Unknown oral histories of the Cold War abound in Texas, and before they become lost to history, the Texas Historical Commission hopes to document as many as possible by providing attendees with the necessary skills to conduct their own oral history recordings through a series of workshops occurring throughout the state.
"When the Lone Star State Met the Iron Curtain: Recollections of Texas in the Cold War" is a THC initiative to interpret and preserve the history of the varied roles Texans played in the Cold War from 1946–1991.
The project goal is to honor the memories of both Texans who served in the armed forces as well as those who made contributions on the home front.
Initial funding is made possible through the support of The Summerlee Foundation located in Dallas, which previously contributed to the THC’s award-winning Texas in World War II oral history workshop series.
Because of the potentially high number of first-person perspectives on this time period, the THC will offer free regional oral history training workshops in 12 communities across the state over the next two years to assist the agency in gathering information. A new THC web page dedicated to the project will also be created where workshop updates will be posted.
The first workshop will take place in Taylor County at the Lawn Atlas Missile Base decommissioned missile silo on Aug. 24. For more information, contact the THC’s military historian, William McWhorter, at 512-463-5833 or email william.mcwhorter@thc.state.tx.us.
Source: yourhoustonnews
