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Date: 3/2/2022
HOLYOKE – A $15,000 grant will help preserve the memories and experiences of Holyoke veterans.
The Wistariahurst Museum received a grant in collaboration with the city’s Veterans’ Services that will support the museum’s planned Veterans Uniform Exhibit later this year and will collect eight to 10 oral histories of Holyoke vets.
Penni Martorell, the project coordinator and curator at Wistariahurst, explained to Reminder Publishing the origins of the project. She said Veterans Services has received a number of vintage uniforms and “we wanted to tell their stories.”
The uniform exhibit is planned for May and Martorell said the interviews would be collected in April, May and June. She said the plan to have the transcriptions of the interviews ready for late fall. The transcriptions would then be available to the public and researchers.
She said the creation of the exhibit will be assisted by University of Massachusetts student Nick Anderson.
She added she hopes to have several of the interviews on video to be posted in YouTube.
This is the first time the museum and the veterans’ office has participated in a veterans’ oral history project.
“It’s a wonderful program,” Martorell said.
“We are delighted this project is bringing some positive attention to our Holyoke Veteran community,” said Jesus Pereira, director of Holyoke Veterans’ Services. “It is a chance for Holyoke vets to share their stories and educate future generations about their experiences.”
Martorell said the interviews will be a diverse number of vets, representing the military services as well as age and gender.
“Oral history interviews are rich sources of information because of their personal nature,” she added.
She is now looking for interviewers. Candidates will be asked to take a one- day training session later this month to review interviewing practices and technology. Wistariahurst will provide recording technology and transcription.
Veterans who are interested in participating should either be a Holyoke resident or have a connection to the city, she added.
If you are interested in being an interviewer, contact Martorell at martorellp@holyoke.org, or call her at 322-5660. If you are a veteran interested in being interviewed, contact Pereira at pereiraj@holyoke.org or 322-5630. The Veterans’ Heritage Preservation grant program is offered through support from the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Massachusetts General Court. Activities of the MA SHRAB are also supported by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
“We’re really excited about it,” Martorell said.