StoryCorps Announces Its Military Voices Initiative Tour

(NEW YORK -- FEBRUARY 19, 2020) StoryCorps, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of people from all backgrounds and beliefs, will team up with Veteran Service Organizations across the country as part of its Military Voices Initiative Tour, made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). From March 2 to June 19, StoryCorps will honor veterans and members of the military community across the country by recording and preserving their stories. Millions of men and women have served in the armed services, while millions more family members have stood behind them at home. The military community knows well the challenges of multiple deployments, combat-injuries, and long-awaited homecomings. Yet few civilians truly understand the complex realities faced by our troops and their loved ones.

The Military Voices Initiative acknowledges this notion and contributes to StoryCorps’ diverse collection by recording and preserving the stories of veterans of all wars, service members and military families. The Tour offers an opportunity for them to share their experiences in their own words, which may be preserved for posterity in the StoryCorps Archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Since its launch in 2012, the Military Voices Initiative has preserved 2,700 of these stories, some of which are available at www.storycorps.org.

“CPB is committed to supporting the StoryCorps and these stories and experiences of the men and women who are serving and have served our country with courage and dedication,” said Pat Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “These stories of leadership and sacrifice will be accessible to future generations, reminding us of what it takes to protect and preserve democracy and our daily freedoms.”

The Military Voices Initiative Tour will travel through the U.S., making stops in four cities, including Las Cruces, NM (March 2–13), Green Bay, WI (May 4–8), La Crosse, WI (May 11–15), and Durham, NC (June 8–19). Reservations are free and available to the public, are announced for each city and can be booked online at storycorps.org/military-voices. The Initiative also provides an opportunity for civilians to engage with the veterans and service members in their communities through listening events that will take place in each city, beginning with Las Cruces, NM on March, followed by Green Bay, WI on May 5 and La Crosse, WI on May 12.

StoryCorps fosters an environment of comfort and intimacy for its interviews, with a trained facilitator guiding participants throughout the process. After each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a complimentary copy of their interview, and a second copy is archived at the Library of Congress with the participant’s permission.

“At our best, we are a nation defined by acts of courage, compassion, and heroism. It is vital that we honor the lives and service of our military veterans and their families. In recording and preserving these stories, we hope that future generations can listen and learn about the lives of people who have given so much to our country,” said Dave Isay, Founder and President of StoryCorps.

In each city on the tour, StoryCorps will partner with the local public radio station, which will air a selection of the interviews recorded and host a listening event. StoryCorps may also share edited versions of select interviews collected throughout the tour via its weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition as animated shorts, or via StoryCorps’ digital platforms or best- selling books.

StoryCorps gives people of various and often multiple backgrounds the rare opportunity to sit down and listen to one another, and have that experience recorded into collective American memory. Participants have come to total over 500,000 since StoryCorps’ founding in 2003, making it both the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered and a priceless repository of wisdom for future generations.

About StoryCorps                           

Founded in 2003 by Dave Isay, StoryCorps has given people of all backgrounds and beliefs, in thousands of 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 American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ 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 what divides us.

StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media. The StoryCorps MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer the organization has transformed into a traveling recording booth, crisscrosses the country year-round in order to gather the stories of people nationwide. With the 2015 TED Prize awarded to Dave Isay, StoryCorps launched a free mobile app that puts the StoryCorps experience entirely in the hands of users and enables anyone, anywhere to record meaningful conversations with another person and upload the audio to the Library of Congress. StoryCorps also records interviews in its permanent StoryBooths located in Chicago and Atlanta.

Recording an interview in a StoryCorps booth couldn’t be easier: You invite a loved one, or anyone else you choose, to a StoryCorps recording site. There you’re met by a trained facilitator who explains the interview process, brings you into a quiet recording room and seats you 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 walk away with a copy of the interview, and a digital file goes to the Library of Congress, where it will be preserved for generations to come.

StoryCorps is working to grow into an enduring national institution that fosters a culture of listening in the United States; celebrates the dignity, power and grace that can be heard in the stories we find all around us; and helps us recognize that every life and every story matter equally. In the coming years StoryCorps hopes to touch the lives of every American family.

About CPB

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), 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 owned 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 other updates.