Students, professors record memories for StoryCorps
Kirbee Yost
04/25/08
Some memories mean too much to fade away with the life of the person who lived them.
That's the reasoning behind StoryCorps, a non-profit company with a mission to collect an oral history of America. Last June, people from the Baldwin City area, including two Baker University professors and two students, recorded some of their memories for StoryCorps.
"It makes history live," University Archivist Brenda Day said. "It conveys so much more than the written word."
Day was responsible for selecting the people who recorded 40-minute interviews in Collins Library. She has a background in oral history, and through her own acquaintances, advertisements and fliers, she had more than enough participants for the two days StoryCorps was in Baldwin City.
"I had a huge pool. Everybody and their uncle wanted to do it, but my problem was with them chickening out," Day said. "The toughest thing is that they would open up with me and tell wonderful stories but get behind the glass and get scared."
All StoryCorps interviews are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and some are aired on National Public Radio. The ones done in Baldwin City are also housed in Collins Library and are aired on Kansas Public Radio 91.5 FM at 6:35 a.m. and 8:35 a.m.
An interview with Assistant Professor of History Leonard Ortiz aired March 20.
Ortiz remembered the challenges he faced in getting an education growing up as a Hispanic for the StoryCorps session. His family and those around him didn't focus on education, even though he dreamed of being a high school history teacher.
"My parents didn't finish high school," Ortiz said. "Growing up in a predominately Anglo world, I had no (Hispanic) role models. It had an impact on my self-esteem."
While watching others with his same skin color be subservient instead of be in roles of power, Ortiz also had his high school counselor shake him off when he wanted to look for college. Instead of taking the next step in becoming a teacher, Ortiz went to work in a factory. Finally, he decided to begin pursuing his dream again.
Some memories mean too much to fade away with the life of the person who lived them.
That's the reasoning behind StoryCorps, a non-profit company with a mission to collect an oral history of America. Last June, people from the Baldwin City area, including two Baker University professors and two students, recorded some of their memories for StoryCorps.
"It makes history live," University Archivist Brenda Day said. "It conveys so much more than the written word."
Day was responsible for selecting the people who recorded 40-minute interviews in Collins Library. She has a background in oral history, and through her own acquaintances, advertisements and fliers, she had more than enough participants for the two days StoryCorps was in Baldwin City.
"I had a huge pool. Everybody and their uncle wanted to do it, but my problem was with them chickening out," Day said. "The toughest thing is that they would open up with me and tell wonderful stories but get behind the glass and get scared."
All StoryCorps interviews are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and some are aired on National Public Radio. The ones done in Baldwin City are also housed in Collins Library and are aired on Kansas Public Radio 91.5 FM at 6:35 a.m. and 8:35 a.m.
An interview with Assistant Professor of History Leonard Ortiz aired March 20.
Ortiz remembered the challenges he faced in getting an education growing up as a Hispanic for the StoryCorps session. His family and those around him didn't focus on education, even though he dreamed of being a high school history teacher.
"My parents didn't finish high school," Ortiz said. "Growing up in a predominately Anglo world, I had no (Hispanic) role models. It had an impact on my self-esteem."
While watching others with his same skin color be subservient instead of be in roles of power, Ortiz also had his high school counselor shake him off when he wanted to look for college. Instead of taking the next step in becoming a teacher, Ortiz went to work in a factory. Finally, he decided to begin pursuing his dream again.
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