Diane Tells His Name and Bonnie Buchanan

Diane Tells His Name is Lakota and her family is of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, but Diane didn’t know any of this until she was an adult and learned that she had been adopted.

She spoke with her daughter Bonnie Buchanan at StoryCorps.

This conversation was recorded at the San Francisco StoryBooth. For more information or to make an appointment click here.

Originally aired January 11, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Above: The photograph Tells His Name received of Buchanan when she was looking to adopt. Courtesy of Diane Tells His Name

Reginald Mason

Reginald Mason was 11 years old when his father died, which left his mother, a tough woman who worked her hardest to provide for them, to raise him on her own.

At StoryCorps, Mason, 47, remembers the struggles he overcame growing up, and how much pride his mother took in his success before her death in 2009.

Originally aired January 4, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

John Cruitt and Cecile Doyle

It was just two days before Christmas in 1958 when John Cruitt’s mother died after a serious illness.

He was a student in Cecile Doyle’s third grade class at the time.

More than 50 years later, John tracked down his former teacher, to tell her how she helped him through that difficult time.

Originally aired December 28, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Sarah Avant and Anand Hernandez

Anand Hernandez doesn’t get much one-on-one time with his mom, Sarah Avant.

Sarah divorced Anand’s father in 2009, and her attention is usually divided among Anand and his younger siblings.

But when they got to spend a special week together, just the two of them, they decided to record an interview at StoryCorps.

Tierra Jackson and John Horan

Growing up, Tierra Jackson struggled through the Chicago school system.

As a teenager, she enrolled in a high school where John Horan was the dean.

John invited Tierra, who is now 23, back to the school to sit down for StoryCorps.

Originally aired September 21, 2012 on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Graham Haggett and Shelli Wright

The last picture 11-year-old Graham Haggett’s grandmother Sandra Lee Wright ever saw was of him.

When Sandra, 57, arrived at her job on the morning of September 11, 2001, waiting for her in her email was a photo (at left) of 10-week-old Graham sent by her daughter, Shelli Wright (pictured above). Her response, “So cute! I’m going to steal that baby.”

Sandra, the facilities manager for Aon Corporation, had an office located in the World Trade Center’s South Tower. She, along with 175 of her colleagues, were killed on the morning of the attacks.

Graham, (pictured above and at left with Lammy, a gift from Sandra), came to StoryCorps with his mother Shelli, 41, to remember the grandmother he never got to know.

Originally aired September 7, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Photos courtesy of Shelli Wright.

Surinder and Rupinder Singh

Surinder Singh left India in the mid-1960s to pursue a career in education. He raised his family in Canada and the U.S., but as practicing Sikhs, they faced a number of challenges.

At StoryCorps in San Francisco, he sat down to speak with his eldest son, Rupinder Singh.

Broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition on August 10, 2012.

Frank Barela, C.J. Maestas, and Frank Maestas

C.J. Maestas (center) has been training as a gymnast since he was a toddler, and his grandfathers, Frank Barela (left) and Frank Maestas (right), have been at his side since the beginning.

They watched him make the U.S. Men’s National Gymnastics Team in 2007 and supported him when he almost made the 2012 U.S. Men’s Olympic Team in July 2012.

The three sat down together at StoryCorps to talk about C.J.’s gymnastics career and the impact it has had on the whole family.

C.J. plans to keep competing and hopes to make the Olympic team in 2016.

Originally aired August 3, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

James Dale

In the case of Boy Scouts of America et al v. Dale in 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts could refuse membership to people who identify as gay.

The plaintiff in the case was James Dale, who began scouting when he was eight years old. By the time he entered Rutgers University, he was an Eagle Scout and an Assistant Scout Master.

After a two-year review, the Boy Scouts reaffirmed the ban on July 17, 2012.

Wil Smith and Olivia Smith

Wil Smith was 27 when he enrolled as a freshman at Bowdoin College in Maine in 1996.

But his age wasn’t the only thing that set him apart from his classmates, Wil arrived with his infant daughter, Olivia, in tow.

As a teenager, Olivia sat down with her dad to look back on their college days.

Wil and Olivia recorded this conversation shortly after he was diagnosed with colon cancer.

Originally broadcast June 15, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Note: StoryCorps remembers Wil Smith, who recorded a conversation with his daughter, Olivia, about being a single dad in college. At the time of this interview in 2012, Wil had just been diagnosed with colon cancer. He died on February 22, 2015, at the age of 46.