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FEATURE: StoryCorps
Published: 10/28/2008 9:56 AM
Last Modified: 10/28/2008 9:56 AM

It doesn’t happen often, but on occasion a solitary person will arrive for a session in the StoryCorps Mobile Studio.
“Often it’s because they don’t have any family, or don’t know people well enough, in whatever town we’re in,” said Sara Esrick, site supervisor of the StoryCorps Mobile Studio that set up shop Thursday, Oct. 23, on Third Street in downtown Tulsa.
“When that happens, then usually one of the facilitators will serve as the interviewer,” she said. “But we really prefer — and request — that people come with someone they know. The quality of the stories is always better when it’s two people, who have some kind of personal connection, are talking.”
But there are some who have an entirely different purpose for coming to StoryCorps.
“We’ve had people show up with a complete script — something that they want to recite for the entire 40-minute session,” said Carl Scott, one of the facilitators. “We try to tell these people that reading a statement isn’t really what this is all about.”
What StoryCorps is about is getting two people — family members, friends, even casual acquaintances — together in a room, having one ask questions about the other’s life, and recording what comes out of that conversation for posterity.
StoryCorps was started in 2003 by Dave Isay, and this unique national oral history project has continually expanded. StoryCorps operates permanent recording booths in New York City and San Francisco, as well as two Mobile Studios that travel the country.
The stories told in these booths are recorded. Participants receive a copy, while other copies will go to the Library of Congress. Excerpts from these recordings are regularly featured on National Public Radio stations, as well as on the StoryCorps website (tulsaworld.com/storycorps).
KWGS (89.5 FM), Tulsa’s NPR affiliate, is the local sponsor of StoryCorps’ Tulsa visit, which will be through Nov. 29.
“We’ve been trying for three years to bring them to Tulsa,” said Frank Cristel, director of broadcast services at Public Radio Tulsa, which oversees KWGS and its sister station, KWTU (88.7 FM). “We learned in January that there would be an open slot in the fall of 2008 and we jumped at it.”
The site for the Mobile Studio in Tulsa was chosen by the people from StoryCorps during a tour of the city this summer.
Cristel said a number of places were considered, including the Greenwood Cultural Center and the Tulsa Historical Society headquarters.
“But one thing the StoryCorps people wanted was a place that would have a good deal of foot-traffic,” he said. “And typically, they like to set up in a kind of iconic location.”
The green area at Third Street and Boston Avenue means the specially outfitted Airstream trailer is set among the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, the BOk Tower and the Williams Towers. The view from the trailer’s door is straight down Boston Avenue at the spire of the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church.
The trailer’s interior is divided into two main sections: a work area for the staff, and the soundproofed recording studio. It contains a table with two large microphones, a smaller desk for the facilitator to monitor the sound levels during the session, and a cabinet that holds most of the recording apparatus. The walls are lined with wood paneling, rather than the acoustical foam typically used to insulate most recording studios from exterior noise.
“It’s part of the effort to create an intimate feeling in here,” Scott said. “One of the most important jobs we have as facilitators is getting people to feel comfortable in here. Because there always comes a time, during the 40 minutes of a session, where the participants forget about any kind of audience and just talk.
“That’s when the microphones and even the facilitator just seem to disappear,” he said. “And that’s also when some of the most amazing stories start to come out. A story may just slip out, or one person will suddenly see the other in a new way.”
In addition to people coming downtown to record their stories, the StoryCorps staff will travel to the Chickasaw Nation in south-central Oklahoma to do what is called “door-to-door” recording sessions with members of that tribe.
“We also wanted to talk, if possible, with some survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot, and I believe we have a few of them signed up,” Scott said.
Esrick said about 150 sessions have been reserved by Tulsans (this was Thursday, when these interviews took place). An additional 50 sessions were to be made available for reservation on Saturday, Oct. 25. (According to the StoryCorps website, reservations can still be made. To reserve a session, visit the StoryCorps website).

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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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