To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, the Archives and Special Collections is presenting an exhibition highlighting the incredible work and life of Beverly Deepe Keever.
Keever, who graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1957, was the longest-serving foreign correspondent of the Vietnam War, writing, photographing and experiencing life in Vietnam between 1962 and 1968.
The exhibition, "When the Free Press Met Big Brother: Journalists' Response to the Pressures of the Vietnam War," will be on display in the lower level of Love Library South through the end of the spring semester. The display uses Keever’s writings, letters and photographs as a window into the lives of the Vietnam War correspondents.
The exhibition covers the lives of news reporters in Vietnam, including women and Vietnamese correspondents.
“We wanted to tell stories that aren’t normally told about the war and show the war from different sides and viewpoints, ” Maddie White, the project archivist who curated this display, said.
Keever’s papers look at overall trends in how the war was covered. Papers sent between Keever and the United States Senate Committee in response to how Keever covered the war and the differences between her work and the work being done in the United States are also on display.
“We wanted to address the myths surrounding journalists after the Vietnam war, and how they were wrongly blamed for the loss of the war,” White said.
In addition to that, the display looks at the life of a female journalist in a male-dominated space during the Vietnam war. It includes pictures and quotes from real people who interacted with Keever and how women were treated in this time of war.
For more information about Keever, visit the Bev Keever Collections webpage.
