Bringing War Home Project
Many of us are familiar with wartime souvenirs, whether we have direct experience with the battlefield or not. Some of these objects are personal, a way for veterans to preserve their experiences. Often, we treasure objects from our relatives who have participated in the wars of the 20th century; special things linger on as memorials that help our families tell the stories of how beloved fathers, grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers, cousins, and siblings contributed to the larger history of war. 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 invites the community--military and civilian alike--to connect with the history of war through sharing wartime objects and the personal stories that surround them.
Upcoming Roadshows
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2023 | UHS Engagement Room, 7292 S State St. Midvale, UT 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. |
Resources available in partnership with UPR
'Bringing War Home' Roadshows
Students and volunteers are eager to document and preserve these special items in a planned community archive to be housed with USU libraries. Such public history preserved in a digital archive will enable students, educators, and future generations to engage with these important sources of our shared past. Working with Utah Public Radio, we also plan to record the family narratives that accompany such objectives in order to appreciate fully the long-term impact of war. Using the objects and stories collected at these roadshows, we will be working with USU Digital Initiatives to create an accessible, public digital archive and exhibition “Effects of War: Stories and Objects from Utah.”
We invite you to share your story in a recorded interview with Utah Public Radio.
Share Your Story
Book Discussion Kits
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Bringing War Home Project at Utah State University offers book club kits for Tim O'Brien's classic novella about the Vietnam War experience The Things They Carried.
Book club kits include copies of the book, discussion questions, and additional resources including links to videos, additional veterans' writing and the history of the Vietnam war.
Host your own book club or contact us to facilitate a discussion group.
World War I Artifacts Roadshow - November 2018
In November 2018, USU's class "1918 Anglo-American Culture and Society in a World at War," in conjunction with Utah Public Radio and the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, hosted a roadshow to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Armistice Day.
Members of the Cache Valley community were invited to bring in World War I artifacts to highlight Utah's local connections to The Great War. Check out the storymap USU alumni Angela Roderiguez created to commemorate this event.
Americans live with the material artifacts of war--knitted socks produced by our grandmothers at home, postcards sent from war zones. We might have a family memento that originated in France or Laos, but no way of placing this object in context. Through our project, we aim to provide students, veterans, military family members, and the general public with an opportunity to gain access to the tools to contextualize, preserve, and analyze these objects and the stories that surround them.
By creating the source base for future community-based discussions, we will help Utahns create a living digital archive not only of the objects of war but also the stories that convey their personal meaning.
Our Partners
- National Endowment for the Humanities Dialogues on the Experiences of War
- Utah Public Radio
- Hill Aerospace Museum
- Fort Douglas Military Museum
- Hyrum City Museum
- Logan Library
- USU Statewide Campuses
- USU Office of Veteran Resources
- USU Digital Initiatives
- USU Department of History
- USU Museum of Anthropology