As part of our Historias initiative, StoryCorps’ MobileBooth East is currently recording the stories of Latinos and Latinas in the city of Chicago. As usual, we’ve been treated to a wide range of great narratives, from immigration stories to tales of romance. However, one story has been truly one of its kind. As a participant in both our Historias and September 11^th Initiatives, Michael Doyle, a blogger and mass transportation advocate, came to share his 9/11 experience, an experience that eventually brought him to Chicago.

Michael Doyle shared his 9/11 story at our MobileBooth in Chicago.

Born and raised in Queens, Michael never envisioned living anywhere but New York. He grew up loving the bustle and can-do attitude of his hometown, never cared to learn to drive, and as an adult felt he could never feel at home elsewhere. The traumatic events of September 11, 2001 changed that.

Read the rest of this entry »

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (NS11MM) occupies a preview space across from the World Trade Center pit, nestled among the organized discord of bustling pedestrians, congested traffic, and a monolithic construction project. StoryCorps and the NS11MM nurture a partnership a few years old, and the museum invited us to record at its preview site on May 25, 2010.

The memorial reserved a soundproof room for a full StoryCorps recording day. It was originally installed to record museum visitors’ impressions. Although stress, loss, and chaos surrounded the site, the room was a sanctuary where we recorded participants’ stories.

One participant, Brian Dorsey, emerged from the pack of tourists. Joined by Amy Weinstein, NS11MM Oral Historian, Brian remembered his late wife, Jennifer Dorsey-Howley, a small woman with brown hair, sharp-blue eyes and “a smile that lit up a room.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Brooklyn-born Nancy Morgenstern was working as an executive assistant at the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. She died in the terrorist attacks that day but left a lasting impression on friends and family. Nancy’s parents, Harvey and Suri Morgenstern, came to the MobileBooth at Lincoln Center to pay tribute to Nancy and share stories of her adventurous life which included world travel, skiing and cross-country cycling.

As an Orthodox Jew, Nancy had to be creative about observing her faith while she was on skiing or biking excursions. “In 1994 she decided she was going to take a back road trip out west, I think it was a 10 day bike tour, into southern Utah and northern Arizona. But she had no problems,” says Harvey. “One time she stayed in a tent over the entire Saturday and then ultimately caught up with the group subsequently on the Sunday.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Last Monday, Facilitator Katherine Brook and I traveled to Newton, Massachusetts for a day of interviews with the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund. Above, Katherine interviews Cindy McGinty, who came to record memories of her husband Mike McGinty. Cindy always wanted to get married and have a family, but almost abandoned her search until she met Mike. As Cindy puts it, “we were each other’s miracle.” Cindy is one of many who lost a loved one on September 11, 2001. In an effort to honor their memory, StoryCorps and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have partnered to record one story for each of the 2,981 victims of the terrorist attacks. Thank you Cindy and many others who shared memories of their family and friends. They are gone, but they are not forgotten.

For more information about the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, click here.

The sheer volume of e-mail forwards about friendship have made reflections on that bond seem trite but Jack and Evelyn Zelmanowitz’s recent conversation could stir the most jaded. The couple came to our Foley Square StoryBooth with Amy Weinstein of the National September 11 Memorial Museum to remember Jack’s older brother, Abe Zelmanowitz, a victim of the September 11 attacks.

Read the rest of this entry »

On the morning of April 3, StoryCorps staff, our supporters and partners, and press came out to Foley Square in downtown Manhattan to celebrate our newly relocated and reopened Lower Manhattan StoryBooth. Now the flagship booth in New York, our Foley Square location puts us in the heart of one of the most historic neighborhoods in New York City. Read the rest of this entry »