Atlanta Archives - Page 2 of 5 - StoryCorps

‘My Way of Serving’: An Airline Worker Finds His Calling Honoring The Military’s Fallen

Brian McConnell has been an airline worker for nearly four decades. Much of that time was spent working “the ramp” at the Atlanta airport — the area where aircrafts are refueled, boarded and loaded. But in 2005, after witnessing the work of the Delta Honor Guard — a group of volunteers who handle extremely personal cargo — he found a new calling.

At StoryCorps, Brian told his wife, Nora, about the moment everything changed, and how he’s found a sense of purpose by honoring the military’s fallen.

This story was recorded in partnership with Delta Air Lines.

Top Photo: Nora and Brian McConnell at their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, Georgia on April 14, 2016. By Morgan Feigal-Stickles for StoryCorps.

Originally aired October 17, 2020, on NPR’s Weekend Edition. 

Together, Mother And Daughter Social Workers Face New Challenges During Pandemic

In 2018, Michelle Huston and her daughter Lauren Magaña came to StoryCorps in Atlanta to talk about their shared calling: helping people in the last stages of their lives.

Two years later, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michelle and Lauren returned to have a conversation over StoryCorps Connect about how their usually very intimate jobs have changed due to the lockdown caused by the virus.

Top Photo: Michelle-Dawne Hudson and Lauren Magaña at their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, GA on August 21, 2018. By Hillery Rink for StoryCorps.
Bottom Photo: Michelle-Dawne Huston and her daughter Lauren Magaña working together at a nursing home in 2018.

Originally aired October 2, 2020, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

“Untangling The Code”: How Losing Relatives to Cancer Inspired A Life’s Work

By the time Hadiyah-Nicole Green was 4 years old, she had lost her mother and her grandparents. Hadiyah-Nicole and her brothers went to live with her Auntie Ora Lee Smith and Uncle Gen Lee in St Louis, Missouri.

When she was in her early 20s, both Hadiyah-Nicole’s aunt and uncle were diagnosed with different forms of cancer. At 22 years old, she became the primary caregiver to the couple that had raised her.

Photo: “Auntie” Ora Lee Smith and Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green.

Watching these two important people have their lives upended by cancer and its effects inspired Hadiyah-Nicole to dedicate her life to fighting the disease.

She came to StoryCorps with her cousin, Tenika Floyd, to reflect on her aunt and uncle, and the impact that their lives had on her.

Today, Dr. Green has successfully developed technology that has killed cancer in laboratory mice, without the use of chemotherapy and radiation, and without any observable side effects. Her work is in the process of moving forward into human trials.

Dr. Green is an Assistant Professor at Morehouse School of Medicine. She also founded the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation in honor of her late aunt.

Top Photo: Hadiyah-Nicole Green and Tenika Floyd at their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, Georgia on January 28, 2017. By Jacqueline Van Meter for StoryCorps.

The Boy From Troy: How Dr. King Inspired A Young John Lewis

As a young man, John Lewis was inspired by the words and actions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At StoryCorps, Congressman Lewis told his friend Valerie Jackson how he met Dr. King, and went from “the boy from Troy” to a civil rights leader in his own right. 

Top photo: John Lewis and Valerie Jackson at their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, GA on February 20, 2018. By Daniel Horowitz Garcia for StoryCorps.

Originally aired January 17, 2020, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

How a Jewish Man from Georgia Became Santa Claus

There are many ways to celebrate the holidays. While some light the Hannukah candles, some decorate Christmas trees. And for some, well, they do a little bit of both.

This is a story about an out-of-the-ordinary Santa. His real name is Rick Rosenthal. He also happens to be Jewish (Modern Orthodox, to be precise).

Santa Rick came to StoryCorps with an old friend and mentee, Adam Roseman, to talk about how he found his calling.

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In addition to his day-to-day work as Santa, Rick started and now runs one of the largest Santa schools in the country.

Top photo: Adam Roseman and Rick Rosenthal pose after their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, GA in September 2018. By Brenda Ford for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Rick Rosenthal poses in full Santa regalia. Courtesy Rick Rosenthal.

Originally aired December 7, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Olympic Gold Medalist Melvin Pender on the 1968 Mexico Games

Melvin Pender didn’t lace up his first pair of running shoes until he was 25 years old, while enlisted in the U.S. Army as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. 

So when he got the call to compete in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, it was a message he never had thought would come: at the time, Officer Pender was 31 years old and a platoon leader deployed in the jungles of Vietnam.

