The UCP Citizen Archivist team is hard at work — setting up for another oral history session at the Princeton Public Library.

This community history project preserves the vital stories and service of Black veterans in Somerville, New Jersey. It is funded by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities to keep local heritage alive and honored.

Each story helps preserve the voices of Black veterans whose service shaped Somerville and beyond. Supported by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, this project keeps community history visible, valued, and remembered.

My name is Valencia Johnson and I was the project archivist for the Citizen Archivist incubation grant. When I joined the UCP team, I was the student life archivist at Princeton University. Now I have moved across the country to be the Curator of African American Experience at the University of Kansas. It was through my work on the grant that I realized how much I enjoyed community archiving. I wrote about my work with UCP in my cover letter and I truly believe it’s what got me the first interview for the position.

The amount of work that we accomplished with a small team of 4 amazes me to this day. We were able to bear witness to the stories of local Vietnam veterans. There were times when there wasn’t a dry eye in the room but there was also laughter and hopefully some healing. It is this transformative power of being listened to, and to be understood, even if it’s just a little while. We also taught citizens how to conduct archival research and to be their own archivist.

Our stories deserve to be recorded, preserved, and shared. I am forever grateful for my time with UCP.