StoryCorps Collection (AFC 2004/001): Frequently Asked Questions

• How can I listen to an interview?
• Are the interviews online?
• How can I get a copy of an interview?
• How many StoryCorps interviews have you got at the American Folklife Center?
• Do you have a database I can search?
• I work for a historical/cultural institution, and we’d like all recordings made in this area during the Mobile Booth’s visit. How do we get copies of the interviews?
• Can I listen to the Annie and Danny Perasa interviews
• What is the Griot Initiative?
• Do you have photos of the people participating in the interview (interview subjects and interviewers)?
• Go to the Storycorps web site
  

How can I listen to an interview? [return to FAQ list]

Researchers can listen to interviews in the Folklife Reading Room (Jefferson Building, room G53). Please note that not all of the recorded interviews have been received. As the interviews are processed by the StoryCorps staff in New York (only if a signed release has been obtained from the participants), will we receive files from the StoryCorps Project. We highly recommend that researchers contact the Folklife Reading Room ahead of time and confirm that the interview is available for listening.

Are the interviews online? [return to FAQ list]

The National Public Radio article "StoryCorps: Recording America" includes selected, edited interviews available. The StoryCorps - Listen page also makes selections from interviews available. At present, these are the only interviews available online.

How can I get a copy of an interview? [return to FAQ list]

Sound Portraits Productions retains all of the rights and permissions for materials created for the StoryCorps Project. This includes not only interviews, but also photographs taken of the participants. Requests for copies should be directed to the StoryCorps - Inquiries page.

How many StoryCorps interviews do you have at the American Folklife Center? [return to FAQ list]

To date, we've received over 16,000 interviews and over 28,000 participant photos. These are the interviews that have been processed by the StoryCorps staff in New York, and for which release forms have been obtained.

Do you have a database I can search? [return to FAQ list]

The database, in its draft form, is available in the Folklife Reading Room. It includes only those interviews received thus far, and not (yet) the interviews to be processed and delivered to us.

I work for a historical/cultural institution, and we’d like all recordings made in this area during the Mobile Booth’s visit. How do we get copies of the interviews? [return to FAQ list]

Please see the answer to the question, "How can I get a copy of the interview?" Alternatively, we suggest that you contact StoryCorps and arrange to have duplicate copies made from their production copies. You will have to work out an agreement with StoryCorps for sharing these files.

The National Public Radio article "StoryCorps: Recording America" has sound clips from the interviews on their web site. Some of the Perasa interviews have been received by the Folklife Center, but not all. There is no known timeline for when they’ll arrive.

The following excerpt is from the StoryCorps web site::

"StoryCorps Griot is a one-year initiative, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to collect interviews from at least 1,750 African-Americans. From February 15, 2007, through February 28, 2008, the StoryCorps Griot Initiative will make stops of up to six weeks in nine locations across the nation, partnering with radio stations, historically black colleges and universities, and other cultural institutions and membership organizations, to record and distribute the stories of 1,750 African-Americans. The StoryCorps Griot Initiative will place a special emphasis on the stories of World War II veterans and men and women involved in the Civil Rights struggle."

Interviews from the initiative will be archived both at the American Folklife Center, and also at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Photographs are taken at the time of the interview, although it's not certain if all interviewers and interviewees have been photographed. Once these photos are processed by StoryCorps staff in New York, they will be added to the StoryCorps Collection here at the American Folklife Center and will be available for viewing in the reading room.

Go to the StoryCorps Project Web site.