Story Corps comes to Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Basin residents have a chance this month to tell their stories for posterity.

“StoryCorps is an oral history project,” said Site Manager Teriyana Morton. “We travel to about 10 cities a year collecting stories from communities. And we try to collect some diverse voices, communities that haven't been highlighted, and we send all that those stories to the Library of Congress.”

StoryCorps will kick off its time in Moses Lake with a party this afternoon at Civic Center Park, next to the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center downtown. There will be free shaved ice, lawn games, music and a meet-and-greet with StoryCorps staff. The organization will be in Moses Lake until July 29.

The StoryCorp mission is a simple one, Morton said: to collect oral histories all over America and create a kind of archive of memory. Anybody who wants to can sit down in front of a microphone, Morton said, and simply tell whatever story they want.

“We want to help people to be remembered forever,” she said. “Conserve, preserve and acknowledge your story. It doesn't matter what it is: the content, the size, the story matters. We're not looking for anything in particular; we just want to hear the voices of whichever community we're in.”

Stories can be as personal or as trivial as the teller feels like making them, Morton said. In StoryCorps’ last stop, Missoula Montana, the team heard several stories about bears, she said, as well as the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Vietnam War and lots of parent-child relationships.

“I think my team learns the most about the community itself when we get those different stories in,” she said. “So whether it's like farm life, or something from the Latin community, or just how hot it is, you can talk about whatever you want to talk about, and we will listen.”

Most recordings are made with two people, Morton said. Participants sit in a curtained-off booth in the Civic Center auditorium, to counteract any self-consciousness that a room full of empty seats might trigger.

“If you sign up solo, we'll have someone there for you,” she said. “Either me, or another facilitator will be there with you to talk about whatever you want to talk about, and if you just want us to ask you questions, and you want to document a special part of your life, we can do that as well.”

Participants in Moses Lake who want to do their story with a family member or friend who’s in another town can do that virtually as well, she added.

The city was contacted a few months ago by Northwest Public Broadcasting, said museum Director Dollie Boyd. StoryCorps’ first thought was to use the basement at the library, Boyd said, but that room wasn’t accessible for people with disabilities, so the group’s representatives came to town, looked over the city’s public buildings and settled on the auditorium.

“We're thrilled to be partnering with them because, you know, preserving history and people's stories is all part of our mission,” Boyd said. “Everyone has a great story. It doesn't matter who you are; you may think you’ve just sort of led an ordinary life and you're boring, but once you sit down and start talking, some amazing things are gonna come out.”

“I also want people to know that they can record in any language they choose,” Morton said. “We have bilingual facilitators as well. So yeah, so feel free. If you speak Spanish or another language, just let us know and we will do our best to make sure that we accommodate that.”

To sign up to tell a story, participants can go to storycorps.org and click the “Participate” tab at the top of the page. Alternatively, they can come on down to the Civic Center and make an appointment in person. Sessions last for 40 minutes and facilitators have a list of questions to get speakers started and calm any nerves they may be feeling, Morton said.

StoryCorps started out in 2003, in a small booth at Grand Central Station in New York City, according to the organization’s website. Since then, StoryCorps has recorded more than 80,000 interviews, according to a press release from the organization, amassing the largest collection of human voices in its archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Some local communities have special categories for their stories: the Griot initiative showcases Black voices, Morton said, while Outloud collects stories from the LGBT community and Historias records Hispanic experiences.

It all boils down to one purpose, Morton said.

“So there's no story that will be left untold.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.