American Talkers Oral Histories from Sound Portraits

home > on-air >

AMERICAN TALKERS
A selection of oral histories produced by Sound Portraits.

	Kaleria Palchikoff Drago, Witness to the Atom Bomb (2005) The only English-language interview with an eyewitness to the Hiroshima bombing.
	Jack Aeby, Atom-Bomb Photographer (2005) The amateur photographer tells about taking the only color photo of the first atom-bomb test. [2:36]
	Julius Howell, Civil War General (2005) Julius Franklin Howell remembers his experience in a Union prison camp on the morning Abraham Lincoln died. [3:36]
	Red Mike's Band (2004) Recording of the last funeral played by Red Mike's Band before the death of the band's leader, Mike Acampora. [3:00]
	Barbers of Belmont (2004) Interviews with the barbers at the Belmont Park Racetrack. [3:18]
	Northlandz (2004) An interview with the creators of the world's largest model railroad. [3:36]
	George Stinney, Youngest Executed (2004) Interviews with the familes of the victim and convicted in the case of the youngest person executed in the US. [3:49]
	Paralyzed (2004) Carol Weihrer tells about waking up from anesthesia during an eye operation. [3:50]
	Remembering Kitty Genovese (2004) Mary Ann Zielonko remembers her partner, Kitty Genovese, on the 40th anniversary of Kitty's murder. [4:28]
	Joe Vitacco, Freelance Embalmer (2004) Joe Vitacco leads us through one of the 40,000 embalmings he's performed. [3:14]
	The Last Elevator (2003) Three 9/11 survivors tell about riding down on the last elevator to descend from Windows on the World. [3:38]
	Bernie Barker, Oldest Male Stripper (2003) The story of a retired nuclear engineer turned stripper. [4:06]
	Clemency (2003) Sue Norton leads us through the clemency hearing of the man who murdered her father. [5:55]
	Blak's Story (2003) The autobiography of poet, social worker, and former gang member Yanier "Blak" Moore [11:40]
	Parents at an Execution (2003) As Texas prepared to execute its 300th inmate, parents of the murdered and convicted shared their story. [4:02]
	Willie Young, Rabbit Hunter (2003) A journey into Florida's sugar cane fields in search of rabbits. [2:01]
	George Knox, Hypnotherapist (2003) An interview with the oldest practicing psychologist in the country. [4:13]
	Strates Carnival (2002) The voices of fortune tellers, burlesque dancers, and two-headed babies, recorded at a carnival in 1941. [4:50]
	Bergen-Belsen (2002) A 1945 recording of a report on the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, a German concentration camp. [3:40]
	William Feehan, Fire Chief (2001) The words of New York City's legendary fire commissioner, who died in the line of duty in the collapse of the World Trade Center. [3:17]
	Under the Roller Coaster (2001) Mae Timpano remembers her forty years living under Coney Island's tallest roller coaster. [3:20]
	Acting Up (2001) An AIDS activist talks about getting the attention of the nation and, finally, his father. [7:40]
	Stephen Fybish, Weather Historian (2001) A profile of a man who has studied, catalogued, and memorized 130 years of New York City weather conditions. [3:34]
	The Day after Pearl Harbor (2000) Man-on-the-street interviews conducted the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. [2:12]
	Weegee (2000) A rare interview with renowned news photographer, recorded in 1945. [6:35]
	Marine Valentines (2000) Valentines recorded in 1945 by marines stationed in the South Pacific to their mothers, wives, and sweethearts back home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [6:31]
	Charlie's Story (1998) The story of Charlie Geter, who has lived on New York City's Bowery for twenty-five years. [10:48]
	Miguel Algarín, Nuyorican Poet (1998) Nuyorican Poet's Café co-founder Miguel Algarín remembers his friend and colleague's funeral on Manhattan's Lower East Side. [2:35]
	A Letter to Butchie (1997) A mother's audio letters to the son she abandoned as an infant. [5:45]
	Fountain Hughes, Former Slave (1997) The memories of ex-slave Fountain Hughes, recorded in 1949, when he was 101 years old. [2:41]
	Folksbiene Yiddish Theater (1996) Two veteran actors remember their time with the longest-running Yiddish theater in the world. [3:10]
	Woody Guthrie (1996) The first recorded interview with the legendary folk balladeer. [11:22]
	Harold Cotton, Hat Blocker (1996) Harold C. Cotton recalls his fifty plus years working in his shop in Greensboro, NC. [2:53]
	Reggie Jones, Lifeguard (1996) A Jones Beach lifeguard recalls some of his summers by the ocean. [3:45]
	Brewer Bell Museum (1992) A profile of Virginia Brewer, founder of a museum of bells that she spent her life savings to create. [4:07]
	Last Day at the Automat (1991) The closing of the last Horn & Hardart Automat, with its rows of coin-operated compartments dispensing macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and coconut cream pies. [4:25]