More StoryCorps: The Great Thanksgiving Listen

In September StoryCorps came to Charleston, WV to record scores of oral history stories.  Those who particpated shared stories of their lives with each other, they were recorded and preserved for the National Archives in the Library of Congress.  Over the next few months we will be sharing some of those stories over the air and on our web page.

Stories are an essential part of history. To encourage families to record the stories of their own history, StoryCorps launched a program in 2015 called The Great Thanksgiving Listen.  The Great Thanksgiving Listen was developed for high school students to interview an elder and contribute their voices to the Library of Congress, but anyone with a smartphone and an interest in storytelling can participate. We actively encourage people of all ages to download the free StoryCorps App. Use it to create your own unique oral history with an elder or loved one in your life. 

If you missed out on the September visit, the good news is that you still have an opportunity to take some time and have a conversation with someone you love.  There’s an app for that!  StoryCorps App

The app takes the StoryCorps experience out of the booth and puts it entirely in the hands of users, enabling anyone, anywhere to record conversations with another person and then easily archive them at the Library of Congress and on our website. Since its debut, nearly a quarter-million people have taken part in an interview using the Storycorps App.

And, if you are not sure how to start that conversation or what kind of questions to ask.; if you are interested in having a classroom of students record oral histories there are plenty of free resources on the webpage to walk you through this exercise.  It isn’t too hard, it starts with two people sitting down and asking a question.