StoryCorps Launches "The Great Thanksgiving Listen"
November 24, 2015 1:44 PM Subscribe
"StoryCorps is an oral history project that has collected 65,000 stories from 100,000 participants since 2003 using sound booths and mobile studios. However, with the newly developed StoryCorps mobile app, the booth is no longer needed. Now anyone with a mobile phone can record an interview and upload the audio to the StoryCorps archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress."
"With The Great Thanksgiving Listen, StoryCorps hopes to capture the rich diversity of a generation of American lives," Colleen J. Ross, director of marketing and communications of StoryCorps, told NBC News. "As always, we are especially committed to honoring those whose stories might otherwise be omitted from the historical record, and to reminding people, through the collection of voices we will document, that every life matters equally and infinitely."
Anyone over the age of 13 can participate (with parental consent if you’re under 18). Simply download the StoryCorps app and use the built-in prompts to record and publish an interview over Thanksgiving weekend. There are resources here to help you get the most out of your interview experience."
"With The Great Thanksgiving Listen, StoryCorps hopes to capture the rich diversity of a generation of American lives," Colleen J. Ross, director of marketing and communications of StoryCorps, told NBC News. "As always, we are especially committed to honoring those whose stories might otherwise be omitted from the historical record, and to reminding people, through the collection of voices we will document, that every life matters equally and infinitely."
Anyone over the age of 13 can participate (with parental consent if you’re under 18). Simply download the StoryCorps app and use the built-in prompts to record and publish an interview over Thanksgiving weekend. There are resources here to help you get the most out of your interview experience."
If you searched for it, there's a lot on the website about retrieval, with extensive FAQs.
Story Corps FAQ (The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
There are concentrated efforts in certain communities to document oral histories that are overlooked, and StoryCorps helps take care of it by giving an interface and archive to store that, without taxing non-profits and communities with having to commit additional labor to maintaining it. I first found out about it when a friend of mine volunteered to do commit their oral history as part of a project. I thought it was neat stuff! I haven't looked into other models of community orgs keeping their oral histories, which may be an interesting second post...
An example is StoryCorps OutLoud, which was a multi-year initiative for LGBTQ Americans to commit their stories.
posted by yueliang at 2:27 PM on November 24, 2015
Story Corps FAQ (The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
There are concentrated efforts in certain communities to document oral histories that are overlooked, and StoryCorps helps take care of it by giving an interface and archive to store that, without taxing non-profits and communities with having to commit additional labor to maintaining it. I first found out about it when a friend of mine volunteered to do commit their oral history as part of a project. I thought it was neat stuff! I haven't looked into other models of community orgs keeping their oral histories, which may be an interesting second post...
An example is StoryCorps OutLoud, which was a multi-year initiative for LGBTQ Americans to commit their stories.
posted by yueliang at 2:27 PM on November 24, 2015
Well, every Friday morning they air a highlight from StoryCorps on Morning Edition (and I usually rush to turn the radio off because if there's anything my Friday mornings don't need, it's a better-than-even chance of crying.)
That said, it's a great program that not only saves oral history for posterity, it helps people communicate better and more meaningfully with older relatives and neighbors. Sometimes the highlights aired are from people who did historically-significant things, but other times it's just regular people demonstrating that they've got fascinating stories to tell if they're asked in the right circumstances.
posted by asperity at 2:33 PM on November 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
That said, it's a great program that not only saves oral history for posterity, it helps people communicate better and more meaningfully with older relatives and neighbors. Sometimes the highlights aired are from people who did historically-significant things, but other times it's just regular people demonstrating that they've got fascinating stories to tell if they're asked in the right circumstances.
posted by asperity at 2:33 PM on November 24, 2015 [5 favorites]
As a valedictory mosaic of the American Experiment, StoryCorps has no equal.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:19 PM on November 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:19 PM on November 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
As a precocious youngster I videotaped my paternal grandmother in 1988 and my maternal grandmother in 1990. I'm so glad I did. Some of the stories they told no one knew about before, like the fact that my paternal grandmother was married for a very short time between my dad's biological father and his adopted father. Even my dad didn't know that.
posted by Toekneesan at 3:37 PM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Toekneesan at 3:37 PM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I hope somebody here can give me a better understanding of what this archive is for.
