Spiritual music has been a part of the African American experience for 350 years. The tradition began when slaves from Africa began creating and singing folk spirituals by using their oral traditions, musical gifts and customs of singing about life events in songs, some brought from Africa. Spirituals were expressions of sorrow and joy, oppression, strength and healing. These traditions blended with Christian church traditions to become the familiar spirituals such as: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, This Little Light of Mine, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing.

Friends of Negro Spirituals was founded in 2008 to preserve and extend this heritage. This is accomplished by recording the memories of those who grew up within the tradition of spiritual music. A Bay Area oral history archive has been established at Mills College as well as the Oakland Main Library History Room and the African American Museum and Library, also in Oakland.

Now Friends of Negro Spirituals has partnered with StoryCorps in this effort. We have completed over a dozen recordings so far with more scheduled this summer including a Door-to-Door recording in Oakland.

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In San Francisco, we have a new outreach partnership with Marriage Equality USA’s LOVING Quilt Project. The LOVING Quilt Project, curated by the effervescent Maya Scott Chung, is a traveling exhibit of quilts featuring beautiful story and photo collages of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex married couples along with their families. The project is about honoring families affected by the legislation against the right for all to marry. We are so thrilled to be working with this fantastic project to celebrate and preserve the voices and stories of these couples.

Dr. Erica Britton and Gwendolyn Bikis first met at a book club. They have been married several times; their right to marry has been overturned and marriage certificates nullified a few times over the course of their relationship. Last married in 2008 – the ‘Summer of Love’ – they are one of the 18,000 couples whose marriage is still recognized by the state of California after the passing of Proposition 8. As Erica says, ‘We are one of the fortunate few.’

Erica and Gwendolyn came to the StoryBooth and shared some of the moments when they felt “most married.” For Erica, it was after their wedding ceremony when the party was dying down, and she and Gwendolyn were sitting on the back of a pick-up truck, their feet dangling, watching the sunset and catching their breath together for the first time that day. For Gwendolyn, she feels most married on Saturday afternoons at home, when they argue about what to watch on TV. This, of course, made Erica laugh.

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Remember that time when you were little and snuck out of the house to visit the corner store for a bag of cookies while your parents were asleep? Or the time you tried to run away because your mom wouldn’t let you eat SpagghetiOs for dinner, only to walk around the block and go straight back home?

Moments like these are the reason we have mothers; to steer us straight when we need guidance, and to act in our best interests in the moments we don’t know what they are. It is this wisdom our mothers possess that is the central theme of Dave Isay’s’ new book Mom: A Celebration of Mothers From StoryCorps.

On Sunday, April 24th Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps, came to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco to celebrate our moms. And what better way to do this than to have some of the mothers and their family talk more in depth about their personal stories featured in the book!

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Good friends Maria Mouchess and Patty Garcia could be sisters. In fact, if you were to see them together there would be little doubt in your mind that these two share a curious symmetry, like two pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly.

I had the opportunity to play a part in their StoryCorps experience when they came into the San Francisco StoryBooth recently. As members of Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), Maria and Patty share a passion for molecular biology, a field in which they are working towards their Doctorates at U.C. Berkeley. Much of their conversation focused on the emerging role of minorities, specifically Latina women, in the ever-expanding world of scientific research.  Both Patty and Maria seek to bring diversity to their field and to promote an intersection of science and culture, an idea people rarely stop to consider. But the two women have a connection that runs deeper than similar academic motivations.

(Maria and Patty)

As the children of parents who immigrated to the United states, they share a deep and unwavering commitment to their families and to the importance of education. Patty tells the story of her mother who, as a young child, would wake up before the sun rose to pick fruits and vegetables in the San Joaquin valley in order to help her family make ends meet. She would then arrive late to school where she sat in the back of the class, ignored by her teacher and saddled with the task of trying to learn in a language she did not speak. After months of hard work, she had shown such improvement and resolve that her teacher moved her to the front of the class; a moment she has been proud of ever since. She went on to finish high school and received scholarships to go to college, all the while continuing to pick fruit and vegetables with her family every morning. Through her mother’s example, Patty has learned a thing or two about responsibility and perseverance.

(Patty)

In her own life,  Maria has reached similar conclusions:

‘Thinking about growing up, my mom… she works at Target stocking things… my dad used to drive a truck taking people to and from the airport. To me that’s very laborious compared to now, where I’m sitting around talking to people about my ideas in a very academic setting. To me those are two very different worlds… I almost feel selfish because I never had to go through that process and they did it all for us. Because of that I feel a very great sense of responsibility to help my parents as soon as I can, and I feel a responsibility generally towards my community.’

(Maria)

It is this feeling of debt to the greater community that acts as the glue to Maria and Patty’s relationship. How to give back to others what one has been given? To pass along a lineage of honor, respect, and dignity and promote the common good? These are the questions that Maria and Patty will spend the rest of their lives answering.

We are so excited to partner with SACNAS as part of the StoryCorps Historias initiative, and we look forward to recording more of their wonderful stories.

On February 10th, StoryCorps San Francisco paid a return call to St. Anthony Foundation, deep in the heart of the City’s Tenderloin neighborhood. St. Anthony’s responds to the needs of poor and low income people and has done so for the past six decades. By providing for basic needs like food, clothing and healthcare, the Foundation’s programs are a gateway for people to take significant steps toward a more stable life.

