John Tull and Lucinda Marker
In 2002, Lucinda Marker and her husband, John Tull, came down with the Bubonic Plague—the same bacterial infection that killed about one-third of Europe’s population in the Middle Ages.
Today, the plague is rare in the U.S., only a handful catch it each year and it’s mostly found in Southwestern states like where Lucinda and John live.
They were bitten by fleas infected with plague near their home in New Mexico, and fell ill while vacationing in New York City.
Originally aired March 22, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Charles Barlow and Bernard Holyfield
When Bernard Holyfield (right) was 5 years old he owned a dog named Lassie—a collie that looked just like the fictional dog on television.
At StoryCorps, he tells his friend Charles Barlow (left) how he learned skin color mattered after Bernard and his younger brother, Evander (who would go on to one day become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world), were playing in the yard and a drunk started harassing Lassie.
Originally aired January 18, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Matthew Merlin and Michael Levine
Update: On June 24, 2016, President Barack Obama designated a new national monument at the site of the Stonewall Uprising, the first national monument to recognize the fight for LGBT rights.
In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, in New York City’s Greenwich Village, police raided the Stonewall Inn. What followed was a series of demonstrations and protests—sometimes violent—by members of the LGBT community.
Considered to be the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement in the United States, the Stonewall Uprising played a significant role in beginning the process of unifying and organizing activists fighting for LGBT rights.
One of the patrons in the bar at the time of the raid was Michael Levine (above right). He was there on a date drinking and dancing when the “lights went up, the music went off and you could hear a pin drop.”
Michael came to StoryCorps with his friend Matthew Merlin (above left) to recall the night of the Stonewall Uprisings and how it changed him as a person and his outlook on the world.
Originally aired June 25, 2010, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Above: Michael Levine pictured in 1969. Photo courtesy of Michael Levine.
Justin Cliburn and Deanne Cliburn
Specialist Justin Cliburn deployed to Iraq in 2005 with the Oklahoma Army National Guard. His job was to train the Iraqi police in Baghdad.
When he sat down for StoryCorps with his wife, Deanne, he told her about his friendship with a young Iraqi boy named Ali.
On Veterans Day 2014, StoryCorps released a series of animated shorts from our Military Voices Initiative—including one of Justin’s story.
Click here to watch “The Nature of War.”
Originally aired November 10, 2012, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
Robert Griffo
On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 508 points. The crash became known as “Black Monday” and markets the world over were affected.
Robert Griffo was working on Wall Street at the time.
When he sat down at StoryCorps, Robert remembered what happened to him after the crash.
Today, Robert Griffo works at the Veterans Crisis Line.
Charlie Morris and Sylvester Lewis
In April, 1939, a young African American man was accused of stealing merchandise from a store in Tennessee. Shortly afterward, he was found dead in a nearby river.
That man’s name was Jessie Lee Bond. His death certificate says he drowned accidentally, but his family always maintained that after an argument with white shop owners, he was lynched — shot, castrated, and thrown in a river.
At StoryCorps, Charlie Morris (L), Jessie Lee’s brother, remembers the moment he learned what happened.
No one has ever been charged in Charlie’s brother’s death. But his story inspired a lawmaker in Tennessee to introduce a bill to the legislature that would create a task force to study unsolved civil rights crimes. That bill stalled in the state Senate.
Denny Meyer
When Denny Meyer enlisted in the Navy in 1968, he had to hide the fact that he was gay.
At the time, homosexuality wasn’t tolerated in the Navy and anyone found to be gay would be discharged from service.
At StoryCorps, Meyer recalled what it was like to be gay and a sailor in those days.
Originally aired June 22, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Robert Holmes
When Robert Holmes was a kid, his family moved to a white section of Edison, New Jersey.
It was 1956, and they were one of the first African American families to integrate the neighborhood.
Today, Robert Holmes is a professor at Rutgers Law School.
Harrison Wright and Sean Guess
When Sean Guess brought his grandfather, Harrison Wright, to a mobile booth in Austin, he asked about Harrison’s service during World War II.
Harrison was drafted in early 1943 and soon after shipped out to Europe. He played the bugle in his unit, and, at the end of the war, he was called upon for a special assignment.
Originally aired May 25, 2012, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Photo: Army Sgt. Harrison Wright as an 18 year-old. Photo courtesy of Harrison Wright.
Karen Slade, Eric “Rico” Reed and Arthur “Sonny” Williams
In 1992, four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted of assaulting Rodney King whose March 1991 beating at the hands of police was captured on video. The news sparked unrest in the city, and no neighborhood was hit harder than South Central Los Angeles.
KJLH, an urban R&B station located on Crenshaw Boulevard, was in the center of it all. General Manager Karen Slade, DJ Eric “Rico” Reed, and KJLH’s driver Arthur “Sonny” Williams remember what happened during those days.
KJLH later won a Peabody award for its coverage of the riots.
Originally aired April 13, 2012 on NPR’s Morning Edition.