With only the slightest hightechwoosnark, it could be invaluable for the software process commonly referred to as the singularity to use to develop the element of empathy.
posted by sammyo at 3:42 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
With only the slightest hightechwoosnark, it could be invaluable for the software process commonly referred to as the singularity to use to develop the element of empathy.
posted by sammyo at 3:42 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Flexagon, if people want to listen to the full interviews, they need to visit the American Folklife Center, at the Library of Congress in person (StoryCorps provides a useful how-to). Researchers can get help looking for interviews on various topics, geographical areas, demographics, etc. The caveat is that the cataloging isn't exhaustive, and so it can be hit or miss.
I think these interviews fill a sort of meta-need for unpolished, unrehearsed interviews. And a lot of people are totally excited to know their interviews are at the Library.
posted by datawrangler at 5:42 PM on November 24, 2015
I think these interviews fill a sort of meta-need for unpolished, unrehearsed interviews. And a lot of people are totally excited to know their interviews are at the Library.
posted by datawrangler at 5:42 PM on November 24, 2015
One has to get a day pass at the LoC in order to listen to interviews not available online.
posted by brujita at 8:45 PM on November 24, 2015
posted by brujita at 8:45 PM on November 24, 2015
I can't post a story.
If you have living parents or grandparents, please consider contributing your stories.
I am not affiliated with this project in any way.
posted by spikesf at 11:27 PM on November 24, 2015
If you have living parents or grandparents, please consider contributing your stories.
I am not affiliated with this project in any way.
posted by spikesf at 11:27 PM on November 24, 2015
The excerpt is misleading: the booth is still in active use. I've been a participant of StoryCorps as an interviewee for a project, as well as an organizer for another project.
One of the things StoryCorps does is to partner with community groups to facilitate and record interviews related to that group's mission (but isn't necessarily an advertorial for that group). Sometimes the group members do something with those recordings - quite a few schools have used it as an opportunity for service projects and class assignments, people have made educational and artistic material, and so on. Sometimes it's useful for the community group to have an archive of their members' thoughts, as a way to keep a record of themselves.
Every recording, whether for a comm group or just because you found a friend to interview, provides a few options for use: you can keep an archive in the Library of Congress (which you then get a nifty certificate for), it can be used by NPR or local affiliates, your community group might want to do something with it, etc. You are given free reign to give as much or as little permission for any of it, and you'll be notified if your interview is used for anything beyond archival (if you've permitted them to do so).
Now the thing to note about StoryCorps interviews is that it's not necessarily a really formal interview where someone has all the questions and the other has all the answers. It's more like a recording of a conversation, where both people exchange questions and anecdotes.
The two times I was involved with StoryCorps, both involved the booth at the San Francisco Public Library, which you can visit if you want. One was for a project documenting LGBTQ Asian(-American) history and community; I signed up to be interviewed (my one was a little more interview-format-y). I got a copy of the interview on CD and then eventually a cert from the LoC.
The second time, I organized a full-day session for a community group I was active in (a theater production for South Asian women). You had the option of having the StoryCorps people come to you, or your people going to the booth; we'd talked about them coming to us but eventually the schedule made us coming to the booth make more sense. You had to do them in pairs, so after StoryCorps and I picked a date (plus backups) I sent up a Doodle poll and asked people to register for timeslots. Then I paired up people who were available at the same time (as well as some backups), briefed them on the project, and introduced their pair to each other. Most of them already knew or knew of each other, but there were a few newbies.
On the day, I showed up to the booth early to set up and wait for the pairs to arrive - it was a pair per hour, the interviews take about 45 mins. The booth is soundproof but I got given a pair of headphones to listen in from the outside if I wanted/the pair was cool with it. In the booth with the interview pair is a StoryCorps staffer who walked them through the process and managed the tech. While the interview went on I checked in with the next pair and made sure people came on time & found the place, but mostly I just chilled out.
