In 1926 Cator Woolford (a principle founder of the company that would become Equifax, Inc., Retail Credit Company), and his wife Charlotte created a magnificent and vast 33-acre estate in the Druid Hills area of Atlanta. They named it Jaqueland. And although the Woolfords could not have imagined that one day their beloved home would serve as a respite for caregivers visiting sick and, in some cases, dying family members, their legacy of philanthropy, giving and love permeates every square inch of the property. Today, that legacy lives on as the Atlanta Hospital Hospitality House (AHHH).

Founded in 1981 by several members of the All Saints Episcopal Church, particularly Tom and Carolyn Clark (the first Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, respectively), the AHHH has worked hard to “provide a ‘home away from home’ to outpatients and relatives of patients hospitalized in 21 Atlanta-area hospitals.” In a comfortable and elegant environment, the organization “offers lodging, meals, supportive companionship and comfort from a committed staff, volunteers, and fellow guests, during what is often a crisis period.” Read the rest of this entry »

When StoryCorps Atlanta thinks of its few “regulars,” Dave Hayward’s name is right at the top.  Through his organization, Touching Up Our Roots: Georgia’s LGBT History Project Initiative, Dave is committed to capturing the stories of Atlanta’s sizable LGBTQ community, and he has recorded a whopping 14 conversations with StoryCorps Atlanta since we opened in October 2009.  Dave describes Touching Up Our Roots as an LGBT history project that “preserves, promotes, and publicizes the contributions LGBT people have made, and make to, civil rights, civic and neighborhood organizations, and culture in Atlanta and in Georgia.”  Equally important, he advocates the value of preserving these stories and exemplifies the StoryCorps mission, “to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.”

Through his organization, Dave has had conversations with an impressive variety of Atlantans who identify as LGBTQ.  One of his earliest conversations was with Greg Daugherty (above left).  Greg talked about growing up in Black Mountain, NC (just outside Asheville), coming out, and losing his long-time partner.  Greg also talked about living in Atlanta since 1978–playing softball for sixteen years with Atlanta’s first gay softball team, the Blue Knights; working at the Academy Theater as a performer and house manager; helping to organize endless numbers of AIDS fundraisers; and, for the past fourteen years, owning a publishing company that publishes the Atlanta Show Guide as well as other theater programs and playbills.  Of his StoryCorps experience, Greg recently said, “I wasn’t there (in the booth) just for myself.  I realized as I was talking that I needed to leave something for those coming behind me, the younger LGBTQ generation.” Read the rest of this entry »

Eli Clare (above left) arrived at the booth with his recording partner, Aimi Hamraie (above right), an Emory graduate student who uses Eli’s books as teaching tools in her classes.  Eli’s books, The Marrow’s Telling: Words in Motion, and Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness and Liberation, look at the body, queerness, disability, race, gender and sexuality in ways not explored before.

Barely 15 minutes into the conversation, Aimi read a quote from Eli’s book, Exile and Pride, “Our bodies are not merely blank slates upon which the powers that be write their lessons.  We cannot ignore the body itself, the sensory, mostly non-verbal, experience of our hearts and lungs, muscles and tendons, telling us and the world who we are.”  Using this quote as the backdrop, Aimi asked Eli what his earliest memory of his body was, and what his sensory experience of the world had told him about who he is. Read the rest of this entry »

On a Saturday afternoon in early February, not long after Atlanta had thawed from its week-long, frozen paralysis, girls from the Atlanta Girls School and the Global Village School met to get to know each other a little better.  The Atlanta Girls School, a private college preparatory school, got an opportunity to meet girls whose lives, and in some cases families, had been torn apart by war.  Many of the girls lived in refugee camps in countries as different as Thailand and Somalia.  Now, here in the United States, they work hard to piece together the remnants of a former life to create a new and dynamic future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

These schools’ first-time meeting of minds and cultures produced many memorable moments.  Students Meh Sod (Global Village School) and her partner Emma (Atlanta Girls School), talked about family activities and goals for the future.  When Emma shared her family’s penchant for weekly movie-watching gatherings, Meh couldn’t relate.  Her father died very young, and the Burma native’s life trajectory would land her in a refugee camp in Thailand before her move to the United States. Read the rest of this entry »

This line, the title of a song taken from the third scene of the second act in the opera Porgy and Bess, is Bess’ plaintive cry to her beloved Porgy to deliver her from the hands of her possessive lover Crown.  DuBose Heyward wrote Porgy and Bess and the novel Porgy, on which the opera is based.  George Gershwin scored the music and Heyward and Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics.  Fictitious 1920′s Catfish Row in Charleston, SC, is the setting.  Porgy and Bess premiered in 1935 in New York City.  And, unlike any other opera at that time, Porgy and Bess showcased an entire cast of classically trained African American singers.

