A federal grant and a gift from a veteran’s estate will help further the work of UT’s Center for the Study of War and Society.
The center in partnership with UT Libraries has received a grant of about $19,000 from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission toward the cost of digitizing 167 oral histories of World War II veterans from the center’s collection to put them online. This eighteen-month $100,000 project aligns with NHPRC’s goal to “promote the preservation and use of America’s documentary heritage essential to understanding our democracy, history, and culture.”
Assistant Professor Rabia Gibbs in the library spearheaded the grant application effort.
Also, the center has received $100,000 from the estate of a longtime supporter, the late Col. John Bradley McKinney, who died in October 2013 at the age of 95.
This bequest will support the ongoing activities of the center, including expanding its oral history program.
Colonel McKinney attended UT, and was in the US Army Signal Corps. His twenty-seven years of military service spanned World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. After his service, he worked as president and CEO of ITT World Communications.
Together with his wife, the late Marsha Bonds McKinney, McKinney supported the center with monetary gifts for many years. The McKinney Lecture series honored that support.
“We are so grateful for the marvelous generosity of the McKinneys,” said Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, Lindsay Young Professor of History and center director. “Their estate gift, along with this grant will help keep the center active in educating the public about war and society in American and world history.”
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C O N T A C T :
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)