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David and Timm talk about their artistic mentorship and friendship.

In 1978 Mark Dvorak took a guitar class with Mike Dunbar at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Today, Mike is a bandleader and multi-instrumentalist living in Nashville, Tenn., and Mark has just celebrated 30 years teaching at the...

The story of my grandfather Richard Carlson.

My mother shares the story if fishing at Belmont Harbor in Chicago for dinner during the Great Depression.

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...

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

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...

A conversation between Andrew Sa and Mareva Lindo. Andrew talks about his experiences taking the class Songwriting and the Creative Process with Sue Demel and describes the experience as group therapy and recommends the experience to everyone because it teaches...

In this conversation between Old Town School Latin percussion instructor Carlos Cornier and his coworker Mareva Lindo, Carlos talks about the musical origins that shaped his interest in percussion and Latin music; getting into and out of Scientology to ultimately...

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.

The activism happened inside the Astro Restaurant as well as outside. The waitresses were allies to the gay community.

Interview about meems responsibilities as a child and during her life

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.

Andy and Sharon talked about what it was like growing up in Chicago in the 30/40/50s.

One Small Step conversation partners Patty (40) and Justin (32) have a conversation about their recent weddings, dogs, and families. They bond over both getting married recently and having connections to Chicago. Justin describes his large wedding in Savannah, while...

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...

Betty Nudelman speaks with documentarian Mareva Lindo about her memories of the Old Town School community in its early years, when it was housed within the Immigrant State Bank Building at 333 W North Ave--in the Old Town neighborhood from...

Julian Ross has taken classes at the Old Town School for over 10 years. In this conversation with his son Christopher, Julian reflects on why this place has remained such a constant in his life, and Christopher shares some of...

One Small Step conversation partners Tosca Hieftje (65) and Carin Mayo (52) discuss womanhood, pets and finding what diversity means.

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...

For my project I decided to interview my Grandma. We talked about being and immigrant in the US and the adversities that come with it. Then talked about some hobbies and previous jobs. She then spoke about how living in...

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.

In this interview, conducted in November 2017 in Chicago, Illinois, Holly Graham (17) interviews her mother Stephanie Graham (52) about her childhood years through her college years. Mrs. Graham talks a lot about her husband, their wedding and their honeymoon....

Jimmy T., as he is affectionately known by all, is one of the most familiar faces at the Old Town School. Now the head of the Guitar, Bass and Songwriting program, Jimmy's worked here since starting in the music store...