The Texas Historical Commission, in conjunction with the Port Aransas Museum, will conduct a free oral history training workshop at the museum on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The museum will be open at 8:30 a.m. for attendees to enjoy coffee and peruse the exhibits before the workshop begins.

The workshop is one of a series taking place across the state.

Funding for the workshops is provided by the Houston Endowment and the Summerlee Foundation of Dallas and is designed for people to learn how to conduct and record oral histories.

The public, including all teachers, middle and high school students, are urged to register early as the workshop will be open to all of South Texas, but pre-registration is required. Those who participated in World War II and have stories to share also are invited.

The workshops, titled Here and There: Recollections of Texas in World War II, are part of the THC’s Texas in World War II initiative, a program to honor and preserve the memories of Texans who served in the armed forces during World War II and the contribution they made to the war effort.

Partnering with the THC on these workshops is Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History.

Resources will include historical brochures, a comprehensive manual covering information about interviewing former military personnel, techniques for conducting oral interviews in general and equipment best suited to accomplish one’s goals.

A free bus tour will begin an hour after the close of the workshop for the first 30 people to sign up. The tour will visit the Tarpon Inn to see the scales from the tarpon caught by Franklin D. Roosevelt, World War II era gun emplacements, old town stone cottages, a former WW II era barracks and the chapel in the dunes. The tour will end at the museum.

For more information contact William McWhorter, (512) 463-5833 or william.mcwhorter@thc.state. tx.us, or Betty Bundy at 749-3406 or ggbun7@centurytel.net.