• North American Studies

The Veterans Curation Program has been rehabilitating U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) collections for long-term preservation since 2009. With the dual goal of training and assisting veterans with their professional goals while also archiving and curating USACE collections, this program ultimately produces high quality digital records and photographs of cultural materials from across the U.S. This paper delves into the value of USACE’s digital collections for continued research, education, and public engagement. These digital records, once finalized, are uploaded to the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) and provide greater access of the archaeological and archival collections for researchers, teachers, and other stake holders. This paper features finalized collections that were processed at each of the three VCP labs in Alexandria, VA, Augusta, GA, and St. Louis, MO. The materials span a range of cultural materials from the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-west, and Southeastern U.S., and embrace the direction in the field toward digital preservation of material culture.

For the last 100 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been accumulating archeological materials that require, by laws and regulations, adequate care that ensures continued preservation. USACE administers one of the largest archaeological collections in the country. However, these materials are in less than optimal condition. Overseas contingency operations have increased the number of veterans that lack the essential skills for the current job market. The Veterans Curation Program (VCP) was created to address these two needs with a single and effective solution. The VCP invests in service members by providing competitive pay and technical training to bolster existing skillsets. At VCP laboratories, the irreplaceable archaeological assets administered by USACE are repackaged and recorded using the most current techniques to ensure the safekeeping of our nation’s cultural resources for future generations. To date, over 400 veterans have benefited from the program, of which 90% have either obtained employment or matriculated to colleges, universities, or certificate programs following program completion. With the passage of Public Law 114-189 in 2016, the VCP was codified, ensuring the program can continue to hire, train, and employ veterans and members of the Armed Forces while assisting in the curation efforts of USACE.