Introducing the StoryCorps San Francisco Team
Posted by Sarah on October 11, 2008, from San Francisco, California
Community Partners: The Contemporary Jewish Museum
From left to right: Alex Lyon, Kasha Ho, and Patricia Hemphill.
These are the smiling faces of our San Francisco Facilitators! Our first day of interviews is tomorrow, and for the past few weeks they have been working tirelessly to prepare. Read a little about each of them after the jump:
Posted by Nzingha on October 10, 2008, from New York, New York, at the StoryBooths
Norman Chin was born into a poor farming family in 1920, during the worst time in China. He was sold to an illegal immigrant family in order to raise money to support his own family after his father became too ill to work the farm. His family had no money and no relatives to call upon, so the conclusion was that they either sell seven-year-old Norman or his three-month-old baby brother. Norman was sold.
Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, no Chinese citizen could legally come to the U.S. to live at this time. Norman’s adoptive father, an illegal alien, bought the paper son rights from another illegal alien in order for Norman to come to the U.S. This was known as the Paper Son Deception. A “paper son” was a young man who was brought to the U.S. by someone who claimed that they were a Chinese-American citizen born in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake and fire, and that all their papers had been lost in that disaster. Norman’s “paper father” claimed that he had three sons living in China, ages 9, 11, and 13. Norman came to the U.S. as the 13-year-old son.
As a result of the depression in China during this period, its people were scattered all over the world. As a result of the Paper Son Deception, many Chinese were able to come to the U.S. to live. This practice was quite common in those days.
In 1962 amnesty was offered to those Chinese who admitted they had committed the Paper Son Deception. It must be recognized that thousands of Chinese who came to the United States under this deception made invaluable contributions not only to the building of railroads and other major infrastructures, but to the overall economy and industry of the country.
Posted by Carl on October 10, 2008, from Peoria, Illinois
The retirement celebration of Dr. William Farley, MD brought along with it a sea of smiles, amazing stories and gratitude. Generations of families lined up to say goodbye to the father of 8 and small town Obstetrician/Gynecologist whose practice had spanned 57 years. It was a fitting end to the career of a man who had delivered between 15,000 and 20,000 babies; all with such a personal touch that were it not for his age, his practice would still undoubtedly be going strong to this day.
“I had the dubious honor of saying that I was delivered by a veterinarian.”
This is William’s way of introducing his father whose influence on his own decision to practice medicine was huge. A large animal veterinarian, William recalls accompanying his father on trips to farms to deliver calves and horses, all without the use of tranquilizers. There were only ropes and brute force at play as William watched his father pull a 500 pound sow into a field to perform a cesarean section on it. The impact was lasting on William as he watched the careful hands of his skilled father save the health of both cows and in turn save the money of the farmer.
So the scene was set. And the backdrop came with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was during this time that the government arranged for all medical students to “… end one school year on a Friday and start the next one on a Monday”. Help was desperately needed on the front lines and William’s medical program was decreased from four years to three without the luxury of summer breaks. Once his naval duties, schooling and residencies were completed, he found himself married to a nurse and practicing OB/GYN in the small town of Peru, IL.
Little did he know that there wouldn’t be many deliveries in such a small town; not enough to sustain a focused practice anyway. So he performed all types of general practice, including a large amount of pediatric work. The hospital would direct his patient’s children back to William for treatment by default because he had been the one to deliver them. Soon the hospital staff increased to fit the needs of a practice area which grew to 35,000 patients. Now at 10 to 12 deliveries a month, William was able to focus on the practice of delivering children with the care he watched his father use in tending to farm animals.
His focus (and that of the hospital at the time) was to keep cesarean sections at the lowest rate possible. Complications involving this level of surgery were deemed a largely unnecessary risk. It is this practice that allowed William to learn the techniques that served him most frequently. He remarks on having delivered an 11-pound child for an Amish woman whose beliefs wouldn’t condone being operated on surgically. Perhaps Williams most famous and heart-warming stories involve his discount. He started a deal where if had delivered four babies for a family, the fifth baby and all relating surgeries (circumcision for example) would be free. This included twins. This was done by returning any and all monies he received from the insurance companies to the families themselves. He continued this practice until it was brought to his attention that he was in fact committing insurance fraud, a sad reality instilled by modern legal practices.
Believe it or not there were many “fifth babies” in attendance at William’s retirement party. In fact there were even “tenth babies” where families had received this discount twice. There were people from all walks of life who had gathered to bid farewell to a man who had touched their lives in such a profound way. William placed the patient before the rules. He inspired his son to practice nursing and supported his son leaving that practice to become an entrepreneur. And he inspired me to give birth to this blog. And although it’s my first one, it’s still on the house…
Cheers to you Dr. Farley.
