 |
| Story Corps Griot |
StoryCorps to visit Camp Lejeune
StoryCorps, billed as the nation’s largest oral history project, is coming to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune March 6 - 13 to record interviews of military members and their families.
“To steal a line from the brochure, StoryCorps is really a celebration of ordinary people,” said Charles Wethington, station manager of Public Radio East, the organization which is sponsoring StoryCorps visit to Eastern North Carolina.
Starting with the opening of a StoryBooth in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003, StoryCorps’ is now a nation-wide endeavor with three mobile recording studios and a few permanent StoryBooths in various cities.
One of StoryCorps mobile recording studios will be located at the Marine Corps Exchange parking lot during the program’s visit to Camp Lejeune. Approximately 40 to 50 interviews will be recorded aboard the base, and interview sessions must be requested in advance. To make a reservation for a StoryCorps interview, call 800-850-4406, visit Public Radio East’s Web site at www.publicradioeast.org or visit the StoryCorps Web page at www.storycorps.net.
StoryCorps participants are provided the opportunity to interview a friend or loved one about their life’s experiences in a professional-quality sound-booth. Each StoryCorps conversation is recorded on an audio compact disc which participants may take with them at the end of the interview. A second copy of the interview recording is then preserved at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.
“StoryCorps reminds us of the importance of listening to and learning from those around us,” reads the project’s mission statement on its Web site. “It celebrates our shared humanity. It tells people that their lives matter and they won’t be forgotten. Through StoryCorps, we hope to create a kinder, more thoughtful and compassionate nation.”
The StoryCorps Web site features sample lists of questions which lists questions which will help start the conversation. The questions cover such topics as parenting, grandparenting, growing up, marriage, work life, religion, coping with serious illness, family heritage and military service. Whereas the Veteran’s History Project, also an initiative of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress collects recollections from specific wars and conflicts, the StoryCorps accepts stories about all aspects of military life.
In addition to being preserved in the Library of Congress, some of the stories have been collected in a book. The first-ever StoryCorps book, “Listening Is an Act of Love,” and a companion CD were released by The Penguin Press in November 2007.
In addition to its other interview formats, the StoryCorps also has three special initiatives in progress to preserve memories surrounding specific topics for future generations. These special projects are the September 11th Initiative which honors and remembers the stories and people affected by the event of Sept. 11, 2001; the Memory Loss Initiative which reaches out to people affected by memory and the Griot Initiative which is collects the stories of African-Americans.
“It’s a unique opportunity to record your piece of history,” said Wethington, adding that in generations to come members of the public may get a taste of the life of a young enlisted Marine aboard Camp Lejeune due to a StoryCorps recording.