Porgy and Bess recently ran at The Atlanta Opera (February 26 – March 6, 2011).  Tim Stylez (above), a principal dancer and a member of the chorus came into the Atlanta StoryBooth the day of opening night to have a conversation with his good friend, Martin Williams (below right).  Tim wanted to come in to talk about his journey from corporate America back to his passions – singing and dancing.  What made the story so remarkable is that Tim is not a “trained” dancer or singer.  During the conversation, he recalled the many encouraging comments from family members and friends. Read the rest of this entry »

Atlernativas, or alternatives in English, is what StoryCorps frequently provides for many of its tens-of-thousands of participants.   Since its founding, StoryCorps has provided an opportunity to have voices heard that might otherwise be missed.

On Saturday, January 8, StoryCorps Atlanta spent the day with the Alterna Community in LaGrange, GA, (just 70 miles southwest of Atlanta) to record the stories of Mexican immigrants and their families.  Many of the individuals who came to share their stories spoke of facing incredible personal odds and overcoming family crisis for the opportunity to work and create family in the United States. Read the rest of this entry »

First created almost 25 years ago, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and it’s parent organization, The Names Project, have come to symbolize not only this country’s efforts to find a cure for HIV/AIDS, but also humanity’s tendency to move toward healing and wholeness even in the face of unspeakable tragedy.  The AIDS Memorial Quilt, now made up of more than 40,000 individual panels, is the largest public art project in the world.  And, in the spirit of the centuries-old tradition of quilting, it has brought together rich and poor, black and white, male and female, straight and gay, and every possible human demographic and iteration possible.  In mid-November 2010, StoryCorps Atlanta set up shop at The Names Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt National Headquarters for a day of recording.

Executive Director Julie Rhoad and Director of Communications Janece Shaffer organized a very successful day of on-site recordings.  Ms. Rhoad gave her staff the day off so that the daily grind of the small, not-so-sound-proof office space would not interfere with the recording quality.  When asked why this partnership with StoryCorps was so important to her she said, “… like the stories found on The AIDS Memorial Quilt, the stories StoryCorps has recorded ask us to consider how the truth of a life is reflected in the larger permanent truths of existence that we all share.” Read the rest of this entry »

The week of November 7-13, 2010, was Gay Pride week on the campus of Spelman College – one of Atlanta’s five HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) that comprise the Atlanta University Center (AUC).  And while Spelman sponsors the Pride activities, students from the other four institutions (Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College and the Interdenominational Theological Center) are invited to participate.  Spelman openly celebrates the lives and accomplishments of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and questioning (LGBTQIQ) students.

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November 16, 2010 was the one-year anniversary of the first StoryCorps Atlanta broadcast on WABE’s City Café. To mark the occasion, we invited Atlanta Alumni and Community Partners to celebrate our first anniversary. Fittingly, John Lemley, the host of WABE’s City Café, was the MC for the evening.

The evening began with opening remarks by John Weatherford, Chief Operating Officer of WABE, and a special message from Dave Isay, Founder and Executive Director of StoryCorps.

We listened to several StoryCorps Atlanta stories that evening, starting with the very first story that aired a year ago, a conversation between mother and daughter, Joyce and Errin Haines.

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On Saturday, September 25, the StoryCorps Atlanta team packed up its equipment and headed to the heart of downtown Atlanta to the  second annual Neighborhood Summit. The event, a program by the Civic League for Regional Atlanta sponsored by the United Way and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, had the theme “Neighborhood Connections, Regional Voices.”

Throughout the day, Summit attendees sat in on workshops that focused on topics ranging from communities using social media technology to organize themselves, to learning about a new plan that, according to the organization’s website, “will determine how the region accommodates population and economic growth sustainability over the next 30 years.”  Heady stuff to be sure!

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