Father and Son Locksmiths Share the Keys to Their Success
For Phil Mortillaro (above right), locksmithing was a summer job that turned into a lifelong passion. He started in the trade shortly after he left school in the 8th grade.
All five of his children spent time in his Greenwich Village shop, but only his youngest son, Philip (above left), has followed in his father’s footsteps.
Philip Jr with his grandmother, Helga Lumen, at Greenwich Locksmiths in 1987.
Father and son sat down for a conversation at StoryCorps to talk about the family business.
Philip Jr. and Phil Mortillaro at Greenwich Locksmiths in 2023. Photo by Brian Pape for The Village View.
Top Photo: Philip Jr. and Phil Mortillaro at their family business, Greenwich Locksmiths, in Manhattan in 2014. Photo by Von Diaz for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired October 17, 2014 and November 24, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
18 Years After Katrina, A Grocer Rebuilds His Community One Shop at a Time
To mark StoryCorps’ 20th Anniversary we are revisiting classic conversations from the past two decades with updates from the participants.
This story is from New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. The neighborhood was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina and was slow to recover. Almost 10 years after the storm it still didn’t have a single grocery store.
Lower Ninth Ward resident Burnell Cotlon wanted to change that. He saved money by working at fast food restaurants and dollar stores and used it to buy a dilapidated building on an empty block, and opened a neighborhood grocery.
In 2015 he told his mother, Lillie, how his story started in the days after the flood…
Produce, snacks, and a picture of the building before it was renovated at ‘Burnell’s Lower Ninth Ward Market’, New Orleans, Louisiana. By Ian Spencer Cook for StoryCorps. Photo of original building courtesy of Daniel Schergen, who helped renovate it.
Burnell Cotlon and customers in his store in the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana in September, 2023. Courtesy of Burnell Cotlon.
Top Photo: Lillie Cotlon and Burnell Cotlon in front of Burnell’s store, ‘Burnell’s Lower Ninth Ward Market’ in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 19, 2015. By Ian Spencer Cook for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired September 22nd, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
First story aired on August 8th, 2015 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
This story is featured in Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work, a collection that celebrates the passion, determination, and courage it takes to pursue the work we feel called to do from Penguin Books.
A family’s legacy of service, sacrifice, and fatherhood after 9/11
Top photo: Joseph Vigiano and John Vigiano Jr. with their father, John Vigiano Sr. circa 1994. Courtesy of Joseph Vigiano.
We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary by revisiting classic StoryCorps conversations from our first two decades and sharing updates on participants.
(Left) Detective Joseph Vigiano, Firefighter John Vigiano II circa 1996. (Right) Police Officer Joseph Vigiano, Police Officer James Vigiano in April of 2023. Courtesy of Joseph Vigiano.
John Vigiano Sr. came to StoryCorps in 2007 to talk about his sons, Joseph and John Vigiano Jr., who both died in the line of duty during the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center.
Joseph Vigiano with his father and brother, James Vigiano circa 1998. Courtesy of Joseph Vigiano.
In 2023 his grandson, Joseph Vigiano, came to StoryCorps to reflect on fatherhood and his family’s legacy.
Joseph and Kathleen Vigiano circa 1989. Courtesy of Joseph Vigiano.
Jennifer and Joseph Vigiano with their son and Police Commissioner Edward Caban in March of 2023. Courtesy of Joseph Vigiano.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired on September 11, 2009. Rebroadcast with update on September 8, 2023 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Helping The Dogs Of Chernobyl
When the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, exploded in 1986, dozens died, and hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from a 1,000 square mile radius.
But people’s pets were impacted as well. Dogs, cats, and other domestic animals were killed or abandoned, and for more than 30 years those that survived have continued to reproduce in this radioactive forest.
Stephen Quandt, an animal welfare worker in New York City, came to StoryCorps to talk about a humanitarian trip he took to Ukraine in 2019, and how the work he does ties back to his childhood.
Top Photo: Stephen Quandt at the Clean Futures Fund clinic in Slavutych, Ukraine—a city built for those evacuated after the nuclear power plant disaster—in June of 2019. Photo courtesy of Stephen Quandt.
Middle Photo: One of an estimated 250 stray dogs living in the forests of Chernobyl, Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Stephen Quandt.
Bottom Photo: Pripyat Amusement Park in Pripyat, Ukraine. Photo by Stephen Quandt.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired July 28, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Remembering A Father Who Fought For Fairness
Johnny Itliong grew up in the 1960s, surrounded by the agricultural fields of California.
Aleks Itliong and Johnny Itliong at their StoryCorps interview in Reno, NV on June 28, 2023. By Jerry Spikula for StoryCorps.
His father, Larry Itliong, was migrant worker turned labor organizer, who had come to the United States from the Philippines in 1929. Larry eventually led his fellow Filipino workers to strike for better wages and working conditions.
Known today as the Delano Grape Strike, it lasted five years and was one of the most successful in U.S. history.
