HST: 474: The Vietnam War: Home

Archives and Special Collections
J.D. Williams Library
P.O. Box 1848
University MS, 38655

Phone: (662) 915-1595
Email: archivesdept@olemiss.edu

For This Class, Your Archive Contact Is

Dr. Leigh McWhite (Political Papers Archivist & Associate Professor)

Email:  slmcwhit@olemiss.edu

Prior to your arrival in Special Collections, complete and submit online the Researcher Registration Form.  The form also explains our rules and protocols.

If citing a cataloged publication (anything that has a library call number), use standard formatting as outlined in your professor's preferred style manual.

Citing collection material requires you to gather a different set of information about your source.  While researching, keep track of the location of material that you intend to reference in your research paper.  Remember that you are providing bread crumbs for readers (or your professor) to retrace your steps and find that specific item.  The following information is essential:

• Title or brief description of item
• Name of collection
• Box number and folder number/name (or unique identifier if consulting a digital collection)
• Name of archival repository
• Name of institution

Sample:

Letter dated 3 September 1918 from Lt. Gerald Smith to Anne Smith.  Smith Family Collection (Box 7, Folder 2).  Archives & Special Collections, University of Mississippi.

Mississippians in Vietnam:  A Shared Experience (2017).  A Mississippi Public Broadcasting documentary with oral history interviews of veterans (27 minutes).

"The Vietnam War and History" by Toby G. Bates.  An historical overview available on the website Mississippi History Now.

LBJ Library Exhibit-The War in Vietnam. Speech by Lyndon B. Johnson and others on Vietnam from the Lyndon B. Johnson Library

James O. Eastland Collection. A conservative Mississippi Democrat, James O. Eastland served in the U.S. Senate for a few months in 1941 by appointment and then by election from 1943 until his retirement in 1978.  He chaired the Judiciary Committee from 1955 to 1978 and its Internal Security Subcommittee from 1953 until 1977 (Senate version of the House of Un-American Activities).

• File Series 2, Subseries 4:  Clippings.  Box 7, Folders 18, 25, 48, 75, 157, 165, and 220; Box 8, Folders 65, 118, 160, 175, 183, 200, 214, 234.
• File Series 2, Subseries 5:  Floor Speeches.  Box 7, Folders 17, 18, and 39; Box 8, Folders 11, 21, and 34.
• File Series 2, Subseries 9:  Press Releases.  Box 4, Folders 73 and 144; Box 8, Folders 11, 21, and 34.
• File Series 3, Subseries 1:  Issue Correspondence.  “Foreign Policy – Vietnam” in Box 84, Folders 25, 42, 53, 61, 71, 79, and 92; Box 85, Folders 3, 19, 43, and 65; Box 86, Folders 7 and 27. “Military – [with various related subcategories such as Vietnam/Draft/Peace/Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (MIA)/Amnesty] in Boxes 127 and 128.
• File Series 4, Subseries 4:  Subject Files.  Box 12, Folders 60, 61, and 62.
• File Series 4, Subseries 10:  Internal Security Subcommittee.  Box 30, Folder 11.

Jamie L. Whitten Collection.  A conservative Mississippi Democrat, Jamie L. Whitten served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1941 until his retirement in 1994.  He chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee from 1979 through 1992.

• Series 35: Subject Files, Box 63 contains “Foreign Policy – Vietnam” folders for 1965, 1966, 1967 (2 folders), 1968, 1969 (2 folders) and 1970; Box 64 contains “Foreign Policy – Vietnam” folders for 1970 (2 folders), 1973, and 1974.

All of the recordings listed below are available online at the provided hyperlinks.

