Outside the Appalachian mountains, his name was barely known. But Claude Ely influenced some of the pioneers of rock & roll.
Audio History Project
Weaving together oral histories and archival tape to bring the past to life.
Meet Miss Subways
Beauty pageants promote the fantasy of the ideal woman. But for 35 years, the Miss Subways contest in New York City celebrated the everyday working girl.
Segregation Now, Segregation Forever: The Infamous Words of George Wallace
Radio Diaries tells the story behind those infamous words, and the man who delivered them.
March of the Bonus Army
In 1932, 20,000 WWI veterans set up a tent city in Washington. They called themselves the Bonus Army.
Busman’s Holiday
The story of William Cimillo, a New York City bus driver who snapped one day in 1947, left his regular route in the Bronx, and drove his municipal bus down to Florida.
Claudette Colvin: “History Had Me Glued To The Seat”
You know the story of Rosa Parks. But have you heard of Claudette Colvin?
The Working Tapes
In the early 1970’s, author Studs Terkel went around the country with a reel-to-reel tape recorder interviewing people about their jobs.
A Guitar, A Cello, and The Day That Changed Music
November 23, 1936, was a very good day for recorded music.
Ballad for Americans
How a ten minute operatic folk cantata managed to unite Democrats, Republicans and Communists.
Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair
Bridgette McGee is unearthing everything she can about her grandfather’s life – and his death.
Remembering Robben Island
Anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada served more than 2 decades in prison alongside Nelson Mandela. Kathrada died this week, at the age of 87.
The Two Lives of Asa Carter
Asa Carter and Forrest Carter couldn’t have been more different. But they shared a secret.
The Chamizal: A Town Between Borders
When the U.S. and Mexico chose the Rio Grande as an international border, they didn’t expect the river to move.
Working Then and Now
In the early 1970s, radio host and oral historian Studs Terkel recorded more than 130 interviews for his bestselling oral history “Working.”
Burma ’88
25 years ago, university students in Burma sparked a countrywide uprising. They called for a nationwide strike on 8/8/88, a date they chose for its numerological power.
The Last Man on the Mountain
In the 1990s, Arch Coal began mining Pigeonroost Hollow. Now Jimmy Weekley is the last person left there.
The Square Deal
George F. Johnson was the owner of the Endicott Johnson Corp. — at one time the country’s leading shoe manufacturer — and one of the nation’s leading welfare capitalists known for his labor policy, the “Square Deal.”
Strange Fruit: Voices of a Lynching
“Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop.” -Abel Meeropol
