Preserving Untold Oral Histories

Our national story comprises all of us. We hear stories from listeners and The HistoryMakers founder Julieanna Richardson that capture the living history that often goes unmentioned.

How can we craft a new version of our national history that includes people who have been written out of it? Julieanna Richardson is someone who is also asking this question. She’s doing the work through The HistoryMakers, a digital archive she founded that captures the oral histories of more than 3,400 African Americans. She joins host Kai Wright to discuss the significance of oral history as a medium and some of the stories featured in the archive. Then, we create our own oral history project with stories from live callers. 

Companion listening for this episode:

"The Battle Over Black Studies"  (11/24/2022)

Black studies is under partisan attack, not only in Florida but around the country. With the effort to eliminate the field of study comes the erasure of scholarship and activism.

“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.

We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Instagram and Twitter @noteswithkai or email us at notes@wnyc.org.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.