StoryCorps Goes Mobile

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StoryCorps, an American oral history project that has recorded more than 30,000 stories in all 50 states, has released an iPhone app, available on the StoryCorps web site or in the iPhone App Store.

The app allows users to take a "humanity break" and listen to Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps audio segments anywhere and anytime.

"StoryCorps is built on a few basic ideas," says founder Dave Isay. "That our stories—the stories of everyday people—are as interesting and important as the celebrity stories we’re bombarded with every moment of the day. That if we take the time to listen, we’ll find wisdom, wonder, and poetry in the stories of the people all around us. That we all want to know our lives have mattered and we won’t ever be forgotten. That listening is an act of love."

Some of the remarkable stories featured in the app include two sisters remembering their brother, who was killed in 1968 in a protest against segregation; a woman telling her husband how her mother found love at age 90 in an assisted living home; a judge telling his daughter how he discovered the works of historical novelist Frank Yerby while cutting class; and a boy with Asperger's syndrome interviewing his mother about animals, hope, mortal enemies, and sibling rivalry.

The app also includes a question generator and “how-to” guide, to help anyone record a StoryCorps-style interview with a loved one using the iPhone. The app automatically updates with stories from the weekly StoryCorps broadcasts, and lets users share stories via email, Facebook, and Twitter.

Everyone has a story

StoryCorps' mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs an opportunity to record, share, and preserve their stories. While StoryCorps started in 2003, its roots stretch much further back. "In many ways, the idea came to life at the Library of Congress, where I first encountered the WPA recordings that emerged from the Federal Writers’ Project during the Great Depression," Isay said.

He described the process of recording a StoryCorps interview in a recent article in American Libraries: 

"First, you make an appointment to visit one of our recording booths. Bring anyone you choose—your grandmother, your dad, your sister, your best friend, the waitress at the local diner whose story you’ve always been curious about. A trained StoryCorps facilitator will greet you, take you into the booth, and shut the door.

"Inside, the booth is completely silent. The lights are low. The room is cozy. You sit at a small table across from, let’s say, your grandmother, looking into her eyes. There’s a microphone in front of each of you. The facilitator sits down in front of an audio console and presses 'Record.' You begin to ask your questions:

“ 'What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?'

“ 'What did your mother sing to you when you were a baby?'

“ 'How do you want to be remembered?'

"At the end of 40 minutes, two broadcast-quality CDs have been created. One goes home with you. A second becomes part of our archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, so that your great-great-great-grandchildren will someday be able to get to know your grandmother through her voice and stories."

And as they do so, they will be reminded how much we all share in common, and how listening can do more for the world than shouting.

Resources

For more fantastic first-person stories, find the following books at your library:

Listening is an Act of Love

by Dave Isay

StoryCorps' first collection of remarkable stories from the project.

Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps

by Dave Isay

The second StoryCorps collection, celebrating American mothers from the Bronx to the South and beyond.

Soul of a People: The WPA Writer's Project Uncovers Depression America

by David A. Taylor

Featuring images, firsthand accounts, and new discoveries from personal collections and other sources, this book examines how the writers' dramas intersected with those of their subjects.