February 27, 2009

Dear StoryCorps Alumni,

I cannot deny...love is in the air. Maybe it's because Valentine's Day was this month, or because I am surrounded by amazing StoryCorps stories.

Charli Reeves in Savannah, Georgia

Stories like the one your fellow Alum Charli Reeves recorded at the StoryCorps Mobile Tour stop in Savannah earlier this month remind me just how deeply folks around the country care for one other. Charli gave up her wedding rings, twice, in the name of love. You can read and comment on Charli's story on our StoryCorps Blog.

Even in times of hardship, love stories inspire us to focus on the good things in life, and the humanity that we share across our country. As Captain and Tennille sing, "Love will keep us together."

Warmly,

Christa Orth
Alumni Coordinator
646-723-7020 x77
alumni@storycorps.net

Last summer, StoryCorps Alums Dr. Peggy Brooks Bertram and Dr. Barbara Seals Nevergold took their involvement with StoryCorps to a whole new level. When they found out StoryCorps was coming to their town, Buffalo, New York, they advertised arrival of the Mobile Tour through their organization, Uncrowned Queens, which conducts research on the issues that affect women of color. By the time the StoryCorps Mobile Tour reached Buffalo, Uncrowned Queens had recruited nearly twenty African American women and men to record their stories.

Dr. Peggy Brooks Bertram and
Dr. Barbara Seals Nevergold in
Buffalo, New York

During their interview, they reminisced about the early days of advocating for African American women and children in schools and healthcare. Peggy and Barbara remembered the struggles and triumphs of their community activism and how their past experiences motivate them to continue making a difference in Buffalo.

Peggy and Barbara's interview was recorded as a part of StoryCorps Griot, our ongoing intiative to ensure that the voices, experiences, and life stories of African Americans will be preserved and presented with dignity. All StoryCorps Griot interviews will be archived at the future Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, in addition to the Library of Congress.

Lovebirds listen

StoryCorps recently held a love-themed Listening Party at our San Francisco StoryBooth in the Contemporary Jewish Museum. The room was filled to capacity as folks listened to rarely-heard StoryCorps love stories. The group got a chance to listen and react to these extraordinary stories together.

For more on the StoryCorps love stories at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, visit the StoryCorps Blog. There you can also post comments and stories of your own StoryCorps experience!

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"As long as there was one black child left in town, they had to keep the school open." Reverend James Seawood remembers how African American families were forced out of Sheridan, Arkansas, when the schools attempted to integrate. Listen...	"I'm always working 24 hours a day." 90-year-old Bill Schifrin tells his son-in-law, Herman Rotenberg, about making his living as a wedding ring salesman. Listen...
"My dad was working 24/7 to make it." James Bost remembers his father, a salesman during the Great Depression, in an interview with his son Doug. Listen...	"Every brain is a little bit different..." 10-year-old Ida Cortez talks about her dyslexia with her mother, Kim Wargo. Listen...

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Alumni Talk Back!

We thank the many StoryCorps Alums who have been writing in to share their StoryCorps experiences! I'd like to share a couple of recent heartfelt notes we have received from dedicated folks like you throughout the country.

Click here to share a note about your StoryCorps experience.

 

Adair Heitmann and Mary Starke H. Wilson
in Fairfield, Connecticut

"It was the little things in the interview that I had with my 86-year-old mother that meant the most to me. She spoke about growing up on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, reminiscing about the earnestness of watching the weather and how the crops and her family's survival on the farm depended on the rain. My mother then got misty-eyed, paused and said, "to this day that is why I love the rain."

What was so striking to me was that I thought I was the only one in my family of origin who loved the rain! I will walk in it in any month, any season. My husband is Norwegian and a sailor. We have a 10-year-old son who loves to play outside in any weather and he especially loves the rain. Here, all this time, I thought it was just us and our love of the outdoors; little did I know that this love of rain was in my DNA."

Peg Hunsberger and a photo of
her father in Mason, Ohio

"I will always treasure the intense one-to-one time my brother and I spent together in the StoryCorps booth talking about our father. It was like we were the only two people in the world as we sat there and shared family history.

I live in Ohio and my brother lives in upstate New York. Being so far away, I was very concerned when he had some problems with his health last December. My brother is fine now and I want him to stay that way. But it was a consolation knowing that I would always have his voice with me, thanks to StoryCorps.

It also means a lot to me that our recording and photo will be kept forever on file in Washington, D.C., so that future generations may be able to learn history from our experiences. You are doing a remarkable thing that is lasting and very powerful. Thank you."

We love hearing from our Alumni! Share your StoryCorps experience by emailing me.

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Sponsors and Partners

Major funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

 

StoryCorps is also made possible by generous support from the Annenberg Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, and the Kaplen Foundation.

StoryCorps' podcasts are supported by the Fetzer Institute as part of its Campaign for Love and Forgiveness.

StoryCorps is a project of Sound Portraits Productions in partnership with NPR and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

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