Residents record personal stories for national archive
When the lights went down in the rear of StoryCorps’ Airstream trailer, Las Vegas Valley residents were given 40 minutes to tell the story of their lives.
Partnering with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas radio station 91.5 The Source, StoryCorps mobile site manager Lisa Polito and facilitator Olivia Cueva spent April parked in downtown’s Centennial Plaza, recording Las Vegans’ stories for the sake of posterity.
“You learn so much about a city through the voices living there,” Cueva said. “Everyone has the right to be heard.”
Polito estimates the duo has recorded nearly 150 interviews, scheduled to be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Fewer than 1 percent of the interviews are slated to be incorporated into a nationwide broadcast on National Public Radio. Black participants also may have their stories archived in the Griot Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution, while Hispanic participants may opt to have their interviews archived in the StoryCorps Historias project at the University of Texas, Austin.
During StoryCorps’ month long stay in Las Vegas, the pair recorded stories such as one from John Amato , a Massachusetts native who runs a music promotion company in town.
Amato said the project is important on a national level but added, “ It’s more important to me on a personal level.”
Amato and his late mother compiled a book of poetry they had written, including a gospel song his mother wrote Sept. 11, 2001.
During the interview, he read one of his own poems, and Polito read his mother’s, inspired by the events of 9/11.
“I wanted something for my daughter and grandchildren,” he said. “But I also wanted to share my mother’s poetry with Southern Nevada.”
A larger portion of the stories recorded in Las Vegas were slated to be incorporated in a program to air on 91.5 The Source at a later date.
Polito said it is stories such as Amato’s that paint a more personal portrait of life in America.
Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Nolan Lister at nlister@viewnews.com or 702-383-0492.
