Registration open for local veterans oral history event

URBANA — Registration is now open for local veterans seeking to enter their oral histories into the Library of Congress.

Randy Rosenbaum, Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, announced that the Champaign County Circuit Court and its various partners will join in the Veterans History Project’s project this year to record personal accounts of American war veterans.

The event will take place on Nov. 8 at the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana wherein judges will interview registered veterans, and each interview will be recorded and transcribed by a volunteer court reporter to be then archived in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

American veterans can register for the event online at co.champaign.il.us/circuitcourt/veteranhistory.php. Registration is open now until Oct. 25, though spaces are limited.

The project’s mission is to “collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war,” Rosenbaum said in a notice announcing the event.

“This program has been done in other courthouses around Illinois and all participants have found it to be a moving and inspirational experience,” he added.

The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 as part of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center. Questions can be sent to VeteranEvent@ChampaignCountyIL.gov.