Truth be told: Group on Promenade is all ears
THIRD STREET — A national effort that’s underway to document the history of Americans will be held in Santa Monica this month.
Starting on Monday, StoryCorps — the group organizing the documentary effort — will be partnering with KCRW-Santa Monica 89.9 FM to create special programming exclusively for the radio station, based on the stories collected on the P r o m e n a d e through Feb. 5.
Select segments from StoryCorps will air nationally on Friday mornings during National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, which is featured on KCRW.
StoryCorps’ sound studio, housed within a silver Airstream trailer, will be located at Wilshire Boulevard and Third Street.
Seen as an opportunity to share unique tales, friends or family members are invited to participate, during which one interviews the other. A trained facilitator guides participants through the interview process and handles the technical aspects of the recording.
At the end of a 40-minute session, participants receive a CD of their interview. With permission, a second copy is sent to the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress where it becomes part of a digital archive that will eventually become an oral history of America.
StoryCorps was created by radio documentary producer and MacArthur Genius Award recipient Dave Isay. The group has been traveling across the country since May of 2005 to encourage individuals to record one another’s stories.
“We’ve seen the profound effect on the lives of those who have participated in the project, and the power that these stories have had on the millions who have heard them on NPR and on the Web,” Isay said. “We believe that listening is an act of love.”
Isay said StoryCorps will engage communities, teach participants to become better listeners, foster communication between generations, and help Americans appreciate the strength in the stories of everyday people they find all around them. Participants are encouraged to make a $10 donation.
The documentary effort is intended to mirror the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the 1930s, through which oral-history interviews with everyday Americans across the country were recorded. These recordings remain the most important collection of American voices gathered to date, according to organizers, who hope to build and expand on the WPA’s work for the 21st Century.
With more than 2,000 stories already recorded, StoryCorps will collect more than 250,000 interviews over the next 10 years. In Santa Monica, the group anticipates recording at least 125 stories. According to participants, the process of interviewing a friend, neighbor, or family member can bring them closer together.
Locally, the documentary effort is being sponsored by KCRW, the Bayside District and Hard Tail Clothing Co.
Kathleen Rawson, Bayside’s director, said the Promenade is a worthy venue for the event.
“Downtown draws as many as 100,000 visitors throughout the week from across the country, so we believe Santa Monica will be a terrific location to collect a varied set of American stories,” Rawson said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 6, 2006. Read the original PDF.