Pepper Miller and her husband Ronald

Pepper and Ron Miller talk about what led to their divorce.

Lindberg Echols and his son Bryan

Bryan Echols (R) and his father, Lindberg (L), talk about how their relationship has changed over time.

Willa Guidi, Tasha Guth and Brad Guidi

Tasha Guth talks with her parents, Willa and Brad Guidi, about how they met, and the reactions of Willa and Brad’s immediate families to their interracial relationship.

Originally aired January 16, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Studs Terkel

Legendary oral historian Studs Terkel was a lover of the human voice. He shares a story about an experience he had at an airport searching for, and later finding, the “vox humana.”

Originally aired November 7, 2008, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

William and Glen Haley

William Haley (L) and his brother Glen remember their father, Joseph Howard Haley, founder of Jackie Robinson West Little League in Chicago.

Sonari Glinton and Dorothy Glinton

After working her way up from the assembly line, Dorothy Glinton became one of the first women to hold a management position at the Ford Motor Assembly Plant. She talks to her son, Sonari Glinton, about enduring sexism in the workplace, advocating for herself, and working to get more women into management positions.

Originally aired October 2, 2007 on NPR’s News & Notes.

Rebia Mixon-Clay

Rebia Mixon-Clay remembers her late husband, Frank Mixon. Rebia was pregnant when they first met and he walked over to her and said, “You’re going to be my wife.” A year later they were married at City Hall, and remained together for 17 years before separating.

Originally aired September 21, 2007, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Barb Fuller-Curry and Craig Curry

Barb Fuller-Curry talks with her son Craig Curry about growing up on a farm where her father and mother worked in the fields to make ends meet.

Barb recalls the sacrifices her parents made, and how little she thought about it when she was a child.

Originally aired December 16, 2005, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Joe Vitacco, Freelance Embalmer

“I just do them. That’s all I know.” That’s how Joe Vitacco describes his life work. Vitacco is one of the last of Chicago’s freelance embalmers. He still works out of his trunk, driving from funeral home to funeral home, performing three embalmings a day, every day of the year. While most embalmers don’t make the twenty-year mark, Joe just keeps at it. Over his career of forty-one years, the bodies have piled up. Joe estimates he has embalmed 40,000 bodies. Here is the story of just one.

Recorded in Chicago, IL. Premiered March 11, 2004, on All Things Considered.

This documentary comes from Sound Portraits Productions, a mission-driven independent production company that was created by Dave Isay in 1994. Sound Portraits was the predecessor to StoryCorps and was dedicated to telling stories that brought neglected American voices to a national audience.

Blak’s Story

In March 1993, producer Dave Isay put a microphone into the hands of two young people living in Chicago’s notorious Ida B. Wells public housing projects and asked them to record an audio portrait of their lives. The result was Ghetto Life 101, and it sparked the interest of an aspiring poet and writer living in the projects: Yanier “Blak” Moore.

Blak’s life has been marked by an almost inconceivable degree of violence and death — gang-banging and drug-dealing, the murders of his parents and countless close friends — but through it all he has been able to transcend personal tragedy with the power of words.

On the tenth anniversary of Ghetto Life 101, Sound Portraits is proud to return to the Ida B. Wells and present a new story of hope.

Recorded in Chicago, IL. Premiered March 13, 2003, on All Things Considered.

Archival photos of the Ida B. Wells housing projects from the Library of Congress

A class in radio for youngsters at Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3- 000319-D.

Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-004871-D.

A childrens’ rhythm band in a music class, Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000294-D.

Children playing a game in a music class, Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000270-D.

A meeting of the Cub Scouts in the community center, Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000290-D.

An apartment in the Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USF34-038652-D.

The Carr family in their living room, Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000086-D.

In the kitchen of the Carr home, Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000085-D.

Jelna Carr and her father listen to the 6:45 news broadcast, Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000075-D.

Jelna and her sister Grace both play the piano, Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000078-D.

Ralph and Grace Carr, Jelna’s brother and sister.. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000068-D.

Jelna likes sciences, is going to be a doctor. For Christmas her parents bought her this chemistry set. Ida B. Wells Housing Project, 1942.. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000076-D.

Mrs. Ella Patterson, the oldest resident at the Ida B. Wells Housing Project, Chicago, Illinois, and her grandson, 1942.. Photo by Jack Delano. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-000105-D.