External Email - Exercise Caution Sounds like a wonderful initiative. Humanities Nebraska will certainly be interested. Not sure if we can join the Zoom, but please keep me on the list for future information. Mary Yager, CPM Associate Director Humanities Nebraska 215 Centennial Mall South, Ste 330 Lincoln, NE 68508 402-474-2131 On Wed, Jun 7, 2023 at 12:40 PM Harsh, Carol <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: Hi all, I like to ask for your response to a new program initiative we are investigating, called Vietnam War: Public Grief and Personal Memory. As communities across the country mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War on April 30, 2025, the Smithsonian is exploring the possibility of collaborating with the National Park Service and Virginia Tech to develop a 6-month national program initiative. With a focus on local history, we would provide host communities with a menu of digital resource materials—including a BIY-style exhibition framework for locally produced exhibitions and educational posters for classroom use. Host communities will develop exhibitions and feature stories about local veterans, their families, and the impact of the war on their community. The National Park Service will loan objects left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC to organizations that meet the required security standards to be included in local exhibitions as powerful expressions of public grief. The Veterans in Society Initiative at Virginia Tech would take the lead in developing a vast array of program supports using a "vets working to help vets" approach, as well as a train-the trainer program to assist communities as they plan and implement public programs that recognize veterans in meaningful ways. More details of our ideas can be found in the attached Executive Summary. I believe this could be a wonderful opportunity to recognize and honor Vietnam Vets, share community stories about the impact of the war, engage young people in cross-generational programs, and participate in a "Hands Across America" program that connects communities—rural and urban--through coordinated programs marking the anniversary date, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day in 2025. We would love to involve our state humanities council partners in this effort. If you would like to learn more about this initiative and help us shape how it could be implemented in hundreds of communities across the country, please let me know. We will convene a zoom meeting to discuss these ideas and how to involve state partners on Monday, June 19 at 2:00 EST. Please let me know if you want to join us and I'll send you the Zoom link. With warm regards, Carol Carol G. Harsh, Associate Director for MoMS and Community Engagement Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations --