Week 2 Blog - Bring Them Home

This week, I and the other Olustee/VHP members met over Zoom to discuss housekeeping, logistics, and expectations. Since I am the newest member of the team, Dr. Gannon (head of the Olustee Project) asked me to browse through the project's Google Drive and previously done work to catch myself up to speed with the rest of the crew. 

I spent time browsing through the Drive, looking at photos, videos, documents, and previous work to get a better understanding of the project at hand. There has been a lot of work done on the project, and a lot more needs to be done as well.

We also discussed each person's individual role in the interviewing and post-processing tasks I mentioned in my previous blog - although at this time, my role has yet to be determined beyond that of providing helping hands where need be. We are meeting again next Tuesday for further training and updates, which I believe will provide me with some more specific tasks to work on! 

I found myself excited at the sheer importance of the project; both in its public history and veteran's legacy ties. Bringing awareness to the Union soldiers of the Olustee Battle and memorializing them is certainly a task worth doing - but I love how the project aims to discover the oral histories of the communities connected to this event, while also including these communities in the commemoration process. It is clear that the folks who have been working on the project appreciate the work being done (as they keep returning) but also that they have learned valuable oral history and community outreach skills that will aid them in their future careers. 

I never got the chance to take oral history in my undergraduate and graduate career, so learning these concepts and seeing the tangible connections these stories create has been very eye-opening. 

Remarkably befitting the essence of the Olustee project, Dr. Gannon ended the meeting with the project's poignant catchphrase: "bring them home," which serves as a powerful impetus, inciting within me a determination to ensure these soldiers find their stories told, regardless of the circumstances history has placed them within.

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