Bringing War Home Roadshow: Artifacts that tell a thousand stories

The Bringing War Home Project memorializes the wartime stories of civilians and participants alike — united under one shared narrative. Through workshops, symposiums and traveling exhibits, those whose lives were in some way affected by war have a chance to share their account of history.  

The roadshow aspect of the project featured collected artifacts from veterans and families at the Dan Gyllenskog Veterans Resource Center on April 13. The roadshow travels across Utah, from Logan to Price.  

Molly Cannon is the executive director for the Museum of Anthropology and heads the roadshow.  

“We were interested in exploring the material culture that surrounds war,” Cannon said. “Those types of objects that people hold onto — family or personal objects — we were interested in documenting this type of history through these different roadshow events.”  

The project was made possible after receiving funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities in 2021, allowing for archivists and students to record personal accounts of wartime.  

“The program’s mission is to connect conversations about wartime experiences,” Cannon said. “A lot of the time, it’s done through literature. In our case, we were hoping people could share these stories through their material objects.”  

The Objects of War class at Utah State University tasks students with the outreach and collecting of artifacts and stories for the roadshows. Cannon teaches the class alongside Susan Grayzel.  

“We co-teach it from both an anthropological and a historian perspective,” Cannon said. “Our students are putting on this roadshow event.”  

According to Cannon, students of the class have made the past 12 roadshow events possible through their involvement.  

Various antiquities are brought to the Bringing War Home Road Show at the Dan Gyllenskog Veteran’s Resource Center on April 13.

“The grant funds both graduate and undergraduate students to do this work,” Cannon said. “They do all the documentation. They’re collecting oral history accounts, interviewing participants, photographing and collecting information about the objects. They’ve also been building the archive.”  

Danzen Bingham is a fourth-year student studying history and a student in the Objects of War class. Bingham mostly takes care of oral histories.  

“During the project, when people bring in their object and they want to tell a story about the object, they come to me and I record that conversation,” Bingham said. “I ask them questions about the object, where they got it from and what war it’s associated with.”  

For students interested in history and documentation, the class grants an opportunity to hear personal, historical accounts straight from the source in ways not found in a textbook.  

“I want to be a history professor someday,” Bingham said. “I was interested in this project because I feel you’re doing real history work. You’re actually documenting objects, talking with people and writing down history.”

Tessa Goodsell is a fourth-year student in the class studying general anthropology. Goodsell helps with interview transcription and taking interviews. 

In working on the project, Goodsell heard many different stories, and a few stuck out to her.  

“There is this silk dress that a veteran from Vietnam brought home for his wife,” Goodsell said. “The woman who brought it in was the daughter of the veteran. Through this object and in trying to learn about her family, she found she had a half-brother in Vietnam she never knew about. Since then, she’s been able to connect with her brother.”  

The featured stories in the roadshow are anecdotal and often emotional, taking visitors right alongside the participant into the world they’ve lived.  

“There’s been quite a few stories that are either really touching or funny,” Goodsell said. “There was a man who spoke about a dog that will hang around their basecamp, who he gave peanut M&M’s. The dog never left his side, and he choked up crying because he had to leave the dog there.”  

Goodsell values the personal bond formed between students and the participants in sharing their stories.  

Various antiquities are brought to the Bringing War Home Road Show at the Dan Gyllenskog Veteran’s Resource Center on April 13.

“They will just talk and talk, and I really like letting them be heard,” Goodsell said. “Sometimes you can see it on their face that they haven’t told this story to anyone. I really liked the personal connection of being the person they can just let it all out to.”  

Another goal of the project is curating an archive of the different stories told by the participants. Students collect information and transcribe it into a digital database, ensuring these lived experiences aren’t lost to time. USU Digital Initiatives will host a fully accessible, public archive online.  

“People will be able to see photographs of the objects, read the short description and acquire transcripts and audio recordings of the oral history accounts,” Cannon said. “We’ve also worked with Utah Public Radio to turn these stories into short radio segments.”  

The first roadshow was held at the USU Logan campus in April 2022. Ever since the project has been traveling north to south.  

“We’ve been to Hyrum City Museum, Hill Aerospace Museum and Fort Douglas Museum,” Cannon said. “We’ve also traveled as far as Wendover, Moab, Price and Vernal — just all over the state.”  

Visitors will see an ever growing collection of items, each object telling its own story.    

“Things that you might expect — such as photographs, letters and postcards — we certainly have those objects showing up,” Cannon said. “We also have hats, helmets, things from the first world war all the way up to the most contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.”  

While visitors will see items typical of war, there are also plenty of uniquely personal items, painting a vivid picture of what gave people security in such harrowing times.  

“People bring personal objects, things that people held onto as a good luck charm,” Cannon said. “These little objects that people think bring them peace, comfort or safety. One person carried a little plastic Pikachu on all his deployments because it helped him feel safe and protected.”  

While running the roadshow, Cannon has seen countless objects and heard their stories. Each artifact displays just how distinct each accompanying narrative is.  

“These artifacts tell a vast array of experiences,” Cannon said. “We had a French flag that a young French girl had made for an American GI who was serving to help liberate France in the second World War. Our students talked to this veteran who was 103, and documented this story.” 

These experiences aren’t limited to those who fought in wars, and plenty of items tell the tale of families trying to stay connected to their loved ones.  

“We have scrapbooks made by daughters who are trying to preserve their father’s stories,” Cannon said. “Dresses, stories from wives whose husbands were overseas or sent to Vietnam.”  

War contains a million perspectives, and the roadshows help visitors get a glimpse into these lives.  

“One thing I’ve learned in doing this is every story is unique,” Bingham said. “People get caught up in thinking that history happened in one specific lens, like through the lens of military men or of what we read in books. In reality, millions of people experience history everyday, and each person’s experience is different.” 

Cannon stressed the importance of telling the bigger story and the story of those who experienced war first hand, those whose lives were directly impacted.  

“So much is written about the official story. We have maps, battle diagrams and the perspective of the people making the decisions,” Cannon said. “We still rarely have the perspective of those who these decisions impact. That’s what we’re really gathering: stories of those sent to serve, their families and of the communities in which they were in.”