The Dartmouth Vietnam Project

The Dartmouth Vietnam Project (DVP) brings together members of the Dartmouth community to conduct, record, and preserve oral histories about the Vietnam War era (1950–1975). We define Dartmouth community broadly, including students and alumni, faculty and staff, parents and families, and Upper Valley residents. The DVP seeks diverse recollections of the Vietnam era, from military service to campus and anti-war activism, political campaigns, and everyday life.

This project is a collaborative effort among current Dartmouth students, alumni and community members, and faculty and staff. Dartmouth alumni and community members volunteer to share their stories of the Vietnam War era at Dartmouth and beyond. Each summer, a new cohort of students is trained in the art of oral history interviewing by a team of faculty, staff, and experts. As part of Dartmouth's commitment to experiential learning, student participants then apply their skills by conducting oral history interviews with alumni and community volunteers. The DVP thereby fosters new connections across generations to record a vital era of Dartmouth's—and the nation's—history.

The transcript and recording of each oral history interview is made available to the public through an online archive, and will be permanently catalogued at Rauner Special Collections Library as part of the Dartmouth College archives. In making these oral histories widely available, the Dartmouth Vietnam Project not only contributes to Dartmouth's own historical record, but also deepens the public history of the Vietnam era by providing unique and invaluable sources for scholars and the general public alike.