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Veterans Oral History Project
Living Legacies: Veterans Oral History Project
Each day the Torrance community loses valuable history. From April through September 2012, Torrance Public Library collected oral interviews of local veterans in an effort to preserve their stories of sacrifice, reflect the realities of war, and help future generations understand military service. The Living Legacies Project was the result of California State Library's Get Involved Book-To-Action Project. The grant was awarded in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The purpose of the Living Legacies Project was to preserve the military histories of local veterans through the efforts of volunteers. Torrance Public Library partnered with the Southwest Oral History Association for guidance and training. During several workshops, adult and teen volunteers were trained by the Southwest Oral History Association's instructors on methods of conducting and transcribing veterans' histories. The Library collected veterans' names and contact information and coordinated interviews between each veteran and volunteer. The Living Legacies Project completed eleven interviews. The interviews are unedited and uncut and encompass both military experience and brief biographies. The archiving of the oral interviews materials was accomplished by the following methods: posted on the Torrance Public Library's website (http://www.library.torranceca.gov/); forwarded to the Library of Congress with the purpose of being added to the Veterans History Project at the American Folklife Center; transcribed and self-published by the Torrance Public Library.
Watch the Living Legacies: Veterans Oral History video here!
Listen to the Living Legacies: Veterans Oral History podcasts below:
Nathan Almond
for a transcript of this interview, click here.
Nathan Almond 7-12.MP3
Robert E. Angleton
Jack Benedict
Jack Benedict part 1.MP3
Elias Castillo
Elias Castillo--Victoria Corpus 8-12.MP3
Joseph Eskenazi
Denise Nunez
Denise Nunez 8-12.MP3
Neil Reinhardt
Neil Reinhardt 9-12.MP3
Harry Ringer
Harry Ross
Gerry Snyder
Gerry Snyder 5-12.MP3
This project was made possible in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian