Philadelphia: Preserve a loved one’s story forever with StoryCorps | Opinion

Our nonprofit, StoryCorps, has set up camp at 30th Street Station until June 26, partnering with WHYY to record the stories of Philadelphians, as part of a cross-country tour we’ve done for 14 years.

Our organization’s story begins in 2003.

That year we put a recording booth in Grand Central Terminal where you could interview a loved one about their life and have it preserved for the ages. I was a radio documentary producer for many years before founding StoryCorps, so I knew that a microphone gives you the license to talk about the sorts of important things you don’t usually discuss in the normal course of life.

From the moment we opened the door, that’s exactly what we saw.

Now, in 2019, StoryCorps has recorded with more than 500,000 people of all backgrounds and beliefs. Many participants think of a StoryCorps session as a chance to sum up their lives and pass on what they’ve learned to future generations — “If I had only 40 minutes left to speak to this person I love, what would I say? What would I ask?”

» READ MORE: Philadelphians can tell their stories in the StoryCorps mobile recording booth at 30th Street Station

The process of recording a StoryCorps interview hasn’t changed much over the years: You make a reservation and invite a loved one, or anyone else you choose, to a StoryCorps booth. There you’re met by a trained facilitator who greets you and explains the interview process. You’re brought into a quiet recording room and sit across from your interview partner, each of you in front of a microphone. The facilitator hits “record,” and you share a 40-minute conversation.

At the end of the session, you receive a copy of the interview, and a digital file goes to the Library of Congress, where it will be preserved for generations to come. Someday, your great-great-great-grandchildren will be able to meet your grandfather, your mother, your best friend, or whomever it is you chose to honor with a StoryCorps interview.

We’ve learned a tremendous amount recording these sessions over the years. We’ve learned how profoundly important these interviews can be for participants; that being listened to in this way reminds people that they matter and won’t be forgotten — which is all any of us wants to know.

We’ve heard, from the hundreds of facilitators who are present for these interviews (they call it “bearing witness”), about the fundamental decency of American people no matter where they live or who they vote for.

Take a few minutes to watch and listen to a small sample of what we’ve recorded over the years: a timeless love story from Brooklyn; a gay man describing his father who, in rural Washington in the 1950s, told him to be proud of who he was; a woman interviewing the man who, when he was a teenager, murdered her son — revealing an astonishing capacity to forgive; or a Franciscan priest in Philadelphia, whose mentor died in the 9/11 attacks and had asked that his mentee give the homily at his funeral.

Not all of the interviews are as dramatic as these, but every session is important, and we treat it as a sacred moment in people’s lives.

Some advice for when you come to the booth — or, if you can’t get a reservation, you can use our mobile app to record stories:

We know StoryCorps is somewhat countercultural — and idealistic. At a moment when so much of what we see and hear is disposable, StoryCorps creates an opportunity to say things that will last forever. In an age with a lot of noise and countless distractions, our interviews ask participants to remember: “This is what’s important.” At a time when so many of us feel contempt for Americans we may disagree with politically, these recorded stories illustrate our shared humanity and the value in all our lives and stories. StoryCorps brings us closer together, one story at a time. Given where the country is today, this work feels more vital than ever.

Dave Isay is the founder and president of StoryCorps. You can reserve an interview spot online at WHYY.org/storycorpsPHL.