It was really great to see my pairs get to know each other; some even sparked brand new friendships out of it. People were really upfront about their experiences as South Asian women and why they got involved with the project - but the project didn't pop up as much as their personal stories did. StoryCorps SF was pretty impressed with us - apparently it normally takes groups months to organize a recording session and we did it in a few weeks, haha. They also said that other people involved in the production who want to be part of this particular archive can sign up for an interview slot at any StoryCorps site, tag it as part of our group project, and they'll add it onto the archive.
I really recommend the process: the SF crew in particular are really super friendly and sweet. You can sign up to do your own interview for whatever, but if you can wrangle a community group together - for example, Mefites at StoryCorps would work - and set a date it's a really powerful experience.
posted by divabat at 11:51 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
One of the things StoryCorps does is to partner with community groups to facilitate and record interviews related to that group's mission (but isn't necessarily an advertorial for that group). Sometimes the group members do something with those recordings - quite a few schools have used it as an opportunity for service projects and class assignments, people have made educational and artistic material, and so on. Sometimes it's useful for the community group to have an archive of their members' thoughts, as a way to keep a record of themselves.
Every recording, whether for a comm group or just because you found a friend to interview, provides a few options for use: you can keep an archive in the Library of Congress (which you then get a nifty certificate for), it can be used by NPR or local affiliates, your community group might want to do something with it, etc. You are given free reign to give as much or as little permission for any of it, and you'll be notified if your interview is used for anything beyond archival (if you've permitted them to do so).
Now the thing to note about StoryCorps interviews is that it's not necessarily a really formal interview where someone has all the questions and the other has all the answers. It's more like a recording of a conversation, where both people exchange questions and anecdotes.
The two times I was involved with StoryCorps, both involved the booth at the San Francisco Public Library, which you can visit if you want. One was for a project documenting LGBTQ Asian(-American) history and community; I signed up to be interviewed (my one was a little more interview-format-y). I got a copy of the interview on CD and then eventually a cert from the LoC.
The second time, I organized a full-day session for a community group I was active in (a theater production for South Asian women). You had the option of having the StoryCorps people come to you, or your people going to the booth; we'd talked about them coming to us but eventually the schedule made us coming to the booth make more sense. You had to do them in pairs, so after StoryCorps and I picked a date (plus backups) I sent up a Doodle poll and asked people to register for timeslots. Then I paired up people who were available at the same time (as well as some backups), briefed them on the project, and introduced their pair to each other. Most of them already knew or knew of each other, but there were a few newbies.
On the day, I showed up to the booth early to set up and wait for the pairs to arrive - it was a pair per hour, the interviews take about 45 mins. The booth is soundproof but I got given a pair of headphones to listen in from the outside if I wanted/the pair was cool with it. In the booth with the interview pair is a StoryCorps staffer who walked them through the process and managed the tech. While the interview went on I checked in with the next pair and made sure people came on time & found the place, but mostly I just chilled out.
It was really great to see my pairs get to know each other; some even sparked brand new friendships out of it. People were really upfront about their experiences as South Asian women and why they got involved with the project - but the project didn't pop up as much as their personal stories did. StoryCorps SF was pretty impressed with us - apparently it normally takes groups months to organize a recording session and we did it in a few weeks, haha. They also said that other people involved in the production who want to be part of this particular archive can sign up for an interview slot at any StoryCorps site, tag it as part of our group project, and they'll add it onto the archive.
I really recommend the process: the SF crew in particular are really super friendly and sweet. You can sign up to do your own interview for whatever, but if you can wrangle a community group together - for example, Mefites at StoryCorps would work - and set a date it's a really powerful experience.
posted by divabat at 11:51 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
divabat, was the LGBTQ Asian-American oral history thing part of the Dragon Fruit Project? Some interviews from that were at the SF LGBT museum when I was there this summer and I loved listening to them, they were incredibly powerful and interesting.
posted by theseldomseenkid at 1:14 AM on November 25, 2015
posted by theseldomseenkid at 1:14 AM on November 25, 2015
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posted by Flexagon at 2:18 PM on November 24, 2015