Story Corps.

I wrote a recent post about my adoration for NPR. Every Friday, I look forward to one particular feature, the Story Corps segment. Story Corps is a project aimed at preserving the memories of everyday people for future generations. The stories are always riveting, and I have enjoyed every one of them. These stories are being compiled as part of a nationwide project that is partially funded by NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The premise of the project is very basic: two people that know each other record interviews that they conduct with each other. Each interview is very unique and personal. My personal favorite was between a young woman, Carly Dreher and her grandfather, Lyle Link. The man's wife had recently passed away, and the interview focused on their relationship and how they bucked the standard traditions of the times when they first got married. It was truly delightful to hear the love in his voice as he described their adventurous honeymoon.

The stories themselves are very interesting, but this series also resonates with me from a historical standpoint. One of the most fascinating courses I took down at ISU was called archives and manuscripts. This course was based on the science of archiving, and the necessary steps it takes to do it correctly. Unfortunately, as we have become more dependent on technology, we have left the art of writing letters and keeping personal logs behind. Part of this is the convenience that computers offer to us. Hell, look at those of us have joined the blogosphere.

Anyways, what I am really interested in doing is starting a project similar to this amongst our friends. Most of us have known each other for the better part of the last fifteen years, and I think we owe it to ourselves and our future families to start recording some of our fondest memories while the remain fresh. I know this sounds like a screwball idea, but I have a feeling we will all learn a lot about ourselves, while visiting the events that have made us who we are today.

Since this is my idea, I will volunteer to be the facilitator of this little project. Depending on the amount of interest, I will go out and purchase a recording device that we can pass around to each other. Considering the fact that we have become spread out, and it is difficult to get us all in one place, I imagine that some packages will be sent around from time to time to help move the process along. Once the recordings have been made, I will put them in a digital format for safe keeping. Another idea could be writing the questions and answers down as the interviews take place. If you don't want to keep the hard copies, send them to me and I will archive them.

Once again, I know this sounds ambitious, but I really feel this is something we can all benefit from. Naturally, I think we should start with the people that are closet to us, such as a significant other. Please let me know what you think.