Veterans oral history project launched

by Beth Haysom

A new university and community partnership will ensure that the voices and memories of Vancouver Island veterans are preserved for future generations.

The veterans oral history project, initially offered as a special course last year, is now a regular part of UVic's history curriculum, thanks to a partnership with the Royal United Services Institute of Vancouver Island, a non-profit organization that includes serving and retired officers of the Canadian and Allied forces and the RCMP.

The project enables undergraduate students in the new "Veterans and Oral History" course to interview and archive the personal stories of veterans, including peacekeepers and veterans' families. The institute is matching 10 history students currently in the new course, with veterans according to their areas of interest. Their stories will be available in UVic's library as research material for other students and historians.

"The veteran's record of oral history is vitally important, because it's their own story," said B.C. Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo at a special ceremony with university staff, veterans and students. "In some cases, they've now revealed what was once too painful to speak about in the years immediately following the conflicts in which they participated. We're indebted to every veteran who has contributed their personal memories to the history of our province and country that they have served with such distinction."

Campagnolo was on campus to honour history professor emeritus Dr. Reginald Roy, who served with the Cape Breton Highlanders and helped to write the official Canadian history of World War II. As a professor at Victoria College and UVic from 1958 to 1988, Roy encouraged his students to use oral history as a research tool. Now his earlier research, and the oral histories collected by the new project housed in UVic's McPherson Library special collections, will be named "The Reg Roy Military History Collection."

"I'm proud to recognize Prof. Roy for his valuable contribution to UVic and for his part in helping to preserve this country's collective historical memories," says UVic President David Turpin. "The foundation he has laid in partnership with the university and the veterans in our community will allow this significant work to endure."

The institute is fundraising for the course and is helping the UVic library index the materials to make them publicly available. Eventually, it hopes to expand the project up island to interview veterans living in Nanaimo, Courtenay, Comox and Campbell River.