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WNED | WBFO
WNED | WBFO

StoryCorps to visit Buffalo

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Wed, Aug 24th 2016 12:25 pm

NPR station WBFO-FM 88.7 is partnering with the groundbreaking oral history project StoryCorps for a month-long visit to Buffalo.

From Sept. 8 through Oct. 7, StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans, will record interviews at Canalside as part of its cross-country "MobileBooth" tour. Having collected more than 65,000 interviews from Americans in all 50 states, StoryCorps has gathered one of the largest single collections of human voices ever recorded.

"It is an honor and a privilege for Canalside to be a part of the historic StoryCorps project," said Robert Gioia, chairman, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. "The people visiting Canalside often feel inspired to tell personal stories of Buffalo's past, making the waterfront a perfect location for gathering the unique stories of our region."

Founded in 2003 by award-winning documentary producer and MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay, StoryCorps has traveled to every corner of the country to record interviews in the organization's effort to create a world where people listen closely to each other and recognize the beauty, grace and poetry in the lives and stories they find all around.

In StoryCorps' MobileBooth, two people are able to record a meaningful conversation with one another about who they are, what they've learned in life, and how they want to be remembered. A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides them through the interview process. At the end of each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a complimentary CD copy of their interview. With participant permission, a second copy is archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear.

WBFO-FM 88.7 will air a selection of the local interviews recorded in the StoryCorps MobileBooth and create special features around the project. StoryCorps may also share excerpts of these stories with the world through the project's popular weekly NPR broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms and best-selling books.

"Our partnership with StoryCorps on this exciting regional visit helps our station further its service to the Western New York community, and provide the opportunity for our region's stories to be archived and heard on-air," said Don Boswell, president and CEO of WNED | WBFO. "The mission of WNED | WBFO is to educate, entertain and inspire its audience. The local stories collected by StoryCorps will help us further these efforts and allow people in this community to become a part of the story."

StoryCorps' MobileBooth (an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio) will be parked at Canalside for the duration of the visit. Reservations are open to the public and can be made beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 25. To make an appointment, call StoryCorps' 24-hour toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406 or visit storycorps.org. For more information, go to WBFO's website at wbfo.org and see a site map of the Canalside location, find tips about "what to expect," and even receive a comprehensive list of "great questions" to use at your interview.

The WNED ǀ WBFO family of stations broadcasts PBS, NPR and classical music programming throughout the Western New York and Southern Ontario regions. Member-supported stations include WNED-TV (PBS), WBFO-FM 88.7 (NPR), Classical 94.5 WNED and WNED thinkbright @ Create. WNED-TV is also a national producer of award-winning documentaries. Additional information about WNED ǀ WBFO can be found at wned.org.

Founded in 2003 by Isay, the nonprofit organization StoryCorps has given more than 100,000 Americans the chance to record interviews about their lives, pass wisdom from one generation to the next, and leave a legacy for the future. It is the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered. In the coming years, StoryCorps hopes to touch the lives of every American family.

StoryCorps has also launched a series of successful national initiatives, including the September 11th Initiative, The Griot Initiative, The Historias Initiative, The Military Voices Initiative, StoryCorps OutLoud and StoryCorpsU (SCU).

With the 2015 TED Prize awarded to Isay, StoryCorps has launched an app that puts the StoryCorps experience entirely in the hands of users and enables anyone, anywhere, to record meaningful conversations with one another. These interviews are preserved at the U.S. Library of Congress and on the www.StoryCorps.me website, a growing global archive of the wisdom of humanity.

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