KUHF/StoryCorps Celebration At HMNS Jan. 13
Friday, November 17, 2006
By: Rob Cahill

In 2003, the folks at StoryCorps set out to create a grassroots oral history of the United States. In an effort to interview Americans in all parts, they equipped AirStream trailers with audio equipment and hit the road. In January, they're making their first visit to the Space City and will park one of their mobile StoryBooths outside the Houston Museum of Natural Science for three weeks. KUHF is a sponsor.

KUHF 88.7FM is celebrating this milestone with a special event called “Houston, One-Minute-At-A-Time” at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on Saturday, January 13, 2007, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be a fun-filled day with arts and crafts, appearances by KUHF personalities and information on the mobile StoryCorps recording studio.

Guests can also record their stories at the event. Interviews are on a first come basis, and participants will receive a free CD of the interview. Interviews are for all ages, and they may be used in a radio series called, “Houston, One-Minute-At-A-Time.” The interview is a chance to share the happiest moment of your life, an important lesson learned in life, things you would have done differently, the keys to friendship or anything you’ve always wanted to talk about but didn’t get a chance to, KUHF Station Manager Debra Fraser said.

StoryCorps was created by award-winning NPR documentary producer and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Dave Isay. This unprecedented project is traveling to every corner of the United States, instructing and inspiring individuals to record their stories in sound.   StoryCorps is the largest oral history project ever undertaken, with plans to collect more than 250,000 interviews over the next decade.

At the MobileBooth, people participate in pairs, oftentimes friends or loved ones, and one interviews the other.  A trained facilitator guides the participants through the interview process and handles the technical aspects of the recording. At the end of a 40-minute session, the participants walk away with a CD of their interview. With their permission, a second copy will be sent to the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress where it becomes part of a high quality digital archive.

Selected StoryCorps interviews are broadcast weekly on NPR’s news magazine program, Morning Edition, which has an audience of more than 12 million people a day. These interviews can be heard on KUHF 88.7FM , Fridays, between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. Samples of the stories can be found at http://www.storycorps.net/.

“. . .we’ve seen the profound effect StoryCorps has had on the lives of those who have participated in the project, and we’ve seen the power that these stories have had on the millions who have heard them on NPR and on the Web,” said Isay. “We believe that listening is an act of love.”

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is at One Hermann Circle Drive across from Hermann Park. For more information, call KUHF at 713.743.0887 or visit online at kuhf.org.