I stumbled upon StoryCorps animations a few years ago and I find them so moving. Regular people, living imperfect lives, trying to get by, and care for others. One of my favorites is called A Good Man. It is the story of brothers Brian and Mike who are estranged from one another when Brian is kicked out of their home by their father because he is gay. It has a brutal beginning, but then leads to something beautiful.
Another one of the animations that really touched me is about one man’s story returning from the Vietnam war, entitled Tom’s War.
I find these animations so heartwarming and through our readings realized that a major reason is because the people are being interviewed by loved ones. I had not realized that part of the tenderness of the videos is the relationship between interviewer and interviewee. I also did not realize that there is a StoryCorp app that does all of the recording and even offers suggested questions. Two ideas that came to mind for me personally was to conduct an interview with my aunt about her trip to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York and with my uncle about his visit to Disneyland on opening day in 1955.
In doing a bit of research about library programs and the power of stories, I came across the ALA Programming Librarians suggestions for how to celebrate the upcoming semiquincentennial of the United States, next year.
They suggest many ideas, such as an essay contest and “Today in History” posts throughout the year. One of their ideas was to have a Memories Road Show with artifacts to display in person and potentially in a database.
I like the idea of using stories and photos as artifacts. We could create an online and in-library display of Great Americans from our community. Library users could submit stories and photos about themselves or loved ones that would highlight their arrival in America, military service, local founders, and people who have done their part. We could provide printed forms with room to attach a photo and to handwrite the details and story of their Great American, as well as having a Survey Monkey type form they could fill out online and attach a photo file.
I believe this could be a simple, but powerful way to keep stories, share stories, and make stories (Boekesteijn).
Hey, Lisa. Your reflections on StoryCorps really highlights how powerful everyday voices can be, especially when the stories are held by someone who loves the teller. I love your idea of a community “Great Americans” display. It’s a beautiful way for a library to preserve, share, and celebrate the stories that shape us. (And cool that this would work anywhere, not just in the US.)
Yes, good point that this could work anywhere. My town is relatively new (the 80’s), but people are very invested in our history, especially before incorporating.
Fellow StoryCorps fangirl here Lisa! We had a similar setup as you describe during COVID, to capture experiences as they were happening with members of our community. I do love the idea of incorporating it into the 2026 heritage year, because it’s those personal connections that really make history interesting and alive. Thank you for the post! 🙂 Heather
Heather, that is cool, capturing history as it happened. Everyday seemed the same at the time, but looking back we know that’s not true. Thanks for sharing.
@lisahach Hi Lisa, we were really on the same wavelength in this unit. I talked about StoryCorps and the programming of New York Public Library for the 250th anniversary. of the country too. But I hadn’t heard about ALA’s resources or the StoryCorp animations. Really appreciate getting pointed to those resources. I also noticed on another blog post that you are going to read Palaces for the People. I read it for this class and it is fantastic. And it definitely celebrates libraries. I loved it! Good luck with your program.