I joined StoryCorps in May of this year as the site manager for our Mobile Tour, StoryCorps’ converted mobile recording studio that visits cities across the country each year. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mobile Tour hasn’t been hosting in-person recordings — but that hasn’t stopped us from giving people an opportunity to share their stories.
Our team, which typically welcomes StoryCorps participants into our Mobile Booth, has shifted to a virtual recording format so we can honor appointments that have been made — and so we can continue to reach out into communities to invite people to share their stories. We partner with local radio stations, local cultural institutions, and service organizations to welcome community members to participate in a StoryCorps conversation. Thousands of those interviews, which my team facilitates, are then preserved in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
I love our team, and I have one of the coolest roles as someone who facilitates interviews twice a week. It’s a privilege and an honor to hold space for listening. I’ve learned that people just want to be heard. In the Mobile — and virtual — Booth, people find a safe space to open up, to tell a story that matters, and to be remembered.
StoryCorps allows people to experience compassionate listening. When you donate to StoryCorps, you help seek, cultivate, and foster stories from diverse populations across America — stories we’re all lucky to hear.
Our stories make up our history. Help us continue to create a place for history to be heard. Please support StoryCorps today.
With gratitude,
Eunice Cho
StoryCorps Mobile Tour Site Manager