UCF Community Veterans History Project

2024 Florida Emancipation Weekend Celebration Gala Come celebrate freedom and unity at the 2024 Florida Emancipation Weekend Celebration Gala!

This Thursday, November 16, it is our privilege to welcome Dr. Barbara Gannon to our HCWRT for the first time ever! Dr. Gannon will be speaking on "The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army.” As usual, our meeting will be held at Rudi Lechner's German Restaurant, 7 p.m.

Barbara A. Gannon is a professor of history at the University of Central Florida (UCF). She received her B.A. from Emory University, an M.A. from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of "The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic" (University of North Carolina Press, 2011). This book received the Wiley-Silver Prize (University of Mississippi) for the best first book in Civil War History. It also received an honorable mention from the Lincoln Prize (Gilder Lehrman Institute) jury in 2012. She published her second book, "Americans Remember their Civil War" (Praeger) in 2017. Dr. Gannon has authored several articles and essays on the Civil War, its memory, and American veterans. These articles include a study of an African American woman who served with the 23rd Indiana, the Mississippi Valley Campaign before Vicksburg National Military Park, and the First Battle at Bull Run Battlefield National Park. In addition to her research, she is the coordinator of the UCF Community Veterans History Project, an oral history project recording the experiences of Florida’s veterans. Her current project involves the Battle of Olustee Battlefield State Park, the largest Civil War battle in Florida, where the Union dead remain near where they fell on the battlefield in an unmarked grave. Dr. Gannon is a veteran of the U.S. Army.

Remember - Thursday, November 16 @ 7 p.m. Visit our web site (http://www.houstoncivilwar.com/meetings.shtml) and make your reservation today - we're looking forward to seeing you there.

#VeteranOfTheDay Army Air Force Veteran Lawrence Dickson - VA News Today’s is Army Air Force Veteran Lawrence Dickson, who served with the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.

Community Veterans History Project Continues to Preserve Local Military History During Pandemic A student project to record the stories of veterans has continued through the pandemic, with the interviews being done remotely.

History student named Boren Fellow Rachael Rothstein-Safra ’17, a recent history alumna and staff member for the UCF Community Veterans History Project was named a Boren fellow. Fellows represent highly motivated individuals who are selected to study languages deemed critical to U.S. national security.

Coleman, Bill C

Today the VHP acknowleges the 74 year anniversary of D-Day, America's invasion into Europe, by sharing the story of one of our past interviewees, Bill Coleman. Take a listen to his story about dropping into France with the 101st Airborne (go to 25:10 in video to begin hearing about his preparation and jump).

Coleman, Bill C

We're packing up! The VHP Team is traveling to St. Pete to conduct a History Day with the Masonic Home of Florida. We'll be posting about our trip throughout the day on Thursday.

If you're interested in hosting a Veterans History Project History Day for your business or group let us know and we can help set it up!

This week we are highlighting one of our new team members. Sharon Rodriguez is a graduate of the UCF History program and works as the project's research assistant. She conducts research for interviews, supports interview processing, and interviews veterans. Welcome to the team Sharon!

Our VHP team has been busy creating resources to better explain how we go about collecting oral histories. Keep a look out for tips on how to conduct your own oral histories.