The Vietnam Center and Archive collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam Center and Archive, part of Texas Tech University, is the nation's largest and most comprehensive collection of information on the Vietnam War. On August 17, 2007, the Texas Tech Vietnam Center became the first U.S. institution to sign a formalized exchange agreement with the State Records and Archives Department of Vietnam. This opens the door for a two-way exchange between the entities.
History
In May 1989, a group of Vietnam veterans from West Texas gathered at Texas Tech University to discuss what they might do, in a positive way, about their experiences in Vietnam. Their meeting was spearheaded by James Reckner, a Texas Tech military history professor and two-tour Navy veteran of the Vietnam War who had become concerned with his students’ lack of knowledge about the war. The group's immediate decision was to form a Vietnam Archive and begin collecting and preserving materials relating to the American Vietnam experience.
On December 2, 1989, the Texas Tech University Board of Regents approved the creation of the Center for the Study of the Vietnam Conflict. Its dual missions are to fund and guide the development of the Vietnam Archive and encourage continuing study of all aspects of the American Vietnam experience.
The group of veterans who first met in May 1989 was invited to form a board to provide guidance and support for the Vietnam Center. Since then, the Vietnam Center Advisory Board has met regularly to provide advice as the Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech has evolved.
Many of the veterans who attended the first meeting in May 1989 continue to advise the Vietnam Center today.
In 2009, the Vietnam Center and Archive celebrated its 20th Anniversary. The guest speaker for the 20th Anniversary Ball was H. Ross Perot. Mr. Perot spoke about his work on POW/MIA issues, as well as the experiences of his friend, Congressman Sam Johnson, a former POW from the Vietnam War.
Vietnam Center and Archive's goals
The Vietnam Center's mission is to support and encourage research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam experience; promoting a greater understanding of this experience and the peoples and cultures of Southeast Asia. The Vietnam Center provides administrative support for the Vietnam Archive and promotes education by organizing and hosting conferences and symposia each year. The Vietnam Center is currently located in the basement of the Math building at Texas Tech University.
The Vietnam Archive's mission is to collect and preserve the documentary record of the Vietnam War. The Archive is committed to preserving the record of individuals who participated in the War and to providing greater understanding of their experiences. While the Vietnam Archive continues this commitment as its primary objective, it has expanded its collection policy to include records of veterans' organizations and scholars of the period as well as other individuals and organizations who share experiences from the war in Vietnam.
The Vietnam Archive has collected millions of pages of material and tens of thousands of photographs, slides, maps, periodicals, audio, moving images, and books related to the Vietnam War, Indochina, and the impact of the war on the United States and Southeast Asia. The Vietnam Archive continues to collect materials today. It is a donation-driven archive, meaning they only have items that people have donated to them. A large portion of their materials are from military veterans, but the archive also contains collections donated by researchers and civilian anti-war demonstrators. The Vietnam Archive places equal importance upon preserving records relating to all aspects of the Vietnam War and wishes to preserve a complete history of the war era. It is currently located in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library building at Texas Tech University.