StoryCorps, a mobile audio storytelling organization, will arrive in the Alamo City next month to gather personal stories from San Antonio-area residents.
The organization has collected more than 65,000 interviews from people representing all 50 states since 2003, making its collection of human voices one of the largest ever recorded.
StoryCorps’ airstream-trailer-turned-recording-studio will be parked outside the San Antonio Central Library, from Feb. 6 through March 5, where the public is invited to record their stories about love, loss, humor, courage, and everyday life occurrences.
To record your story, you can make a reservation starting on Jan. 25 by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour, toll-free line at 1-800-850-4406 or visiting their website here.
The opening ceremony for the project’s local debut will take place on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 10:30 a.m. outside the library when two “VIP interviews” will be recorded and the public can tour the MobileBooth.
StoryCorps hopes to leave San Antonio with about 140 interviews of local residents, and will air a select few on Texas Public Radio station KSTX 89.1. Some local interviews may be selected to air on StoryCorps’ weekly broadcasts on National Public Radio, reaching an even larger audience.
StoryCorps’ mission is to not only preserve and share the thousands of stories recorded, but to use them as a way to connect humanity by demonstrating that everyone has a story and those stories matter.
Last year, the organization released a free app where smart phone users can interview people and collect their stories from the palm of their hand.
While StoryCorp recordings are formatted like interviews, the interactions are meant to flow like conversations. All are between two people: the participant and a friend or loved one of their choice. They are also accompanied by a trained facilitator from the project who records the 40-minute conversation.
All conversations will be recorded onto free CDs for the participants. With permission, a copy of the recording will be made and archived in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. For more information on what to expect, click here.
*Top image: The StoryCorp booth towed by a truck. Photo courtesy of StoryCorp.
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