AUSTIN, Texas—World War II from the perspective of Mexican nationals who fought in the United States military and the legacy of the war on Mexican American civil rights will be among topics discussed in Washington, D.C., Sept. 12 during a national forum involving the U.S. Latino and Latina WWII Oral History Project that was started at The University of Texas at Austin.
The Commemorative Forum on Latinos and Latinas in World War II will feature scholars from across the country and showcase themes that have emerged from more than 450 interviews of military veterans who participated in the oral history project. The forum, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 12 at the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation Naval Heritage Center Theatre at 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, is free and open to the public.
Topics to be discussed during the forum include: The War Time Experience from the Perspective of Mexican Nationals, New Mexico Mine Workers, The Long-Term Impact of the War and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and The Legacy of the War on Mexican American Civil Rights.
The U.S. Latino and Latina WWII Oral History Project, directed by Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, has met its goals to create an archive of primary source material to be housed at two libraries at The University of Texas at Austin—the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection and the Center for American History. The archive includes interviews, mostly videotaped, and digitized photographs, photocopies of discharge papers and other documents. The archives will open to the public in 2005. The project has several components, including a newspaper dedicated to interviews, a play developed by Arizona State University and The University of Texas at Austin and a documentary. The project is supported by the State of Texas, grants, and corporate and individual donors.
For more information contact: Yazmin Lazcano, U.S. Latino and Latina WWII Oral History Project, 512-471-1924, or Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, 512-475-7847.
