California of the Past: We Need You to Tell Your Story

With StoryCorps rolling its way out of town, the Sacramento Public Library is picking up where the folks from National Public Radio left off. The Library's project, California of the Past, seeks to have members of the public tell their stories. About an event? ; a person? ; a special place? Yes. Yes. And, yes. We want you to impart your Sacramento experiences. In doing so, you'll contribute to your library's effort to record and safeguard the historical memory of our great community.

Storytellers will have their tale digitally recorded at the Central Library. Then, we'll can add pictures and music to your words. Before you know it, you've created a masterpiece. Area residents, students, and scholars will be able to view your recorded story in the Sacramento Room's historical archives at the Central Library.

Starting May 1, you can submit a digital story application by calling 264-2920 or online at http://www.saclibrary.org/ and clicking California of the Past.

Take a look at these examples of SPL produced digital stories:

Sacramento Has Gone to the Dogs: http://blip.tv/file/638867

Clark Ashton Smith: Poetry from the Shadows: http://blip.tv/file/638854

Hearts of the Sacramento Valley: Sacramento's Fallen During the First World War: http://blip.tv/file/619329

Collecting History, One Story at a Time

It's Here! StoryCorps' Airstream mobile recording booth is parked on the Cesar Chavez Park side of the Central Library for the next three weeks. Publicity has been great, and most of the time slots have been booked. If you have a story to share, check the StoryCorps-Sacramento web site for more information. If you're merely curious, listen to some of the stories recorded in other cities.

Story Corps is Coming!

First blogged here on February 19, the StoryCorps mobile unit will be arriving in Sacramento in just a few days! The StoryCorps air stream mobile unit will be located at the 9th St. entrance of the Central Library from April 16 through May 10 (see the April/May 2008 edition of the Library News for details).

Do you have a story to share? Does someone in your family? Since 2003, StoryCorps has recorded tens of thousands of interviews - conversations between ordinary people, their families and friends. This one-of-a-kind oral history project is preserving their memories, histories and hopes for generations to come. Each participant receives a DVD of the interview, and the original will be preserved at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Listen to some stories that have already been recorded in other parts of the country, and take a look at the StoryCorps blog, chronicling their journeys across the United States.

The Sacramento Public Library and the Sacramento Public Library Foundation are sponsors of this unique oral history project, along with Raleys’ Family of Fine Stores, and the Thomas P. Raley Foundation. The StoryCorps community host is Capital Public Radio.

Your Past, Coming to the Central Library...

The STORY, if not standing so much as a matrix of words, phrases, pauses and hiccups, is a way for members of any given society to connect. A story is also a gift, a piece of yourself, your past, that's imparted to a friend, aquaintance, even a stranger.

Do you have a story to tell? If you do, and you'd like to share it with the world, April is a month to stay on top of. That's when Storycorps, a venture sponsored by National Public Radio, will set up operations in front of the Central Library at 828 "I" Street. The stories - your stories - will be recorded and placed online, with the original recording being archived with the Library of Congress. Over the coming weeks, check back at grandCENTRAL (http://www.splcen.blogspot.com) for details.

The Sacramento Bee recently ran a story on February 17, 2008, that discussed the Storycorps project. To read that story, please click here.

"Sacramento's War" is Online

Unveiled on Tuesday, the 18th of September, the Sacramento Public Library's Web page, entitled "Sacramento's War," [http://www.saclibrary.org/TheWar/sacramentoswar.htm] provides patrons with a window into the state of California's capitol city during the Second World War. Like the rest the country, the conflict caught Sacramento relatively offguard, but as it had in the past, in the face of fire, disease, and flooding, the city stepped forth and made a marked contribution to the War effort.

The site contains an essay on wartime Sacramento, a number of images from the Sacramento Room Archives and the Central branch's Federal Documents collection, a list of resources available throughout the library system on the Second World War, and a section dedicated to oral history, including the testimonials of five area WWII veterans.

"Sacramento's War" will compliment both the September 23 airing on KVIE of Ken Burns' PBS epic THE WAR and the Central Library's November 14 live interview of Sacramento native and Pearl Harbor survivor Bob Addobati. The interview will be conducted by local Oral Historian Paul Ferrell. To attend the interview, register by calling 264-2920 or go to http://www.saclibrary.org/. Sacramento holds distinction vis-a-vis THE WAR as it is one of four American cities featured in the series, along with Waterbury, Connecticut, Mobile, Alabama and Luverne, Minnesota.