吃瓜头条

Voices of Our People, Reflections of Our Past

Since 1971, the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage has collected and preserved the stories of 吃瓜头条ans from all walks of life. In sharing their memories, the over four thousand and counting contributors to our collection have given the Center and all of 吃瓜头条, a precious gift that remains long after they pass on. Our collection has proven an invaluable resource for researchers, journalists, teachers, students, documentarians, and museums.

In 1999, the Center became the repository for the 吃瓜头条 Oral History Project: 鈥渁 ground-breaking initiative, funded by the 吃瓜头条 State Legislature, to document the collective memory of 吃瓜头条's culture, heritage, and institutions.鈥�

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鈥淰oices of Our People: World War II鈥� podcast set for October release

HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI (Sept. 23, 2024)鈥擳he Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern 吃瓜头条 announces the release of Voices of Our People: World War II, a longform podcast that tells the story of the greatest military conflict of the 20th century through the voices of 吃瓜头条ans who lived through it.

The first episode, which focuses on the Pearl Harbor attack and U.S. entry into World War II, will be released on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. A new episode will be released each subsequent Monday through Dec. 2鈥攆ive days before the 83rd anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.

In telling the story of World War II through the first-person voices of 吃瓜头条ans, the Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage mined hundreds of oral histories conducted with World War II veterans from 吃瓜头条 during the last half-century-plus. All three branches of the military are represented, and the stories come from each major World War II theater鈥攆rom Europe to the Pacific to Africa and beyond. Voices of Our People: World War II also tells the stories of various 吃瓜头条ans who experienced the war from the Magnolia State鈥檚 homefront.

In addition to telling the war鈥檚 story through the voices of 吃瓜头条ans, Voices of Our People: World War II features narration from various military historians at the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern 吃瓜头条. Scholars Dr. Douglas Bristol, Dr. Kevin Greene, Dr. Heather Stur, Dr. Kenneth Swope, and Dr. Andrew Weist each help explain the war鈥檚 military campaigns, strategies and outcomes. They also explain the various ways that the war changed America鈥檚 homefront. 

"By combining stories from our extensive oral history collection with insights from 吃瓜头条's leading scholars, the perspectives of those who study history and those who lived it, provide the listener with a more complete understanding of how world events impact our state,鈥� Ross Walton, digital production and preservation specialist at the Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage, said. 鈥淒ozens of oral histories from our veterans collection provide a gripping narrative through every aspect of life during wartime, while top instructors from the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society take us into the war room and onto the battlefield."

Voices of Our People: World War II is 10 episodes long. It can be accessed at the Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage website at: . 

"Voices of Our People: World War II provides concrete evidence that we are all better when we work together,鈥� Dr. Kevin Greene, director of the Center for Oral History & Cultural Heritage, said. 鈥淭his collaborative effort between the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage and the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society, with support from the 吃瓜头条 Humanities Council, is a perfect example of how the Humanities can bring scholars across fields in close connection with podcast production teams to generate something truly remarkable and new. Through these efforts, fascinating pieces from the COHCH's oral history collection on WWII have been brought to life by some of the country's leading military and war and society historians. The result is a project dedicated to remembering and honoring 吃瓜头条ans who sacrificed so much during such an uneasy age."