The American Legion posts of Nebraska are a lot closer to being able to tell their stories ahead of the Legion’s 100th anniversary, thanks to Jennifer Salak.
Salak, a Navy veteran and the department historian since 2014, made it her mission to get the vast majority of Nebraska posts started on the Centennial Celebration site. And to get the posts over even more hurdles, she and a department employee created a user’s guide to the site from scratch.
As posts were beginning the process of taking over administration of their pages, Salak spoke with The American Legion.
Why did you first join The American Legion, and what is your favorite thing about being a member?
My husband joined The American Legion several years ago, and as he became more involved and gained a greater understanding of the organization, he realized the importance of including younger female veterans, especially in leadership positions. He asked me if I wanted to join, and after hearing about the Legion and seeing his enthusiasm, I definitely knew I wanted to be a part of it. I am proud to say I’ve been a continuous member for five years now.
I can’t say I have one favorite thing about being a Legion member because there are numerous things that I love about the organization. Since joining, I have come to realize that the entire Legion family (including Auxiliary, SAL and Riders) is truly a second family to me. I have met wonderful people who do wonderful things unselfishly for others. I also enjoy the fact that there are so many different opportunities for me to get involved and help others, including standing in flag lines to honor fallen soldiers, handing out stuffed animals at Children’s Hospital, delivering food and gifts to active-duty and veteran families in need during the holidays, participating in poker runs for Operation Comfort Warriors, and promoting Americanism programs in local schools. This is just a small sampling of things I have been able to do over the past five years.
What attracted you to the office of department historian? What are some other things you’ve done while in office?
My husband laughed when I first told him I’d be interested in the department historian position because I’ve never been known as a history buff. Even though I wasn’t much into history in school (I hated memorizing dates of events), I wanted to be the historian because I believed it was important to document the history of the department for future generations. I also enjoy being creative and I knew the position would allow me to do that, whether it be working on the department yearbook or developing a plan for the Centennial.
Since being appointed in 2014 by Past Department Commander Fred Craigie, I’ve accomplished a lot in office. I developed the first department yearbook, which was submitted to National for the 2014-2015 Department Yearbook Contest, and I’m proud to say the department won first place. I also write a historian column for our monthly Legionnaire newspaper, which has a circulation of over 32,000 members. Finally, I have created a display board for the Centennial Celebration that I take with me every time I am invited to speak at department and district meetings and conventions about the Legion’s upcoming birthday. Although I have accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time for the department, I have several other goals I would like to achieve, including bringing back the Post History Contest.
What led to you taking on the two projects of starting post pages and constructing the guide? Which came first?
When the Centennial website first came out, there were only about five posts in Nebraska that had created their own web page, and it sat like that for a while with no activity. As I started developing the page for my post (Millard Post 374), I realized that many people probably weren’t creating their own pages out of fear of not being computer-savvy enough to do it. I decided to try to make it as easy as possible for people, and that is what led to creating the Centennial pages for Nebraska’s 361 posts.
After creating the post pages, I realized that there would be no use in each post having its own Centennial page if people didn’t know how to navigate through the page or upload information. So I sat down and created a 28-page user’s guide that details how to log on, update post information, add photos and timeline events, and edit information. I am a visual person, so in addition to outlining the steps, I included screenshots so that visual learners like me could see what the computer screen should look like at each step.
How many people-hours would you say went into this?
As far as creating the Centennial pages for each post, our department administrative assistant Amanda Washburn (who is also the department Auxiliary Junior Activities chairman) was instrumental in helping this project succeed. She created an Excel spreadsheet that enabled us to keep track of information for each post such as charter date, post namesake, notable members, log-ins and randomly generated passwords. After gathering the information, she and I began creating the pages and populating each one with basic information (charter date, first commander, post namesake and notable members). Amanda also scanned in all of the post charters and added the picture of each charter to the webpages. Finally, we did Google searches and added any information we could find on a post to its Centennial page (such as web address, Facebook page or other historical information). Because she and I divided the workload, we were able to get all of the pages created in only a few weeks.
The user’s guide I completed in about three weekends. Before we released it, Amanda tested it to make sure the steps were accurate and easy to follow, and then it was signed off on by the department adjutant. When posts contact us for their log-in and password information to access their Centennial page, we also provide them with a copy of the user’s guide.
What is some of the feedback you’ve gotten from posts using the guide? And how many have taken over their pages?
The feedback I’ve gotten from posts on the user’s guide has been extremely positive. Legionnaires from across Nebraska thank me for taking the time to put together such a detailed and user-friendly guide. They feel less nervous about taking over their Centennial pages. I have also shared the guide with another department historian who is looking to create one similar for his department.
In total, close to 40 posts have taken control of their own Centennial web pages. As I continue to promote the Centennial in the monthly newspaper or at department and district conventions and meetings, the interest keeps growing and we get more requests from Legionnaires who want to get involved and take over their post’s Centennial page.
Can you describe the makeup of the department centennial committee? What plans are you making for 2018-2019?
Currently we do not have our formal department Centennial committee formed; however, I have started looking at individuals who I would like to be on the committee with me. Ideally our committee will consist of members who represent each of the four areas in the department (Area A, Area B, Area C and Area D) that cover all 93 counties and 361 posts in Nebraska. The four area chairs can help share information with the 14 districts and the 361 posts. Once we form the committee, we will start brainstorming events for 2018-2019.
What excites you most about the Centennial? What do you hope posts and departments get out of it?
I am excited about the Centennial because it provides an opportunity for The American Legion to showcase all of the great things we have done and continue to do. It seems like a lot of messaging has focused on declining membership and lack of interest, which I think can be disheartening to Legionnaires. I am hoping that this celebration reinvigorates and re-energizes posts and departments and helps them realize how much our veterans, their families and our communities need The American Legion and its programs now more than ever.