Top Photo: Larry Itliong speaks to the United Farm Workers, undated photograph, courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired July 14, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Volunteering at the US-Mexico Border Helped This Nurse Find New Meaning in her Work
Content Warning: This story includes mentions of rape and sexual violence.
Angelina McCall found nursing later in life, and quickly discovered she felt called to helping save people’s lives.. She graduated from nursing school in spring 2020—the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Angelina and Matt McCall at their StoryCorps interview in Tucson, Arizona on April 17, 2023. By Chapin Montague for StoryCorps.
She got her first job at a busy emergency room in Tucson, Arizona, but left after a little over a year and questioned whether she was cut out for nursing. “I was very embarrassed and ashamed,” Angelina says.
She stayed home to recuperate and care for her young daughter, but soon after she began to ask herself if there was a way she could continue to help. As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, Angelina is fluent in Spanish and knew that a humanitarian crisis was unfolding just over an hour away from her home.
“So I thought, ‘I can maybe help these migrants that are stuck at the border right now?’
Angelina McCall volunteering at the Kino Border Initiative clinic for migrants in Nogales, Mexico. Photo courtesy the participants.
She came to StoryCorps with her husband, Matt, to share her inspiring experience volunteering at a clinic near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Top Photo: Angelina McCall after graduating from nursing school in the spring of 2020. Photo courtesy the participants.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired May 19, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
A Navy Yeoman Reflects on Joining the Military During Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
In 1993, the US government passed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. It forced LGBTQ military service members to hide their sexual orientation or risk expulsion.
Navy Yeoman Jacob Tate, who’s gay, joined the military in 2010 when the policy was still in effect. Ultimately, DADT, as it’s commonly known, ended in September 2011.
As part of the Military Voices Initiative, Jacob came to StoryCorps with his husband, Carson Pursifull, to talk about what that experience was like, and answer Carson’s burning questions about what he actually does for the Navy.
Carson Pursifull and Jacob Tate at The Liriodendron Mansion in Bel Air, MD in April 2021. Photo by Sarandon Smith (Courtesy of the participants).
Top Photo: Jacob Tate and Carson Pursifull at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in December 2021. Photo by Sarandon Smith (Courtesy of the participants).
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired April 29, 2023, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
After An Accident, Father And Daughter Reflect On What It Takes To Live Again
In 1990, Les Harris was just beginning his career in construction. A father of two young children, he looked forward to working to buy a house and take care of his family. Everything changed on October 5th of that year when a work site accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Les Harris with his son Troy and daughter Angie Presley in Republic, MO in 1987. Courtesy of Les Harris.
As Les learned to live without the use of his legs, he also learned the importance of having a never quit attitude. For the past 32 years, Angie and Les have even celebrated October 5th as his “life day.”
“Everybody that meets you walks away feeling better, smiling, laughing. You have a positive perspective. And I know that I got that from you. I see the difference you’ve made in people’s lives,” Angie told her father. They came to StoryCorps to reflect on how that perspective has carried them both through over the decades since the accident.
Top Photo: Les Harris and Angie Presly at their StoryCorps interview in Springfield, MO on April 22, 2022. By Sarah Padgett for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired March 31, 2023 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Remembering The Mother of the Disability Rights Movement
Judy Heumann was known as the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement.” Over the course of decades, she worked to have the government recognize the rights of disabled people— first as a protestor, and later as part of the Clinton and Obama administrations.
In 1970, the New York City Board of Education denied her a teaching license because of her quadriplegia— claiming her wheelchair made her a fire hazard. Her subsequent lawsuit was the first ever disability civil rights case brought to federal court, and the springboard to her activism.
Another pivotal moment in her career came in 1977, during the 504 Sit-ins. People with disabilities and their allies occupied federal buildings across the United States to push for a long-delayed anti-discrimination policy. Judy organized the San Francisco contingent, which lasted 25 days, becoming the longest sit-in protest at a federal building in history.
Legislation and programs she helped craft later in her career expanded accessibility to millions of people in the US.
Judy passed away at age 75 on March 4, 2023. To mark her passing, StoryCorps is releasing a conversation she recorded with her friend April Coughlin, about the landmark legal case that would define her career.
Top Photo: April Coughlin and Judy Huemann, in 2018. Courtesy of April Coughlin.
With your support, StoryCorps is able to record more stories that help lift up underrepresented voices, bridge political and social divides, and preserve personal histories for the future.
She Was One of the First Black Teachers at Her School, but, “There’s no color when you’re learning to read.”
Eunice Wiley was brought on as one of the first Black teachers at a predominantly white Florida elementary school in 1970. From the start, it was clear her job would be an uphill battle.
Her room had no supplies. The principal didn’t want her to be there. And her class of 20 white first graders had spent little time around Black people.
But she persevered, starting a career in education that lasted until she retired as a principal in 2005.
Wiley came to StoryCorps in 2017 with her friend and fellow teacher, Martha Bireda, to remember how these experiences came to define her as a teacher.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired February 24, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top Photo: Eunice Wiley and Martha Bireda at their StoryCorps interview in Punta Gorda, Florida on January 23, 2017. By Vero Ordaz for StoryCorps.