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Educational Archive Resource, Inc.
Educational Archive Resource was established in December, 2002, as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. The Archive was formed to coordinates the collection, organization and dissemination of the oral of witnesses to events of cultural and historical importance. The Archive’s Oral History Project will facilitate the transmission of cultural history, values, and wisdom across generations of Americans. The Archive’s officers and board of directors include formal educators at both college and high school levels many of whom are veterans of the armed services.
Currently, the Archive focuses on the World War II generation: those citizens who served in the armed forces or in support of those forces. The Archive grew out of a personal inspiration of Gregory D. Hocutt who began to preserve veterans’ oral histories for the benefit of his son. The target audience of the Archive has since expanded to include all Americans and any others who might benefit from the lessons of the past. Few could fail to benefit from listening to those men and women who have experienced the Great Depression, the dust bowl, the Second World War and its Cold War aftermath.
The Oral History Project involves contacting potential participants (veterans and others), collecting a videographic oral history, and archiving each for future use. The Archive is interested in the war experiences of veterans and other citizens, but also in the coming of age of this generation and the values and goals that guided them through their lives. Eventually, the Archive hopes to maintain digital copies of each oral history collected and make computerized transcripts available to researchers, educators and the general public. Each participant is requested to sign a formal release allowing the Archive to incorporate their contribution into its educational and scholarly resources. The Archive seeks to preserve these oral histories in broadcast quality, digital format and to create educational video compilations for use in formal educational institutions and appropriate mass media programs.
In addition, the Archive plans to organize transcripts and raw video by theaters of operation, military units, and significant combat operations. We hope to make this database available for computerized searches to enable interested parties to find oral histories relevant to specific events, battles, units or individuals. The relatives of each participant will also have access to their contribution.
Fulfilling these goals will require time, effort, and funding. The Archive actively seeks volunteers to assist in the organization of its developing collection and the funds and equipment necessary to do so.
Gregory D. Hocutt, Ph.D., founded the Archive in December, 2002. He obtained an undergraduate degree in English and American Language and Literature from Harvard University and a doctoral degree in biology from Arizona State University. He is a professor of life science at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona. Mr. Hocutt has always harbored an interest in history and the events and beliefs that have shaped our culture. He has been collecting the oral histories of World War II veterans since March of 2000. If you are interested in contacting Mr. Hocutt about the Archive’s Oral History Project, feel free to e-mail him at gdhocutt@cox.net or hocutt@mail.mc.maricopa.edu.
John Birk, Ph.D., a Vietnam-era veteran and educator, is currently teaching at Thunderbird School of International Management. Dr. Birk's interests range from screenwriting to videography.