Conversations with Sue VerHoef

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sue VerHoef.

Hi Sue, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My husband and I moved with our children to Atlanta in 1991 after seven years in Southern Spain with the United States Navy. I earned a middle grades teaching certificate in 2001 from the University of West Georgia and taught social studies and language arts in Henry County for about six years before returning to UWG in 2006 for a Masters Degree in History. I began work at Atlanta History Center in 2008 as a Reference Manager and later as an Archivist, then Senior Archivist, and finally began working with the History Center’s Veterans History Project (VHP) in 2012. The Atlanta History Center Veterans History Project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the oral history interviews of veterans of all our nation’s conflicts as well as civilians who supported them. I have been fortunate to curate two exhibitions based on the interviews in our collection: More Than Self: Living the Vietnam War in 2017 and Their Finest Hour: Atlanta Remembers World War II in 2024.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It can be difficult to manage the collection with no additional paid staff and no budget, but we have been extremely fortunate to have extraordinary volunteers, including our partners at the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the National Association of Black Military Women to help us collect interviews as well as a few generous donors, including the Scott Hudgens Family Foundation, who have provided funding to preserve and help make the collection more accessible.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am most proud of the interviews we have collected, preserved, and made available to anyone who wishes to understand military life and the combat experience. They are priceless.

What matters most to you?
My family, my faith, and the work I do here.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://atlantahistorycenter.com
• Facebook: @AtlantaHistoryCenter
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AtlantaHistoryCenter