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Letters, Diaries, Interviews With Vets Provided By Kansas Historical Society

By Laura Ziegler

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-993376.mp3

Topeka, Kansas – For Veteran's Day, a story about a little known collection of photographs, diaries, recorded interviews, maps, and letters on the website of the Kansas Historical Society.

All of the artifacts on the ever-expanding Kansas Memory Site are primary sources provided by families and friends for archival purposes.

While the website has a number of categories such as "buildings," "notable people," and "wars," we focus this Veteran's Day on the category of "military."

Head of Collections for the Kansas Historical Society, Nancy Sherbert, says memorabilia and artifacts have been collected over the last several years and include a large flag collection, ammunition, and recorded interviews with World War II veterans. The material is accessible at The Kansas Historical Society or by visiting its reading room and museum in Topeka.

Sherbert talks to Laura Ziegler about some specific items at the Kansas Memory site. She reads from a moving letter written by a Civil War Nurse who watched a young patient call out his mother's name just before he died. We hear a clip from a recorded interview with a soldier who fought at the Battle of the Bulge. She discusses Charles Robert Woods, who was both a Union Commander during the Civil War and a soldier in the Kansas Indian Wars.

Click here to see the letter from the Civil War Nurse.
Click here to listen to the Kansas Memory podcast, Veterans Remember.
Click here to visit the Kansas Memory web archive.

I partner with communities to uncover the ignored or misrepresented stories by listening and letting communities help identify and shape a narrative. My work brings new voices, sounds, and an authentic sense of place to our coverage of the Kansas City region. My goal is to tell stories on the radio, online, on social media and through face to face conversations that enhance civic dialogue and provide solutions.
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