NEW ORLEANS – Many of our strongest memories are centered on food: meals we have loved, meals we have hated, special gatherings or everyday routines with relatives and friends, triumphs and disasters in the kitchen.  Now add to the mix the emotions, fears, excitement, and challenges of the Home Front and you’ve got some of the strongest memories of the World War II generation.  The National WWII Museum in New Orleans is encouraging members of the Greatest Generation to share these stories as part of a national grassroots program called Kitchen Memories.

The Museum is seeking to gather a nation’s individual and collective memories of shopping, rationing, growing, cooking, serving, and eating during the war from those who experienced these things first hand. They are also encouraging people who did not experience the Home Front to gather stories from someone who did.  Talk to your mother, grandmother, a relative or friend in your community who has food stories to share.

The goal of the program is to produce a collection of stories, recipes and memories of World War II as a community kitchen project: a way to encourage oral history and talk across generations while these stories can still be collected first-hand.

For helpful guidelines on recording your Kitchen Memories or those of a loved one, visit
www.support.nationalww2museum.org/kitchenmemories where you can also find information on submitting your oral history, photos and wartime recipes to The National World War II Museum’s archives.

For more information on this and other educational programs at The National World War II Museum, call 504-527-6012 x 229 or email lauren.handley@nationalww2museum.org.

The National World War II Museum tells the story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world – why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today – so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn.  Dedicated in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum and now designated by Congress as the nation’s official World War II Museum, it celebrates the American Spirit, the teamwork, optimism, courage and sacrifice of the men and women who fought on the battlefront and the Home Front. For more information, call 504-527-6012 or visit www.nationalww2museum.org.