• James O. Eastland Collection.  Cassette 3A6. U.S. Senator James O. Eastland Audio Report 17 August 1971. Audio press release issued by James O. Eastland’s office for radio broadcast on 17 August 1971, re: prisoners of war in Vietnam. Time: 1 minute, 7 seconds. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/joerecor_d/25/
• James O. Eastland Collection.  Cassette 5A. U.S. Senator James O. Eastland Campaign Advertisement for 1972 Election. 1972. Campaign advertisement with James O. Eastland and a narrator discussing Eastland’s involvement with the Disaster Relief Act after Hurricane Camille in 1969; home loans; federally funded rural water systems; Mississippi economy; crime and law enforcement; Social Security; support for President Nixon’s Vietnam policy; Eastland’s reputation in Congress; and Eastland’s belief in the American system and laws. Time: 29 minutes, 32 seconds.  https://egrove.olemiss.edu/joerecor_a/3/
• James O. Eastland Collection.  Cassette 8A2. U.S. Senator James O. Eastland Press Conference during 1972 Election Campaign. 1972. Topics discussed include Eastland election to the Senate; George McGovern; possibility of Eastland switching to the Republican Party; prisoners of war in Vietnam; Eastland not campaigning for the Democratic nominee; Loyalist Democratic Party in Mississippi; President Richard M. Nixon; anti-busing amendment in Congress; cloture; and Gil Carmichael. Time: 5 minutes, 43 seconds.  https://egrove.olemiss.edu/joerecor_b/3/
• James O. Eastland Collection.  2” High Band Color Quad Tape 1. Campaign Commercial “Senator Eastland Speaks on Viet Nam.” 10 October 1966. Sixty-second 1966 television campaign commercial for U.S. Senator James O. Eastland “paid for by the Eastland Campaign Committee, W.W. Wright, Chairman.” Footage of Eastland making a speech on Vietnam. Time: 1 minute, 7 seconds.  https://egrove.olemiss.edu/joerecor_a/1/
• James O. Eastland Collection.  16mm Film 34. U.S. Senator James O. Eastland Campaign Commercial on Vietnam. 14 October 1966. Time: 1 minute, 42 seconds.  https://egrove.olemiss.edu/joerecor_a/15/
• Jamie L. Whitten Collection.  Audio Reel 59. Ten-minute Jamie Whitten Campaign Commercial. Circa 1964-1969. Campaign commercial for U.S. Representative Jamie Whitten. Whitten discusses his position and record on both domestic and foreign issues, including public works, government budget, Vietnam, and riots. Time: 10 minutes, 56 seconds.  https://egrove.olemiss.edu/whitten_rec_a/5/

Next Stop Is Vietnam:  The War on Record, 1961-2008.  A 14 compact disc box set along with a 300-page book.  Features over 300 music and spoken word tracks on the Vietnam War.  Call Number:  Bear Family BCD 16070 MS.

President Johnson’s Blues:  African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on LBJ, 1963-1968.  Compact disc includes the tracks “Going to Vietnam,” “Vietnam Blues,” “Everybody Is Crying about Vietnam,” “Don’t Forget the Soldiers (Fighting in Viet Nam),” “Trouble Way over in Viet Nam,” “Soldier’s Sad Story,” “Viet Nam War pt. 1, pt. 2,” and “Viet Nam.”  Call Number:  Agram Blues ABCD2020.

President Nixon’s Blues:  African-American Blues and Gospel Songs on Richard Nixon, 1969-1974.  Compact disc includes the tracks “I Ain’t Buyin’ No Saigon Tea,” “Please Settle in Viet Nam,” and “Damn Nam (Ain’t Goin’ to Vietnam).”  Call Number:  Agram Blues ABCD 2022.

If you are looking for primary sources, consider conducting the following searches to locate potentially useful material among the collections of the Archives & Special Collections:

• Go to the Subject Guides page for a list of all subject guides.  Focusing on a specific theme, subject guides provide brief descriptions and links to related collections and other material.
• Go the Archives & Special Collection:  Finding Aids and enter your keyword terms in the search box in the left side bar.  This method will search across all the finding aids available online.
• Conduct a library catalog advanced keyword search.  Limit the "Location" to "Special Collections."  Consider using the "Within" box to refine your search by years.  Archives often have primary source (as well as secondary source) published material cataloged separate from manuscript collections.
• Check out the Archives & Special Collections:  Digital Collections page on eGROVE.    Use the search bar on the left side of the page to search keywords across all the digital collections, or browse through collections by clicking on their links.
• Ask an Archivist for assistance!!!