The Veterans Curation Program: An Innovative Approach to Collections Management

The Veterans Curation Program (VCP) employs veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the rehabilitation of archaeological collections under the administration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District’s Mandatory Center of Expertise in the Curation and Management of Archeological Collections. Since its inception in 2009, the VCP has employed and trained more than 420 veterans who have worked with collections from 11 Corps Districts. In working with these collections, the veterans learn office skills including computers, records management, word processing, databases, and digital photography. Employed for five-month terms and provided support for personal growth and development as part of their employment, the VCP has also proven very successful in supporting veteran’s transition to civilian life. Of the veterans employed at the VCP, 73% have obtained permanent employment while another 16% have pursued higher education. The presentations in this session provide perspectives on the VCP’s engagement of veterans, the VCP as public outreach and advocacy, VCP operations, and collections based opportunities through the VCP.

Site Name Keywords
23CL199 • Colbert • 22CL806 • Barton • 22CL807 • Vinton • 22CL808 • Cedar Oaks • 22CL809 • 24BE149

Site Type Keywords
Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Agricultural or Herding • Reservoir

Other Keywords
Conservation and Curation • Cultural Resource Management • Public and Community Archaeology • Education • Historical Archaeology • Tombigbee Historic Townsites Project • Ceramic Analysis • Woodland • Historic • Education/Pedagogy

Culture Keywords
Hopewell

Investigation Types
Collections Research • Data Recovery / Excavation • Heritage Management

Material Types
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Fauna • Projectile Point • Ground Stone • Macrobotanical • Shell • Hammerstone • Mano • Hematite

Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) • North America (Continent) • Bermuda (Country) • Commonwealth of The Bahamas (Country) • North America • United Mexican States (Country) • Department of Martinique (Country) • Republic of El Salvador (Country) • Department of Guadeloupe (Country) • Cayman Islands (Country)