Bringing War Home Project Invites Community to Logan Roadshow

Community members with an object and a story to share are invited to the Bringing War Home project at the Dan Gyllenskog Veterans Resource Center on April 13.

Through a National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored program led by two Utah State University faculty from history and anthropology, the Bringing War Home project is inviting the community — military and civilian alike — to connect with the history of war through sharing wartime objects and the personal stories that surround them.

Students and volunteers will document and preserve these special items and stories digitally in a planned community archive to be housed with USU Libraries.

“Based on past roadshows where I have listened to stories about friendships in wartime, I am looking forward to connecting with the community again and hearing about more experiences,” USU student Tessa Goodsell said.

Mike Kelly, another USU student, said, “Curation is preserving [the] history of a material object. Not only do you preserve it, it’s about the story and the memory of the item.”

Public history preserved in this archive will enable students, educators and future generations to engage with these important sources of our shared past. Working with Utah Public Radio and the USU Digital Initiatives will create an accessible and public digital archive to record and share family narratives and significant wartime objects.

The goal of Bringing War Home is to create opportunities for veterans, military families, students and communities to join in ongoing conversations on how personal objects and stories can help us understand war. In the past, participants have brought both personal wartime objects and family members’ objects, including photographs, medals, souvenirs, items of clothing, and even a pair of Civil War drumsticks to add to the digital collection.

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1760 N. 200 East, Suite 100 in North Logan, For more information, visit: https://www.usu.edu/mountainwest/bringing-war-home.

The project also invites people to record an oral history account of their objects with UPR here: https://www.upr.org/.

A cornerstone of Utah State University, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences brings together faculty members engaged in original research and creative activities to teach and mentor students who aspire to be leaders in their professions and communities. Degrees in humanities and social sciences cultivate highly adaptable professional skills in students through teaching effective communication, research, data analysis, and creative problem-solving.