A STORYCORPS STUDIOS SPECIAL COLLECTION

Since 2013 Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs has partnered with StoryCorps Studios on The American Pilgrimage Project. The project invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-on-one about the role their religious beliefs have played at crucial moments in their lives. Together over the past decade, we have recorded over 250 stories from communities across the county. Log into the archive to see the full range of stories on this page.

To learn more, contact Paul Elie at [email protected]

All American Pilgrimage Project Interviews

ddb002613
42:53
Halicue Hanna and Jeb Backe

Halicue Hanna (50) talks to StoryCorps facilitator Jeb Backe (26) about her spiritual path to Hoodoo. She reflects on her family roots in Mississippi, her connections to her ancestors, and her experience practicing Afro-Cuban dance.

ddb002622
37:43
Farah Mahesri and Sabiha Basrai

Childhood friends Farah Mahesri (40) and Sabiha Basrai (40) recollect their upbringing through to their adult lives. They discuss their Muslim identities, their activism, and how those two things interconnect.

ddb002617
39:03
ddb002614
40:57
Eugene Ashton-Gonzalez and John Law

Eugene Ashton-Gonzalez (37) talks to his friend and mentor John Law (64) about pilgrimage, community, and life in the Bay Area underground arts scene. They reflect on their time using the signal tower on Yerba Buena Island to host events...

ddb002621
43:05
Silena Layne and Jeb Backe

Silena Layne (44) speaks with StoryCorps facilitator Jeb Backe (26) about her faith journey in the face of struggle and loss. Silena reflects on her relationship to the Black Church and on the impact of gun violence on her family.

ddb002619
42:29
Ronné Wingate Sims and Hazel Wingate

Daughter and mother Rev. Dr. Ronné Wingate Sims (51) and Hazel Wingate (78) talk about their family background, their experiences as women in the Black Church, and their relationships to God. They reflect on some of the watershed moments of...

ddb002612
38:23
Brendan John and Barney John

Brendan John [no age given] talks to his father, Barney John [no age given], about Barney's experience growing up Catholic in Karachi, Pakistan. They reflect on the formation of their belief systems, their faith, and their family.

ddb002616
42:25
Chinyere Oparah and Rabbi Camille Angel

Rabbi Camille Angel (57) and friend Chinyere Oparah (55) discuss religion, Queerness, and being among the firsts in their respective fields. Chinyere recalls her childhood, connecting it to becoming a mother herself; and how giving birth to her daughter was...