Tuscaloosa, Ala.– StoryCorps, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving and sharing the stories of people from all backgrounds and beliefs, will be in Alabama from October 25 to November 25 to record interviews in-person and virtually.
Since 2005, the StoryCorps Mobile Tour has facilitated thousands of meaningful conversations between people who know and care about one another. StoryCorps is committed to creating a safe recording environment, and Gulf Coast participants have the option of recording in-person or via StoryCorps’ Virtual Recording Booth, a video-conferencing platform that can be accessed remotely using an internet-connected device. Participants can learn more about safety precautions for in-person recording at storycorps.org.
In a StoryCorps interview, two people record a conversation 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 interview process. After each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a digital copy of their interview. With participant permission, a second copy is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear.
Reservations to record will be available at 10 a.m. CDT on October 26 and can be made by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406 or visiting storycorps.org/AlabamaPublicRadio.
In Mobile, Alabama, StoryCorps will partner with NPR affiliate Alabama Public Radio. APR will air a selection of the local interviews and create special programs around the project. 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.
“APR, a service of The University of Alabama, is delighted to host StoryCorps in Mobile,” said Michael Bruce, interim director of the Digital Media Center. “Partnering with local agencies and community groups, we hope to bring additional focus to the rich cultural stories associated with the region.”
StoryCorps is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
About StoryCorps
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 an authentic 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.
StoryCorps has given over half a million Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs, in towns and cities in all 50 states, the chance to record interviews about their lives. The organization preserves the recordings in its archive at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ weekly podcast, NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, wisdom and values; engender empathy and connection; and remind us how much more we have in common than divides us.
For more information visit storycorps.org, or follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at @storycorps.
About APR
Alabama Public Radio is licensed to The University of Alabama and is a service of the College of Communication & Information Sciences. It originated as WUAL-FM in 1982, the state’s fifth public radio station. It emphasized service to the immediate western Alabama area in its first several years, since most of the region had no other access to the public radio medium. However, the University soon realized the potential for expansion into other parts of the state that similarly lacked NPR service. WQPR (88.7 FM), originally a joint project with the University of North Alabama, appeared in the late 1980s. It was followed in the early 1990s by WAPR (88.3 FM), which is jointly owned by Alabama State University, Troy University and UA. In September 2007, WQPR received a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to assist in its conversion from analog to digital broadcasting. In 2011, due to the desire of licensee Spring Hill College to get out of public broadcasting, an existing station, WHIL-FM (91.3 FM) in Mobile, joined APR, effective July 1, 2011.
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org, follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn and subscribe for email updates.