Take Part in StoryCorps’ 2012 National Day of Listening!
Lowcountry Africana is pleased to be an official national partner of the acclaimed oral history project StoryCorps in celebrating the fifth annual National Day of Listening on Friday, November 23, 2012.
On the day after Thanksgiving every year, Lowcountry Africana and StoryCorps are asking all Americans to start a new holiday tradition: set aside an hour to interview a friend, a loved one, or someone in their community about his or her life.
Lowcountry Africana will be taking part in the 2012 National Day of Listening by recording interviews with Lowcountry residents.
While the family is gathered for the holidays, why not interview a family elder to learn more about your family’s history? Or, interview a friend or community member who inspires you.
Your heritage or preservation organization can take part in the National Day of Listening as well, by interviewing community elders and preserving their stories.
Who will YOU interview?
The National Day of Listening: How You Can Participate!
To record your own National Day of Listening Interview:
- Find someone you would like to interview
- Create your question list
- Sit down to record your conversation
StoryCorps has created a free Do-It-Yourself (DIY) interview guide with step-by-step interview instructions, equipment recommendations, and sample questions that is available online at www.nationaldayoflistening.org.
You can record your interview using equipment that is readily available in most homes—from cell phones to tape recorders to computers or even pen and paper.
Create a New Holiday Tradition
By participating in this year’s National Day of Listening, we hope you’ll find that taking the time out to interview someone about his or her life is the least expensive but most meaningful gift that you can give. And you will create wonderful memories to make the holiday season all the more special.
Ready to learn more? Check out the video overview of the National Day of Listening. You can share the video with the person you will interview, to help them prepare.
Ways to Share and Preserve Your Interview
There are many ways to share and preserve your National Day of Listening interview:
- Be sure to share a copy with the person you interviewed, so they can preserve their story for future generations of family members.
- You can enter your name and the name of the person you interviewed on the Wall of Listening on the National Day of Listening website. When you fill in the Wall of Listening form, you can request a Certificate of Participation. If you would like to encourage others to participate in the National Day of Listening, you can select to share your Wall of Listening entry on Facebook and Twitter.
- You can share and preserve your interview on our Family Stories page, where you can share text, sound and video recordings.
- Will you be blogging about your National Day of Listening interview? Send us the link to your blog entry and we’ll share it on Facebook and Twitter!
Video: Robin Foster Discusses the Importance of Family Oral History
Ready to Take Part? Get Your Do-It-Yourself Kit from StoryCorps!
You’ll find everything you need to get started in the step-by-step guide here. There you will find instructions, advice on recording your interview, and suggested questions.
You can listen to interviews on the National Day of Listening website to find inspiration and ideas for your interview.
We hope interviewing a loved one for the National Day of Listening makes your holiday season even more special!
