About the WWII Oral Histories Project

In 1995 the City of Fort Collins held a year long celebration recognizing the contributions of our World War II veterans. June 6, 1995 was the fiftieth anniversary of the D-Day Invasion of Europe. The Archive conducted an oral history project of Fort Collins veterans and citizens that focused on this time period.

Many volunteers made this project possible. Jane Blandford, Arlene Ahlbrandt, Jonathan Held, Linda Bell, Joan Day, and Sharon Lance assisted Rheba Massey, Local History Librarian with the interviews. Linda Bell, Cindy Lechner, Hilde Hobbs, Jan Bishop, Clair Sawicki, Shirley Ruiz, Nancy Wagner, Tracy Palmier, Gwinyi Lu, Jenn Martinez, Laura Demko, Susan Hoyt, and Charlotte Myers transcribed the interviews. Nancy Kovats Lea volunteered to read the interviews and excerpt some of the highlights of each life story. Peggy Shaughnessy designed the web pages. A special thank you to each of the volunteers and narrators for sharing their lives, time, and expertise with the citizens of Fort Collins.

Voices of the 20th Century offers historical audio clips from WWII, and The Melvin C. Shaffer Photographic Collection provides photographs of World War II in Europe and North Africa.