Local Residents Invited to Participate Oct. 13 - Nov. 11
Sept. 15, 2016 – 90.5 WESA today announced that it is bringing StoryCorps, the organization that celebrates the stories of everyday Americans, to Pittsburgh from October 13 to November 11, 2016 and that local listeners with a story to share are invited to take part in this groundbreaking Oral History Project. In the course of its nationwide tour, StoryCorps has collected more than 65,000 interviews from Americans in all 50 states, and has created one of the largest collections of human voices ever recorded.
“We are excited to offer the citizens of Pittsburgh an opportunity to participate in the conversation of a lifetime, ” said Terry O’Reilly, the station’s CEO. The station will partner with StoryCorps to produce and broadcast a series of local stories recorded at the MobileBooth. StoryCorps may also share excerpts of these stories with the world through the project’s popular weekly NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books.
StoryCorps’ MobileBooth—an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio—will be stationed at the Senator John Heinz History Center throughout the residency. In the MobileBooth, two people share a meaningful conversation with one another about who they are, what they’ve learned in life, and how they want to be remembered. A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides them through the recorded interview process. At the end of each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a complimentary CD copy of their interview. With participant permission, a second copy will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear.
Founded in 2003 by award-winning documentary producer and MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay, StoryCorps has traveled to every corner of the country to record interviews in the organization’s effort to create a world where we listen closely to each other and recognize the beauty, grace and poetry in the lives and stories we find all around us.
“StoryCorps tells the true American story—that we are a people defined by small acts of courage, kindness and heroism. Each interview reminds people that their lives matter and will not be forgotten,” said Isay. “By strengthening connections between people and building an archive that reflects the rich diversity of American voices, we hope to build StoryCorps into an enduring institution that will touch the lives of every American family.”
Reservations for StoryCorps sessions in Pittsburgh will be acccepted starting on September 29th at 10am at 1-800-850-4406, or by visiting storycorps.org; additional appointments will be available as of October 13.
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About StoryCorps
Founded in 2003 by MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay, the nonprofit organization StoryCorps has given more than 100,000 Americans the chance to record interviews about their lives, pass wisdom from one generation to the next, and leave a legacy for the future. It is the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. In the coming years StoryCorps hopes to touch the lives of every American family.
With the 2015 TED Prize awarded to Dave Isay, StoryCorps launched an app that puts the StoryCorps experience entirely in the hands of users and enables anyone, anywhere to record meaningful conversations with one another. These interviews are preserved at the U.S. Library of Congress and on the StoryCorps.me website, a growing, global archive of the wisdom of humanity.
About 90.5 WESA
90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR news station, is a local, wholly-owned subsidiary of Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp. 90.5 WESA can be heard on 90.5 FM in Pittsburgh; 92.3 FM in New Baltimore; 100.5 FM in Johnstown, 104.1 FM in Ligonier and Somerset, and online at wesa.fm.