Posted by Alex on October 8, 2008, from Peoria, Illinois
Burton Riffle’s interest in knot-tying began at 11-years-old. He overheard a conversation between his father and a veterinarian coming to treat the family’s jersey cow. The veterinarian told a story about a fatal horse accident. He tied knots to pull a horse out of a ravine. The knots were then altered by an unknowing farmer. The horse fell on to the rocks below and “burst open” because the knots were not secure enough.
“Since then,” Burton says, “I have purchased many knot books. I have broadened my horizons by being able to tie knots. I have worked on trees. I have worked on steep barn roofs. I’ve hauled things with vehicles and tied things on top of cars. It all started with that first interest in knots.”
Luckily for us at MobileBooth West, Burton carries a rope in his pocket. He demonstrates many knots: slippery square, sheep shank, sheet bend ,and bow line. He finishes with a grand finale: the jar sling, which he uses to pick up a Gatorade bottle.
An Iowa Thing: Stories from the Flood
Posted by Anna on October 7, 2008, from Iowa City, Iowa
Community Partners: University of Iowa Libraries
In early June of this year, Iowa City was among the many Midwest towns and cities hit by floods. As the Iowa River rose, parts of the city were evacuated and the water left homes and significant portions of the University of Iowa campus severely damaged. Just four months later, I traveled to Iowa City with fellow Facilitator, Kate, to record conversations as part of the University of Iowa Library’s flood story archive. During three days of recording we heard about dangerous waters, last-minute evacuation, and the devastating damage to homes and buildings. But what we also heard again and again was how people came together in the days before the flood.
Posted by Jeremy on October 7, 2008, from Roanoke, Virginia
Poor houses, or poor farms, were county or town-run residences where people without means were supported at public expense. They were common in the United States beginning in the middle of the 19th century, and were often home to the elderly, the orphaned, and disabled. People requested help from the community Overseer of the Poor, an elected town official. If the need was great or likely to be long-term, they were sent to the poor house.
Use of poor houses declined after the Social Security Act took effect in 1935, and most of these residences disappeared completely by the 1950s. Gene Meador came into the MobileEast Booth in Roanoke, Virginia to talk about his experiences at the poor house his family owned and managed when he was a child.
Posted by Whitney on October 6, 2008, from Roanoke, Virginia
Community Partners: Roanoke Public Library
“I was my father’s partner from age 5.”
Earl Reynolds came to StoryCorps with his daughter, Ashley, to share memories of growing up as a bootblack in his father’s barber shop on Henry Street in Roanoke, Virginia.
Earl remembered shining the shoes of the Godfather of Soul, who advised Earl, “It’s an honorable profession. You just need to think about what else you want to do with your life.”
Posted by Nina on October 3, 2008, from Roanoke, Virginia
“You know, I love spirituals and rock, Sarah Vaughn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, and Nikki Giovanni, just to name a few! ”
— Teena Marie, “Square Biz“
Music has always been a vital part of Nikki Giovanni’s life. Nikki is a poet, mother, professor, activist, Grammy nominee, National Book Award finalist, and a muse/collaborator for many musicians, including Kanye West, Capathia Jenkins, Queen Latifah, and Blackalicious. Nikki stopped by the MobileBooth recently in Roanoke, Virginia (an hour from where she is a professor at Virginia Tech) and remembered a few musically inspired moments in her life.
Posted by Naomi on October 2, 2008, from Boston, Massachusetts
Community Partners: Alzheimer's Association New Hampshire Chapter, Alzheimer's Association Western Massachusetts, Boston University Alzheimer's Clinical & Research P
Where are the Door-to-Door Facilitators? We’re on the road collecting stories from all over the country. Last Sunday, Anna Walters and I ventured out on a three-day whirlwind trip through New England, making stops in Bedford, New Hampshire, Boston and Springfield, Massachusetts for the Memory Loss Initiative. As always, the people we met are the best part of our trips, so I feature all of them in the slide show below. Enjoy! And look out for more posts from the Door-to-Door team.
I would like to thank all of our partners and participants at each organization. Your warmth and kindness was wonderful.
Hello, Peoria. Hello, Carl Scott.
Posted by Alex on October 1, 2008, from Peoria, Illinois
Community Partners: Metro Centre, WCBU
It’s been an exciting first week for MobileBooth West in Peoria, Illinois. Carl Scott joined us after spending a couple months in Brooklyn, New York at the StoryCorps office. We got to know each other over a game of Scrabble and some Swedish Fish. (We found out – upon dictionary investigation – that zag can actually be its own word, separate from zigzag).
Opening day in Peoria came with amazing fanfare. There were refreshments, press, staff from our partner radio station, WCBU, and curious onlookers who wandered over from the nearby Metro Centre Farmer’s Market. There was also a ribbon cutting ceremony with the biggest pair of scissors any of us have ever seen!
