The Albert Gore Research Center at MTSU is asking the public to help honor the nation’s military veterans by continuing to add those veterans’ stories to its extensive archives.

Dr. Jim Williams

The Gore Research Center is an official partner in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, which collects, preserves and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

“The Veterans History Project is a public service as part of the mission of the Gore Research Center, but we depend on donations from the public to keep the project going,” said Jim Williams, director of the Albert Gore Research Center. “Costs include supplies, travel and transcription fees.”

The center is asking the public to consider a $50 donation to “adopt, symbolically,” an interview with a veteran, Williams said. The tax-deductible donation of $50 or more can be made by mail or online:

• Checks can be made payable to the MTSU Foundation and mailed to Director, Albert Gore Research Center, MTSU Box 193, 1301 E. Main St., Murfreesboro TN  37132. Donors should note “Veterans History Project” on their checks.
• Donors can contribute online via the secure MTSU Foundation website at http://bit.ly/1pgOWdk. Just click the button for “Adopt a Veteran.”

Click on the flier above to see a printable version.

For more information, visit http://gorecenter.mtsu.edu/AdoptVeteran.pdf.

Veterans and those who know a veteran who would like to be interviewed should contact oral history project coordinator Jim Havron at jim.havron@mtsu.edu.

To date, the Gore Research Center has conducted and registered more than 250 interviews with the Library of Congress as part of the Middle Tennessee Oral History Project. For information and to listen to the recordings, visit http://gorecenter.mtsu.edu/research/MTOralHistory.shtml.

The center has also archived 139 interviews of veterans completed by MTSU students for class assignments. For information about these interviews, or to listen to the recordings, visit http://gorecenter.mtsu.edu/research/VeteransOralHistories.shtml.

Any veteran of any branch of service is now eligible to be included in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/vets.

Located in Todd Hall Suite 128, the Gore Research Center is open for research 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters. Summer hours vary, so call 615-898-2632 for details or visit http://gorecenter.mtsu.edu.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)