By Lois O'Brian
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-813278.mp3
Buffalo, NY – The other day my own, personal Library of Congress number arrived in the mail. That's because I participated in StoryCorps, a project of Dave Isay and National Public Radio to be catalogued in the folk history section of the Library of Congress.
I was at a friend's house for dinner a few weeks ago and told about my participation in StoryCorps. She exclaimed, "Oh, I wanted to interview Ed [her husband] for that, but he refused to do it." How could anyone refuse to do it? Refuse to have yourself catalogued in the gorgeous halls of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. for your children's children's children to be able to hear your voice and get a slice of their own distant past?
I would love to be able to hear the voice of my grandmother's grandmother's grandmother. I've been obsessed with delving into the past since I was a little kid. When I heard about StoryCorps I knew it was for me. I had already thought about interviewing my good friend, octogenarian Dorothy Wolff. When I heard it was coming to Buffalo, I counted the days.
I signed up the first day that reservations opened. I called when I got home from work, 5 hours after the opening, and all but 3 or 4 of the July slots were filled. I chose one of the remaining ones, even though the time was inconvenient. It interfered with our dinner hour. Hmmmm...that was easy. I organized some family and friends to meet me and Dorothy at nearby Anchor Bar after our interview in the shiny aluminum StoryCorps trailer parked on the sidewalk beside the main branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Library on Broadway.
The experience was not disappointing. We were greeted outside the trailer by a friendly WBFO staff member, who entertained us until it was our turn. On entering, we were introduced to Chaela who would be recording our interview. The tiny trailer was divided into two parts: the reception room and the recording studio. We stepped through a heavy door into the recording studio, and Dorothy and I sat on opposite sides of a tiny table that held two microphones and a box of Kleenex. After filling out the paper work to document who we were, how old we were and where we lived, Chaela gave us our instructions to always face the microphone and not move toward or away from it during the recording. She explained the hand signals that would let us know when our 40 minutes was coming to an end, and that she would be writing down key words that we mentioned as we went along.
Well, Dorothy and I had a fine time laughing and crying and telling each other about our pasts, distant as well as more recent. When we exited the recording studio, Chaela pulled down a background curtain over the heavy door and took a picture of me and Dorothy together. Then we were offered our choice of buttons with the StoryCorps slogans on them. I chose "Talk now. Listen forever." Dorothy chose "Listening is an act of love." I took "Listening is the greatest gift," to give to a friend. It was fun. Then we got to go to Anchor Bar and tell our family and friends all about it and laugh and cry all over again.
Now that I'm a StoryCorps Alum, I receive updates on the project. I learned that 170 stories were recorded when StoryCorps came to Buffalo from July 17 to August 23. WBFO tells me that 200 people remained on a waiting list with no more appointments available.
I also learned from WBFO that after one of the interviews in which the storytellers were discussing pie making at length, they invited the recording technician home with them to eat some of the pies.
Participating in StoryCorps is definitely on my list of the most fun things I did last summer. Who would have thought having a conversation could be so much fun.
With National Day of Story Telling just behind us as our inspiration, and the holiday season of visiting family and friends just ahead of us, all of us should feel inspired to participate in discovering the pasts of our loved ones. Remember the question "Where were you when President Kennedy was shot?" Well the new question is "Where were you when Barack Obama was declared the first African American president elect in the history of the United States?" Did you stay up til midnight to hear the speech? Did you hear it on the radio the next day? Did you buy extra copies of the November 5, 2008 Buffalo News to sell on Ebay years hence?
And if you happen to be in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration on January 20, stop in and visit the Library of Congress. It's on 1st Street, SE.
Listener-Commentator Lois O'Brian lives in the Town of Tonawanda.
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