Help needed for good idea (6/9/03)

Sometimes an idea comes along that’s so good on its face that you have to wonder why somebody didn’t think of it before.

That’s the case with what’s officially called Public Law 106-380.

Passed quietly a couple of years ago with unanimous support of the Congress and the White House, the law calls for collection and preservation of oral histories of America’s war veterans.

The lead institution for the project is the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and the official partner in our area is Minnetrista, east central Indiana’s cultural heritage center. Based in Muncie, Minnetrista has been rededicating itself to a regional mission of “telling the stories” of this part of Indiana, our roots, our environment, our history, and our mutual concerns.

The veterans’ history project is a perfect match of that mission and the national goal of preserving an important part of American history.

Tapes and transcripts from oral histories will be kept in Minnetrista’s climate-controlled archives where they’ll be available to researchers in the future. Information on that collection will be sent to the Library of Congress which is building a national registry of the project.

But for the project to work, Minnetrista needs local partners. That’s where Jay County’s veterans’ organizations can play a critical role, working with Minnetrista to promote the project and bringing veterans together with those equipped to record their stories.

The first step is to make contact. We’d urge leaders from all veterans’ organizations and other interested parties to contact Karen Vincent, director of collections at Minnetrista, to see how they can work together to secure a piece of American history. Her number is (765) 213-3540, extension 147, and her e-mail address is [email protected].

Even a great idea doesn’t amount to much if people don’t act on it. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]