In September of 1957, MinniJean Brown, left, walked into Central High School amidst much public scrutiny and vocal harassment as one of the Little Rock Nine. In October of 2006, MinniJean visited the booth with her sister, Phylis, to talk about how MinniJean’s expulsion from Central High broke up the family. After allegedly dumping a bowl of chili on a white student’s for harassing her, MinniJean was sent to New York to attend a new high school. Phylis explained in the interview how the desegregation process, although integrating the schools, separated her from her sister. While MinniJean was in New York, Phylis was left alone dancing to the records that she used to dance to with her beloved sister.

Earlier that week, facilitators Ryan Murdock and Mitra Bonshahi visited Central High to soak in the atmoshphere of such a pivotal place in history. Ryan and Mitra decided to make the excursion after hearing about the desegregation process in Little Rock. What a surprise and honor it was for them to have MinniJean in the booth a couple days later.

.

Back in Little Rock, we found a bit of nature in an unexpected place: The Peabody hotel.

Every morning, promptly at 11 am , Duck Master Lloyd Withrow gathers the famous five ducks from their “Royal Peabody Duck Palace” upon the roof of the hotel and escorts them down the elevator.

Lloyd uses his brass duck-head cane to lead them towards the fountain as John Philip Sousa‘s “King Cotton March” resounds thoughout the lobby.

The ducks then walk upon the crimson carpeted steps to enter their pond where they will spend the rest of the day until they are called back to their palace at 5 pm. What a hard life these ducks must have!

.

86 year old Johnnie Tyson, pictured right, laughs with her niece, Sandra Fleming, after their StoryCorps interview. Johnnie shared with us her experiences growing up during the Great Depression with the disease of obesity. Johnnie was born weighing 13 lbs and grew to 329 lbs by age 15. But thankfully, in the 60′s, the government approved intestinal bypass surgery, and Johnny was able to shed the extra pounds. “You accept life if you’re wise” she quipped, but as you can see here, she always approached life with a great deal of laughter. You go girl!

.

George Brown drove his mother, Virginia Alexander, to the booth for an interview even though at the age of 99, she takes the wheel herself at times. Another sign of Virginia’s vivacity is that she boasts still having 5 original teeth. “The Three A’s” have been Virginia’s key to a long, prosperous life…

…Here she is after her interview chatting with our next participant, Leonard Griffe. Upon learning that Leonard was a mere 91, Virginia proudly declared, “Well, I’m 99!” – and then proclaimed that “Activity, Attitude, and Apple juice (slightly fermented)” were the Three A’s that kept her living long. We’ll toast to that.

.

Before we left Kansas City, we took a long hard look at the Missouri River and felt some fleeting nostalgia for the days of Lewis & Clark.

Without a map or compass, facilitators Ryan Murdock and Mitra Bonshahi set off on their journey into uncharted waters.

As the crow flies Ryan and Mitra should have stayed on the “Big Muddy,” but somewhere along the line they veered off track and found themselves on the Arkansas River. Land ho! They soon saw the shores of Little Rock and knew immediately they had found their destination.

To their surprise, the booth made it to Little Rock just before sundown where it is parked at it’s new home in front of the Cox Creative Center, which houses a great used book store, coffee shop, and art gallery.

.

Established in 1917, many Kansas City jazz cats belonged to Local No. 627, an African-American musicians union affiliated with the American Federation of Musicians. The best KC jazz can still be found here on Friday and Saturday nights, starting at 1am and going till 5 am, way past our bedtime.

Drummer Horace Eugene Washington and Garland Smith (pictured here) shared their favorite memories of the KC jazz scene and their definition of music which Horace explained as “organized noise.”

Singer Myra Taylor and longtime friend Pearl Thuston Brown reminisced about their favorite gigs, recording sessions and neighborhood characters.

Pearl was quite the sensation as a piano player in the style of Erroll Garner, whom she once replaced on a New York bill when Erroll couldn’t perform.

Here Myra Taylor sings along with Charlie Parker (far left). The “Bird” was Kansas City’s most nationally acclaimed musician and he cut his chops playing at the Local 627 starting in 1936. At the age of 90, Taylor occasionally performs and even visits the recording studio. Her most recent album, My Night to Dream, was released in 2001.

When asked what she wanted to be when she grows up, Opal said “100.” And when Michael wanted to know about the happiest day in her life, she jumped to the occasion and replied, “right now- today!” Opal sure made our day.

.

.

It was a quiet, sunny morning in historic City Market before opening day in Kansas City. City Market Square has been a site for horse trading, political rallies, revival meetings, medicine shows and circuses since 1856. And now the StoryCorps booth has joined the ranks of such oddities where it is nestled among a variety of restaurants, shops, the famous Arabia Steamboat Museum, and a bustling farmers market.

Host station KCUR did a terrific job of getting the word out for StoryCorps’ arrival – by mid morning, City Market was buzzing with excitement for our first interview.

Our first participants shared some thoughts with reporters outside before they headed into the booth. Nazir told his daughter, Samara, about his life as a young boy living in India, then escaping to a war-torn Yemen. Nazir described the day he finally arrived in the United States as the happiest day of his life.

Getting ready for our second interview, facilitator Ryan Murdock helped long time radio personality, Walt Bodine, and his son Tom, get comfortable to the cozy confines of the MobileBooth. Walt shared many funny stories from his 50+ years as a radio personality, including the time when a fellow announcer fell asleep in the middle of a morning broadcast.

KCUR Music Director and host of Sonic Spectrum, Rob Moore, spun some tunes as our successful first day came to a close. A perfect end to a great day set the tone for an exciting stay in Kansas City.

Participant Wayne Snider told his daughter, Kathryn, about one of his first dates with her mother, Alma. She had come to watch him play a game of donkey baseball, and he was rounding first base when the donkey bucked him off and kicked him in the face. Despite the black eye and broken nose, Wayne and Alma made it to the aisle- this time without any donkeys present.

.