HCC professor launches oral history project on the Korean War for summer students

Jul 13, 2015

The Korean War. Historians have called it "The Forgotten War" because most Americans know far too little about it.

Yet the anti-Communism conflict that took place from 1950 to 1953 and was the subject of the hugely popular TV show M*A*S*H in the 1970s and 1980s is a fascinating and worthy subject for serious study to HCC history professor Dr. Jesus Esparza. He and students from his History 1302 Summer I class are conducting an oral history project with Korean War veterans.

The group spent half a day interviewing and voice recording 12 Korean War veterans at the Central campus. Once all the interviews have been transcribed by students, Dr. Esparza plans to share the finished project three ways: With HCC via the college's Edutube channel, with the Houston Public Library and its oral history program, and with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

"This has been such an outstanding project for our students. They learned about war from the people who lived through it," Esparza explains, noting that he taught students about the Korean War in class before launching the oral-history project. "They brought pictures, medals and so much memorabilia. After each interview, each veteran told all of us 'thank you.' They were so proud and happy to have us hear their stories. I mean, we should be thanking them."

Here's a video about the project:
(Produced and edited by Rickey Wright II, HCC Central PR P/T graphics designer).