I had the pleasure of dealing with Steve Maxner of Texas Tech University recently. Here is an excerpt from a couple emails he wrote:
By way of introduction, the Vietnam Center and Archive have been promoting the study of the Vietnam War and collecting and preserving materials related to American involvement in Southeast Asia since 1989. We now have the largest collection of materials outside the Federal government. More recently, we have received a $2 million, four year grant from the Federal Government to create the Virtual Vietnam Archive in which we digitize our non-copyrighted materials and make them freely available to the public via the Internet. If you have not done so already, you can learn more about it at our website: www.vietnam.ttu.edu
I had not yet heard of the Rural Affairs organization and this is a tremendous opportunity for everyone. Thank you for the information about the Rural Affairs Reunion in 2005. We would be extremely interested in sending a representative (hopefully me) to the reunion to inform the attendees of the project. We set aside money in our budget for this kind of travel and would cover all of our own expenses. The only thing we would want to do is provide a briefing to the members at a time that is convenient, when most people would be present. That could be a business meeting, a dinner, or some other function or time. Again, whatever is convenient for the reunion organizers, attendees, and events schedule.We are very excited about working with you and other members of the Rural Affairs Association. You will be happy to know that we had a great visit with Earl Rhine (former USAID/Rural Affairs) on Monday. [September 29]
Stephen Maxner
Associate Director
The Vietnam Archive
Special Collections Library Room 108
Lubbock, TX 79409-1041
Click here for a proposal Rufus sent to them