Many records were shattered at the games, but it’s the Black Power salute made on the podium by Tommie Smith and John Carlos that captured the headlines.

Pender was Carlos’ roommate at the games. At StoryCorps, Pender spoke with his friend Keith Sims about his experience at the Olympics.

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Melvin Pender ultimately won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay race in the 1968 Olympics.

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Soon after Mexico City, he was sent back to Vietnam, where he earned a bronze star for his service. He and John Carlos remain friends to this day.

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Top photo: Keith Sims and Melvin Pender pose at their StoryCorps interview in Atlanta, Georgia on September 13, 2018. Photo by Kelly Moffitt for StoryCorps.
Second photo: Melvin Pender competes in the 100 meter race during the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Here, he leads the group in the center. Courtesy Melvin and Debbie Pender.
Third photo: Melvin Pender receives the hand-off in the 4 x 100 meter relay during the 1968 Olympics, for which he won a gold medal. Courtesy Melvin and Debbie Pender.
Bottom photo: Melvin Pender receives a bronze star for his service in Vietnam on May 5, 1970. Courtesy Melvin and Debbie Pender.

Originally aired October 12, 2018, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Christopher Harris

StoryCorps Legacy gives people with serious illnesses the chance to share their stories.

At Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Christopher Harris recorded his memories from the early days of the AIDS epidemic.

In the early 80s, his marriage fell apart after he came out as gay. He was diagnosed with HIV in 1988. At the time, there was only one drug approved to treat the disease, and a diagnosis often meant a death sentence.

With StoryCorps, Harris remembered how he came to work with the Atlanta Buyers Club, which distributed medications from the black market to people with HIV before the drugs had been approved by the FDA.

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Originally aired December 1, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Bottom photo: Christopher Harris holds his infant daughter. Courtesy of Christopher Harris.

Carla Saunders and Kyle Cook

Kyle Cook and Carla Saunders are neonatal nurse practitioners at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.

They’ve spent decades caring for infants, but when the opioid crisis began to hit in 2010, their jobs changed in ways they never anticipated.

Tennessee has seen a sharp increase in babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), a condition marked by tremors and constant shaking in babies who experience withdrawal. In fact, over the past decade, the incidence of babies born with NAS in the state has risen nearly ten-fold.

Kyle and Carla came to StoryCorps to remember when they began to notice how this affected their patients firsthand.

Over the past several years, Kyle and Carla helped establish one of the first treatment protocols for babies exposed to opioids, as well as a program connecting mothers with treatment and therapy.

Originally aired September 15, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

This interview was recorded at the 2016 National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, in partnership with Operation UNITE.

Michael Yandell and Amy Yandell

People often come to StoryCorps to revisit the moments that shaped their lives. For Michael Yandell, that moment came one morning in 2004.

Michael was 19 at the time and serving in the U.S. Army as a bomb disposal technician. He was on a routine mission in Iraq to clear explosive devices when he was exposed to the deadly nerve agent sarin — the same gas that was used in an attack in Syria in April 2017. He came to StoryCorps with his wife, Amy, to remember that day.

Michael received a Purple Heart for his injuries from the exposure and is now doctoral candidate studying theology at Emory University.

 

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Originally aired April 28, 2017, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Top photo: Michael and Amy outside their home in Tucker, GA. By Todd Burandt for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: A close-up of the Explosive Ordinance Division patch on Michael’s Army uniform. By Todd Burandt for StoryCorps.

Frank Mutz and Phil Mutz

We’re almost three-quarters of the way through what scientists are predicting will be the hottest year on record, so it’s a good time to take a moment to remember those who help keep us cool—air conditioner repair people.

During the 1950s, as AC units were becoming more common sights in U.S. homes, brothers Frank and Harold Mutz were operating a business installing and repairing units. In the 1970s, Frank’s son Thomas took over the business and soon after, Thomas’s son, Frank II, moved to Atlanta and took up the profession as well.

Frank only intended to remain in Atlanta a short time, but working with his father, he found that he had a knack for cooling and heating and ended up staying.

Over the years, their company, Moncrief Heating & Air Conditioning, has grown, and today two of Frank’s three children—Tom and Phil—and his son-in-law, Matt, work alongside him.

Frank and Phil came to StoryCorps in Atlanta to talk about their work; from fixing broken units at churches without AC during Sunday morning sermons, to dealing with cranky customers who need to be turned from unhappy to happy.

Originally aired August 26, 2016, on NPR’s Morning Edition.