StoryCorps & WUNC Seek Stories of Durham and American Tobacco

As Durham's American Tobacco Campus nears its 10th anniversary as a true live/work/play destination, the interest in its past life is growing. What happened to the people who worked there, and where are they now? What was it like working there? What were the tensions and dramas of factory life?

As part of the American Tobacco Campus' anniversary celebration, NPR's StoryCorps in conjunction with 91.5 WUNC, whose radio studios are located at American Tobacco, will collect answers to these questions, and more, in a month-long story gathering process from April 17-May 16, 2014. This oral history will be recorded as another way of preserving the important history of one of Durham's most famous landmarks.

Structural historic preservation is valued in Durham through numerous adaptive reuse architecture projects like Brightleaf Square and Golden Belt,the interest in oral history is strong here, too. The Museum of Durham History has a facility for people to record and to listen to personal narratives from local residents about Durham's past. Learn more about that project here.

To participate in this project, please contact American Tobacco via email and provide a name, email address and phone number. Describe memories or stories up to 200 words along with photographs or other visuals. StoryCorps’ MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio, will be parked at the American Tobacco Campus to record the stories. Reservations can be made by calling StoryCorps’ 24-hour, toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406 or visiting StoryCorps online. Additional reservation slots will open on April 18.

Learn more fascinating stories about all of Durham's history online.