StoryCorps….the story

David Isay founded StoryCorps in 2003 with the idea that everyone matters, has an important story to tell, and should not be forgotten.
“The mission of StoryCorps is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. We accomplish this by providing access both to the StoryCorps interview experience and to the content that emerges from these interviews.”
Since its inception, over 30,000 Americans of all ages and from all walks of life have recorded their interviews with a family member or loved one, or one of the trained facilitators. The recording sessions can take place a converted airstream trailer which travels across the nation, in a StoryBooth in fixed locations such as in New York City, or by way of DIY recording kits. A no-booth trial called “Door to Door”, began with kids from Grover Washington Middle School in Philadelphia interviewing parents and grandparents who lost a child to gun violence. One free CD goes to the participant, and one becomes part of the project archive in the Library of Congress. Select stories are aired on NPR’s Morning Edition radio program.
The project also includes special initiatives, currently the September 11th Initiative, the Memory Loss Initiative, and the Griot Initiative (which is a one-year initiative to collect the stories of African Americans). Past initiatives have collected the stories of Hurricane Katrina victims, and of soldiers and their families at Fort Bragg.
David Isay originally intended StoryCorps to be a 10 year project, but when he heard the stories, and saw how people were affected by the experience, he decided to make it his life’s work. "StoryCorps is about taking the time to really listen to the people who you wouldn’t necessarily notice walking down the street. And when you do listen, you see the poetry and grace that, you know, is in all of us. And I think StoryCorps also is about recognizing how much we all share in common. You know, we spend so much time in this country kind of shouting at each other. And StoryCorps is an opportunity to listen to each other and recognize that there’s so much more that we share in common than divides us. And hopefully this is a project which will help us become a more compassionate and thoughtful nation, which is something we need.” David Isay
photo: MobileBooth Richmond VA Flickr member 100wordminimum