"I thought I was going to die". Ben Sachs-Cobbe talks to Toni Schultz about her life.

Ben Sachs-Cobbe talks with his Aunt Toni about her childhood in a crowded apartment in Chicago's west side, her getting an education, falling in love, and surviving cancer.

Mary Suzanne Chladek Gehardt

Mary Suzanne Chladek Gehardt (77) discusses about where she grew up and what was it was like to live in Southside, Chicago. She also discusses about her work life starting at hospice to real estate to becoming the first woman...

Working in Another Language

Despite being in Japan for the earthquake in 2011, Gerald Hirshberg doesn't tell that story, because stories of interacting with the place and the people are far more earthshattering. In November of 2017, Kate Hirshberg interviewed her grandfather, Gerald 'Jerry'...

54 Years of Crazy

Being in love can be difficult, hower if two people love each other so much they make it seem almost as if it’s easy. Just ask Anabelle and Richard Sher. Throughout their journey of being in love, Annabelle and Richard...

Sandis Wright and Alex Wu

Creating Community Through Sharing Stories: Sandis Wright was born in a rural Swedish community in northern Maine, where he always dreamed of living in the big city. After moving to both Chicago and Atlanta, and getting married, he decided to...

Mehran Jalili & Maya Tatiana

A conversation between Mehran Jalili & Maya Tatiana. This conversation was recorded at the school on July 25th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Get Lucky and Never Quit

Having a true appreciation for relaxation, Linda Pfeffer speaks with her grandson, Jake Joel, while sitting on the beach in Hawaii on Thanksgiving of 2017. Linda shares an abundance of stories, each with a golden lining, that resonates with Jake...

Reggio McLaughlin

When a young Reggio "The Hoofer" McLaughlin first started tap dancing in Chicago, venues turned him away at the door, saying "we haven't booked a tap dancer since 1945!" In this conversation with his coworker Mareva Lindo, he talks about...

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David Anderson and Steffens Leinwohl

David Anderson (72) and Stef Leinwohl (73) discuss going to design school at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Interview #1 Growing up in Chicago

Talked with Maureen Muckian about growing up in Chicago, Christmas holiday and childhood memories.

From Casa to Home

It is 2018 in Los Angeles, California and fifteen year old Emma Goss interviews Olga Friedman, her beloved Grandmother, about her journey to Los Angeles from Sonora, Mexico. The interview takes place in the bedroom of Emma on the morning...

Stephen Wade & Matt Brown

Musician and historian Stephen Wade talks with his friend Matt Brown about Stephen's musical beginnings, studying banjo with his mentor Fleming Brown in the 1970s, and his reflections on the Old Town School then and now. Since learning to play...

I Do Believe
January 16, 2020 App Interview

Amidst Thanksgiving preparations of 2019, Linda Pfeffer speaks with her grandson, Nico Joel, while his mother talks about teriyaki chicken in the background. Linda shares about her relationship with God, Catholicism, and spirituality in general that resonates with Nico as...

Living Histroy project

I got to interview my grandpa about the 1960’s. it was Avery informative and cool to learn more about his experiences during that time.

Larry Rand & Skip Landt

A conversation between Larry Rand & Skip Landt. This conversation was recorded at the school on July 26th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Living History Project

Katherine Noone Interviewing her 75 year old grandmother, Dolores Mirabelli

Today for You Tomorrow for Me

In today’s society people are celebrating LGBTQ people with parades and festivals, rather than spreading hatred towards them, but this wasn’t always the case. In November of 2018, 14 year old Sofia Brandon-Schwartz interviewed her father, Carlo Brandon to learn...

Ethan Fine and his mother Suzanne talk about her life now and then!

In this interview, conducted on December 2nd in plano, Texas, Ethan Fine (16) interviews his mother Suzanne (45) about her childhood and her life as a teenager in Morton Grove, Chicago. Suzanne shares about her her time in high school...

Jonas Friddle & Anna Jacobson

A conversation between friends, longtime musical collaborators, and fellow Old Town School teachers Jonas Friddle and Anna Jacobson. Jonas is a singer, songwriter and old-time banjo player whose songs have received The John Lennon Songwriting Award, First Place in the...

instilling discipline

The last place Louis Bourassa and his family imagined he would go was the military. Grace Bourassa, age 14, sits down with her dad, Louis Bourassa, on November 14, 2018, in Valley Village, California. She asks about the Marines and...

Harper Schaberg talks with Norma Schaberg(Grandma) about her youth

Harper Schaberg(16) talks with Norma Schaberg(92) about her parents and how she was raised. She talks about what she wish she did different, how unsupervised life was, and growing up in the West side of Chicago.

Alisa Baum & Krista Ortgiesen

Alisa Baum and Krista Ortgiesen started taking classes and volunteering at the Old Town School in the early 2000s, and haven't left since. In this excerpt of a conversation recorded at the school on March 22nd, 2017, the longtime friends...

Interviewing my grandma

Interview about meems responsibilities as a child and during her life