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.
“I Still Wake Up Screaming”: Memories From One of the Only Known Survivors of a Lynching
The StoryCorps archive is the largest collection of human voices ever gathered, preserving United States history as told through the voices of everyday people in this country. The recordings run the gamut of human emotion, from joy to despair and everything in between.
Winfred Rembert, 73, added his rare perspective to the archive in 2017, when he sat down for a conversation with his wife, Patsy, to talk about his experience as one of the only people ever known to have survived a lynching.
When he was a teenager in the mid-1960s, Winfred participated in a Civil Rights protest in the town of Americus, Georgia. In the aftermath, he was arrested and served time in jail.
One day, after Winfred made a commotion in his cell, the deputy sheriff walked in and pulled a gun on him. Winfred then managed to take the gun away and lock the deputy sheriff in the cell before escaping.
More than five decades later, Winfred sat down for StoryCorps with his wife, Patsy, to remember what happened next.
Warning: This story includes racial slurs and a graphic description of racial violence.
Top photo: Patsy and Winfred Rembert at their StoryCorps interview in Hamden, CT in April of 2017. By Jud Esty-Kendall for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Patsy and Winfred Rembert in April of 2017 at their StoryCorps interview in Hamden, CT. By Jacqueline Van Meter for StoryCorps.
Originally aired November 15, 2019 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
“We Missed Knowing Each Other:” 50 Years After Desegregation, Two Classmates Remember
On October 29, 1969, the Supreme Court ordered schools across the country to desegregate, in the little-known but milestone case Alexander v. Holmes. It was 15 years after schools had resisted Brown v. Board of Education, and most black students in the South still attended all-black schools.
Eli Brown and Natalie Guice Adams met in third grade, when their school in Winnsboro, Louisiana first integrated. Brown is black, and Adams is white. As two of the top students, their lives were academically intertwined through elementary and high school, yet deeply separate.
Adams and Brown would go on to become co-valedictorians of the Winnsboro High School class of 1980. Today, Brown is an OBGYN in Birmingham, Alabama, and Adams is a professor at the University of Alabama. At StoryCorps, they sat down to remember life after integration for the first time.
Top photo: Natalie Guice Adams and Eli Brown at their at their StoryCorps interview in Birmingham, AL on October 2, 2019. By Emilyn Sosa for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Natalie Guice Adams and Eli Brown pose as two of Winnsboro High School’s “Most Likely To Succeed” students. Black and white recipients of the distinction were photographed separately. Photo from the Winnsboro High School 1980 yearbook.
Originally aired October 25, 2019 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
From Internment to Disney, a Japanese American Artist Draws Strength Through His Work
Willie Ito was a wide-eyed little boy when he first saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in technicolor at his neighborhood movie theater in San Francisco.
That’s the moment he realized he wanted to be an animator.
But Willie’s dreams were interrupted in 1942, when his family was sent to a Japanese American internment camp in Topaz, Utah. He was eight years old at the time.
At 85, Willie came to StoryCorps with his son, Vince, to remember.
Top photo: Willie Ito at his home studio in Los Angeles, CA in the late ‘70s. Courtesy of Willie Ito.
Middle photo: Willie Ito holding a toy Dopey bank. His father bought it for him at a five and dime store when he was a child, before his family was interned in Topaz, UT from 1942 to 1945. Photo by Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Vince Ito and Willie Ito at their StoryCorps interview in Los Angeles, CA in September 2019. Photo by Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan for StoryCorps.
Originally aired October 4th, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
‘Excitement Often Means Danger’: A Mother And Son Remember Life On The Fire Line
Connie Mehmel was a young mother when she started fighting wildfires in Washington state, in the late 1970s. Her son, Ian, would eventually follow in her footsteps. After 42 years working for the Forest Service, Connie retired in September of 2019.
Connie and Ian sat down at StoryCorps to talk about working life side by side on the fire line.
Top photo: Ian Bennett and his mom, Connie Mehmel, at their StoryCorps interview in Wenatchee, WA on June 4, 2009. By Chaela Herridge-Meyer for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Connie Mehmel stands in uniform in 2012 at Summer Blossom. Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, WA.
Originally aired Friday, September 13th, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
‘It’s Such A Gift Of A Job’: Nurses Reflect On Their Work In The Intensive Care Unit
Kristin Sollars and Marci Ebberts are nurses at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. They worked side by side in the intensive care unit for years and grew so close they’ve come to call themselves “work wives.”
Kristin and Marci sat down at StoryCorps to reflect on how their work is more than just a job.
Top Photo: Kristin Sollars and Marci Ebbers at their StoryCorps interview in Orlando, FL on May 21, 2019. By Emilyn Sosa for StoryCorps.
