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War Is Hell, but Processing Ain't Much Fun Either - The Vermont Military Records Project

March 08, 2000

Participants:
  • D. Gregory Sanford, VT State Archivist
  • Kelly Nolin, lead project archivist
Length: 0:55:03
Next Air Dates: No upcoming airtimes are currently scheduled

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Tags:

Revolutionary and Civil War records, records lost to 1945 fire, military records, historic record conversion

Program Description:

In 1783 George Washington advised against invading Vermont, arguing that it was populated by a "hardy Race, composed of that kind of People who are best calculated for Soldiers." Vermonters have, indeed, had a proud tradition of military service. Research on Vermont's citizen soldiers, however, has lagged, in part because of the inaccessibility of many of our military records. Burned in the Montpelier arsenal fire of 1945, these records, dating from the American Revolution to the beginning of World War II, have been too disorganized, and in many cases too fragile, to research. Those records that survived the 1945 fire, including heretofore unavailable Civil War and militia records, are now being processed and prepared for microfilming through a collaborative effort led by the Public Records Division of the Department of Buildings and General Services with the assistance of the State Archives of the Secretary of State's Office. In this presentation, project archivist Kelly Nolin and State Archivist Gregory Sanford discuss the project's challenges and goals and offer glimpses of the valuable and varied information that will be available when the project is completed.