are accompanied with art supplies (oil pastels, water-colored pencils, paintbrush, pencil sharpener, and charcoals). Evidence based research shows that arts-based wellness can reduce symptoms related to isolation, anxiety, depression, loneliness, post-traumatic stress, military sexual trauma, transition…

In addition to oral history interviews, the Veterans History Project also collects military documents, diaries, memorabilia, newspapers, and photographs that our interviewed veterans have shared with us. We scan or photograph these historic artifacts, return the originals to the veteran, and preserve the scans both at the Library of Congress and on our own website. When you search our collections, you can find links to these photographs and documents alongside the biographical information about the veteran and the link to their interview: Like the interviews themselves, these photographs and documents serve as a rich treasure trove of historical information that offer a detailed view of life as an American soldier.…