This interview was recorded in partnership with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
Originally aired August 30, 2019, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Five Years Later, Two Ferguson Protestors Reflect on the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photo that Captured their Anguish — and Connection
Five years ago, when news of Michael Brown Jr.’s police shooting death spread, two strangers made their way to the Ferguson Police Department to protest. A local photographer, Robert Cohen, captured the moment.
In the photo, a young African American man’s face is twisted in anguish, tears streaming down his cheeks. Next to him, an older woman extends her hand to his shoulder in comfort.
The photo would go on the win the Pulitzer Prize, along with 18 other photos taken by photographers with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Earlier this summer, those two strangers, Jamell Spann and Elizabeth Vega, came to StoryCorps to remember that pivotal moment, and the friendship that grew out of it.
Top photo: Jamell Spann and Elizabeth Vega are photographed on Monday, August 11, 2014 as police officers in riot gear clear demonstrators from the area surrounding the Ferguson Police Department. Hundreds had arrived to protest the police shooting of Michael Brown Jr. AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Robert Cohen
Bottom photo: Elizabeth Vega and Jamell Spann at their StoryCorps interview in St. Louis, Missouri on June 27, 2019. By Dupe Oyebolu for StoryCorps.
Originally aired on August 9, 2019 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Michael Brown Jr.’s Sisters Remember Their Brother on the Fifth Anniversary of His Police Shooting Death
Five years have passed since the death of Michael Brown Jr. on August 9, 2014.
He was killed in Ferguson, Missouri by police officer Darren Wilson and lay in the street where he was shot for four hours, sparking protests across the country.
In the media frenzy that followed, few people heard the story of Michael Brown Jr. from those who knew him.
Earlier this year, two of his sisters, Triniya and Trinity Walker, ages 17 and 18, came to StoryCorps in St. Louis to remember him.
Top photo: Trinity and Triniya Walker pose at their StoryCorps interview in St. Louis, Missouri on June 27, 2019. By Dupe Oyebolu for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Michael Brown Jr. poses in his graduation cap and gown in March 2014, several months before his death. By Elcardo Anthony.
Korean War POW Shares What It Was Like to Be Reported Dead — and What Happened When He Came Home Two Years Later
Ninety-year-old Walter Dixon, of Waynesville, Missouri, is a veteran of three wars. He joined the Army at age 16 to serve during World War II. He came back from that war and got married, just before shipping off to join the Army’s 38th Infantry in Korea.
While there, he was declared dead on the battlefield — only to return home alive two years later.
He came to StoryCorps with his son, Russ Dixon, to share his story.
There’s a little bit more to the story.
When Walter was declared dead in Korea, a woman named Aldine May Fenton wrote his obituary for the local paper.
He ended up marrying her after his return. They had three children, including Russ Dixon.
Walter retired from the military in 1971, 26 years after first signing up.
Top photo: Walter Dixon and Russ Dixon at their StoryCorps interview in Waynesville, Missouri on June 26, 2019. By Dupe Oyebolu for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Walter Dixon poses with newspaper clippings and photos detailing his experience as a POW. By Dupe Oyebolu for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: A copy of Walter Dixon’s obituary, which was posted after he was presumed dead during the Korean War, and a newspaper article declaring his return. Courtesy Russ Dixon.
Bottom photo: Walter Dixon poses with his second wife, Aldine Dixon, and his death certificate after returning from Korea, where he was held prisoner of war for more than two years. Courtesy Russ Dixon.
Originally aired July 27, 2019 on NPR’s Weekend Edition.
A Woman Providing Life-Saving Aid at the Mexico-Arizona Border Shares Her Story
Maria Ochoa is a 70-year-old grandmother who has walked the Arizona desert well over 100 times providing water and aid to migrants who have crossed the border from Mexico. The humanitarian aid she and other Tucson Samaritans provide is legal, as long as they don’t transport migrants or venture onto private land.
She came to StoryCorps in Tucson with her friend and fellow volunteer, Alma Schlor, to share her connection to the work.
This summer, Maria will have been doing this work with the Tucson Samaritans for seventeen years. She was one of the founders of the organization in 2002.
Top photo: Maria Ochoa poses by the Arizona/Mexico border wall, south of Tucson, Arizona. By Camila Kerwin for StoryCorps.
Middle photo: Alma Schlor and Maria Ochoa at their StoryCorps interview in Tucson, Arizona on April 20, 2016. By Camila Kerwin for StoryCorps.
Bottom photo: Maria Ochoa walks one of the trails she monitors with the Tucson Samaritans. By Camila Kerwin for StoryCorps.
Originally aired June 21, 2019 on NPR’s Morning Edition.