Andrea Cleveland and Monica Harwell

In 1991, Monica Harwell became the first woman to climb electric utility poles for ConEdison in New York.

As a line constructor, her job was to install power lines dozens of feet in the air.

She worked alongside men whose families had been working on the lines for generations.

At StoryCorps, Monica (right) tells her daughter, Andrea Cleveland (left)—who now also works for ConEdison—that many of them never thought she’d make it.

Originally aired August 14, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photo courtesy of Monica Harwell.

Anny Pena and Jonny Pena

Marine Sgt. Anny and Staff Sgt. Jonny Pena met while stationed in Arizona.

After dating for a couple years they got married in 2007, and they were both active duty. But after their first child was born, they decided Anny would leave the military–and that Jonny would stay.

At StoryCorps, they talked about the challenges they faced as military spouses–and what it was like when Jonny came home from Afghanistan in 2012.

Originally aired July 4, 2015 on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Ericka Naegle and Walter Naegle

On the heels of a historic Supreme Court ruling that upholds the right of LGBTQ people to marry, we look to the late 1970s—a time where this week’s ruling on marriage equality was unimaginable.

Back then, the iconic civil rights leader Bayard Rustin (left) and his partner, Walter Naegle (right), a man decades his junior, fell in love. They were together for many years.

As Bayard was getting older, they decided to formalize their relationship in the only way that was possible for gay people at the time–Rustin adopted Walter Naegle.

Here, Walter tells his niece, Ericka (pictured above, left), what it was like to fall in love with Bayard, and the unconventional decision they made to protect their union.

Originally aired June 28, 2015, on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Photo courtesy of Walter Naegle.

Mario Loiseau and Mabou Loiseau

Mario Loiseau is a Haitian immigrant who works two jobs, including long hours as a parking lot attendant in New York City.

He does this to help pay for his 9-year-old daughter, Mabou’s, tutoring. She is a science and language prodigy and is already studying college-level algebra.

The two of them sat down together for StoryCorps, so Mabou could ask him some questions.

Originally aired June 19, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photo courtesy of the Louiseau family.

Joshua Gubitz and Len Berk

Len Berk loves lox, the salt-cured salmon that goes so well with bagels.

Today, the 85-year-old New Yorker is a veteran salmon slicer at Zabar’s, a gourmet food shop in Manhattan. But it wasn’t always that way.

At StoryCorps, Len (pictured at left slicing lox at Zabar’s) tells his friend Joshua Gubitz (above left) about becoming a salmon slicer after forty years in accounting.

Originally aired June 5, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photo courtesy of Cosima Amelang for StoryCorps

Nicholas Heyward Sr.

This is the story of a father’s grief at losing his son to a policeman’s bullet. It happened two decades before Ferguson, Baltimore, Tamir Rice, or Eric Garner, and it received little or no national attention.

In 1994, Nicholas Naquan Heyward Jr. was a 13-year-old living in Brooklyn, NY. One day, he and his friends were playing with toy guns in the stairwell of their housing complex when an NYPD officer shot and killed him.

20 years after his death, his father, Nicholas Heyward Sr. (pictured above), came to StoryCorps to remember his son, pictured at left the year before he was killed.

Originally aired May 15, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photo courtesy of Nicholas Heyward Sr.

David Ned and Darius Clark Monroe

In the 1970s, Pastor David Ned was living in a rough neighborhood in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

At the time he was nicknamed “Brave Dave” and carried a gun for protection.

In an interview with his friend, Darius Clark Monroe, Ned remembered a time when he had to make a decision about whether or not to use it.

In a separate broadcast, learn about how David and Darius first met during a bank robbery.

Originally aired April 24, 2015, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

“Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?”

Jack Flanigan, 10, sat down with Divna Wheelwright, a Child Life Specialist at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in New York City, to record this Legacy interview about the ups and downs of being a classical ballet dancer and his aspirations in life.

Note: This interview has not been fact-checked, and may contain sensitive personal information about living persons.

Darnell Moore and Kiyan Williams

Editor’s Note: This story comes from our OutLoud Initiative, collecting stories of the LGBTQ community. Kiyan Williams identifies as gender nonconforming and prefers the gender-neutral pronouns “they/them,” rather than “he/him” or “she/her.” StoryCorps will use plural pronouns to refer to Kiyan in this post.

Kiyan Williams (above right) grew up in a rough neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey during the 1990s. They excelled in school and eventually left to attend Stanford.

Throughout it all, Kiyan felt isolated and knew from an early age that they weren’t like other kids.

At StoryCorps, Kiyan told their friend Darnell Moore about a time when they were 4 years old, and their family began to notice just how different Kiyan was.

Today, Kiyan works with LGBTQ youth in New York City.

Originally aired December 17, 2014, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.

Bottom photo: Courtesy of Kiyan Williams.

Bob Walsh and Gay Talese

New York City’s Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964. The graceful span of the Verrazano connects the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, making it the longest suspension bridge in the country.

Gay Talese was a young reporter at the time, and wrote a book documenting the construction called “The Bridge.”

Talese (right) recently interviewed Bob Walsh (left), whose family boasts five generations of ironworkers. The construction of the Verrazano Bridge was Walsh’s first job in the trade.

At StoryCorps, Talese reads from his book and speaks with Bob about the dangers involved in building one of New York City’s landmarks.

Originally aired December 12, 2014, on NPR’s Morning Edition.