StoryCorps Oklahoma

Technological enhancements have made it easier for soldiers at war to communicate with loved ones back home, but it wasn't always easy. Bob Ford and Gean Atkinson came to the StoryCorps mobile booth in Oklahoma City and reflected on efforts to stay in contact with their families while serving in the Vietnam War.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org.

You might not think of a haircut as a form of philanthropy, but that’s what Bruce Waight and his life partner Vanessa Morrison had in mind when they bought a 1960 Airstream travel trailer and turned it into En Root, a mobile barbershop. They came to the Storycorps mobile booth in Oklahoma City to talk about what inspired them to give back.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org.

Amanda Williams' father is a member of the Cheyenne tribe, but her mother, Rebekah, is white. Amanda brought her mother to the StoryCorps mobile booth to talk about that interracial marriage and her first experience with racism in western Oklahoma.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org

When thirty-seven-old Waneta Black was born with Down Syndrome, her aunt Lisa Shahan-Austin knew she was something special. Waneta and Lisa came to the StoryCorps Mobile Booth in Oklahoma City and reflected on the ways they have helped each other through some really difficult times.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org.

Ngoc Nguyen was in the tenth grade when she dropped out of high school. It was following the Vietnam War, her dad was in prison, and she needed to go to work to support her family. Years later, after she had immigrated to Oklahoma, she went back to school to finish what she started…to get her GED, and that’s where she met her teacher Chris Myers. They came to the StoryCorps mobile booth in Oklahoma City to talk about their journey to help her complete her goal.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org.

It’s hard to find a more patriotic kid than six-year-old Asher Pitman. His parents, Beth and Jonathan aren’t quite sure where his obsession with American presidents came from, but it’s definitely there. They came to the StoryCorps Mobile Booth in Oklahoma City to talk about a few of his favorites.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org. And you can subscribe to the StoryCorps Oklahoma podcast on Stitcher, Google Play and Apple Podcasts.

Becoming a career police officer wasn’t the life Jack Powell dreamed about when he moved to Oklahoma City from rural Wanette. But eventually that’s exactly what he did. When he came to the StoryCorps mobile booth in Oklahoma City, he told his daughter Chandra about entering the force in the 1960s and the only time he fired his service weapon.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org. And you can subscribe to the StoryCorps Oklahoma podcast on Stitcher, Google Play Music, and Apple Podcasts.

On April 19, 1995, Dan Straughan went to work at the Federal Reserve Bank in Oklahoma City, just across from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. He wasn’t a victim of the bombing, but that day, the impact, changed his life forever. He came to the StoryCorps mobile booth in Oklahoma City with co-worker Marty Peercy to talk about his journey from a secure job as a government employee to tackling the problem of homelessness in Oklahoma City.

To see pictures and hear more stories from the StoryCorps mobile booth’s stop in Oklahoma City, go to kosu.org. And you can subscribe to the StoryCorps Oklahoma podcast on Stitcher, Google Play and Apple Podcasts.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

Jaimee Lee and her 12-year-old daughter Melissa are getting a fresh start with ReMerge, a prison diversion program for women and mothers. Jaimee has struggled with addiction for years. When she and Melissa visited the StoryCorps mobile booth, they had a frank conversation about the effects of addiction on their relationship and their hopes for the future.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.

In this week’s StoryCorps episode, Cynthia Calloway and her husband Roosevelt. They grew up on the opposite sides of Florida and had very different childhood experiences as young African American kids in the 1960s. They came to the StoryCorps mobile booth in Oklahoma City to talk about how those experiences shaped their outlooks on life.

This story was produced for KOSU by Rachel Hubbard and Dustin Drew, with interviews recorded at StoryCorps, a renowned nonprofit organization celebrating the stories of everyday Americans.

Thank you to Phillips Murrah law firm for sponsoring StoryCorps' visit to Oklahoma City.