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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

Serving: Our Voices

Serving in the military is an experience unique to each veteran. Our mission at the Veterans History Project (VHP) is to collect, preserve, and make accessible these stories of service for future generations. Whether these narratives take the form of oral history interviews or original manuscript and photograph materials, they are a treasure trove of individual feelings, personal recollections, and primary source materials representing the voices of those who took an oath to serve our nation.

Serving: Our Voices is a series of online presentations designed to highlight VHP collections centered on a particular theme. Since 2003, we have curated these exhibits to illuminate the broad spectrum of experiences, topics, and materials contained within the archive. Organized by topic and conflict, Serving: Our Voices offers a glimpse into the infinite research possibilities that our collections contain. Here, we serve collections that open our eyes and our hearts, that surprise and confound us, and that complicate and expand typical narratives of service.

Use the navigation menu to the left to dive into the dozens of online presentations that we currently offer. Return frequently, as this list is ever growing. Other resources for discovery are available via the Explore the Collections section of our website.

Please join our effort by contributing a veteran’s collection to the Veterans History Project. Each contribution makes our collection all the richer for researchers and future generations. Learn how you can participate in the Veterans History Project.

Featured Theme

Woman typing on a computer
Tamika Brown, VHP processing technician, works on transcribing VHP correspondence collections in her home office. Photo courtesy of Tamika Brown.

Line by Line: Transcribed Correspondence

The Veterans History Project (VHP) archive contains thousands of collections featuring original correspondence, letters written by servicemen and women to their families and friends at home. These letters are fascinating historical documents, rich with details about each veteran’s service experiences—but their handwritten contents can sometimes be hard to decipher, particularly for modern eyes.

Beginning in the spring of 2020, VHP began transcribing a handful of our digitized correspondence collections. This project served two purposes: it increased the accessibility of these letters, and it also provided opportunities for telework for staff who were not working onsite due to the pandemic. Over the past two years, Library of Congress staff have transcribed nearly 50 correspondence collections, some of which are featured below. We invite you to explore the original letters and their side-by-side transcripts, and immerse yourself in these veterans’ words and experiences, line by line.