Have you been watching? Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s ten-part PBS documentary series The Vietnam War is generating a great deal of interest in our nation’s experience during the conflict. Satisfy your own curiosity by exploring sources available here in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center of the Davenport Public Library.
Arlen Beck
Our collection of oral histories includes two sets of interviews with Quad-City area Vietnam War veterans:
In 2009, students from Davenport’s Intermediate Schools spoke with fifteen men who served in the armed forces during the war for the Iowa Stories 2000 Project (Acc#2005-02). The photographs posted here were collected for the display boards the students made to present what they had learned of the veterans’ experiences.
Barrie Gordon
Robert E. Brooks
In April of 2010, Cathy Ahrens’ students at Bettendorf High School recorded interviews with Vietnam veterans Robert J. Konrardy, Robert Van McQueen, Ken Nevenhoven, James Wilferd Peters, Norm Eugene Slead, Steve John Speth, and Jim Cumberworth, part of the collection Interviews with U.S. Military Service Veterans -Bettendorf High School (Acc#2010-17).
The Fold3 History and Genealogy database, accessible online from home with your DPL card, offers several record sets in which an individual service member’s name may be searched:
Also available in Fold3 is a research guide on the Vietnam War:
Finally, the RSSC Center is the home of the library’s Government Documents collection. Publications on the history of the Vietnam War (D 221.2:V 67) are available by request at our service desk.
(posted by Katie)