Our previous visit was arranged by StoryCorps Facilitator Alex Lyon, who also works at the Tenderloin Tech Lab. Every year the Lab aids nearly one thousand homeless and low income clients to overcome barriers to accessing technology. (Check out Alex’s Post from 10/19/09)

For our second day of recordings at the St. Anthony Foundation, Alex coordinated with Lydia Bransten of Guest Services, who helps to manage the dining room at the Foundation. At noontime each day, a meal is served to hundreds of neighborhood people. It was among this group that Lydia selected the day’s StoryCorps participants.

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There are many reasons to love KALW, our local public radio partner in San Francisco. Let me count (a few of) the ways: For one, they are a community-driven radio station that really puts the public back in public radio. Two, their news magazine program, Crosscurrents, is award-winning and the best way to stay informed on Bay Area issues and events. And last, but not least, because of their support and commitment to airing locally-recorded StoryCorps clips on a weekly basis, they have become one of the most successful, long-term public radio partners in StoryCorps history!

Plus, they are all really wonderful people. Which is why it was so lovely and amazing to host them for a day at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. In January, the KALW crew came for a bagel breakfast, listening session, and discussion. While they had heard many-a-StoryCorps clips on the radio, some had no idea what actually happens during a StoryCorps interview, nor the Facilitator’s exact role in the process. We also talked about how we could make our partnership even stronger…discussing ways we can further reach out to the community and provide even more stories for the station to edit and broadcast. This radio rap session was followed by a group museum and booth tour.

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Last month, StoryCorps San Francisco opened up the booth for some very special participants: The security staff at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. We have worked for over a year at the museum with these guards and became intrigued by their varied origins, diverse backgrounds, and unique stories.

This event not only gave these co-workers a chance to find out what we do as StoryCorps Facilitators, but also gave us the chance to get to know some of the amazing stories behind these familiar faces. In addition to English, interviews were recorded in Swahili and Tagalog.

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Earlier this month, the San Francisco StoryBooth marked its one year anniversary with a small gathering at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. It was a chance for staff, former participants, and newcomers to come together to celebrate a great first year and look forward to the new one.

We listened to a variety of conversations that have taken place inside the StoryBooth: George DiVincenzi’s account of his first day as a guard at Alcatraz and Ken Hopper’s description of what it’s like to work at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge – just to name two. Spanning a wide spectrum of emotion, from fall-on-floor-hilarity to contemplative sadness, the conversations showcased the most basic pillar of StoryCorps’ mission: everybody matters.

Listen to the amazing excerpts from San Francisco interviews that were played at the event here.

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It was a great opportunity to hear how the participants themselves felt about their own stories, and for them to tell the stories that didn’t make it to the final tape. Most of all, it was a chance for people to come together and share a few memories and a few laughs with one another.

(Eloise Melzer and George DiVincenzi)

As you may know, our San Francisco StoryBooth will be open until November of next year.  Make your reservations now.

Here’s to an amazing 2010!

Visitors to San Francisco who come to Chinatown see a colorful, picture-postcard view of this densely populated area. San Francisco’s Chinatown has one of the largest population of Chinese people outside of Asia. Chinatown is familiar as a center of restaurants, shops and other businesses owned and operated by Chinese Americans, but in addition to being a major tourist attraction, it is the epicenter for Chinese Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area and the West Coast.

On October 20th, StoryCorps paid a visit to On Lok Powell Street Center to record the stories of this amazing community. Since 1971, On Lok has been providing services for San Francisco seniors in centers throughout the city. The Powell Street Center offers a comprehensive package of services: clinics, doctors, nurses, physical and occupational therapies as well as recreational activities. On Lok’s focus is on supportive and preventative measures to keep it’s members within their communities and families for as long as possible. Beyond that, On Lok provides a place for seniors to meet and participate in group outings, companionship, and ethnic and cultural activities. For 38 years On Lok has helped people maintain their independence and dignity. StoryCorps came to honor and celebrate a few of these elders by recording their words in conversation with sons, daughters and social workers in the language that is native to them, Cantonese.

Since I do not speak Cantonese, I was unable to understand exactly what was said during the recordings, but afterwards I asked the interviewers about the content of their conversations. Storytellers were asked about their years growing up and the memories of their parents and grandparents. Some told the saga of their immigration to the United States. At one point, Ting Foon Lee, while recalling a memory, began what sounded to me like the recitation of a poem. When I asked her daughter, Yvonne Lee, about this she said her mother loves poetry and had committed many poems to memory as a student and recited one for her daughter during their recording. As well as receiving the respectful care provided at the Powell Street Center, six Chinese-American elders were honored by their conversation partners and San Francisco StoryCorps facilitators.

Here in San Francisco, California we have some really great news:

Due to popular demand—and the generosity of our host, The Contemporary Jewish Museum, our StoryBooth has been extended through October, 2010!

To celebrate, we’re having a party.

Please join us at the Contemporary Jewish Museum on Sunday, November 8th from 2-4pm to listen to never-before-heard highlights from year one of our San Francisco StoryBooth—and toast to year two!

More information can be found here, on the Museum’s website. We would love to see you there.

In addition, reservations at the San Francisco StoryBooth are now open through February, 2010. We still have some open slots on the calendar, so now is the perfect time to make a reservation to record a conversation with a family member over the holiday season or schedule a Valentine’s Day surprise. Reservations can be made through our website or by calling 1-800-850-4406. Interview times go quickly, so make sure to sign up now.

It has been a true honor to listen to Bay Area stories for the past year, and we are beyond thrilled to have the chance to preserve even more stories from this incredibly diverse community.

Come visit us at the booth one of these days, okay?