MLK Day of Service Project Details 

What is My Calvert Life: Telling Our Stories?  My Calvert Life: Telling Our Stories is the Calvert Peace Project’s contribution to the annual observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service (January 17, 2022).

Our virtual service project will bring Calvert County, Maryland community members together across generations, races, and life experiences through virtual storytelling, using the StoryCorps Connect platform, to learn more about each other’s experiences in Calvert County.

Who can participate in this service project?  We welcome any and all Calvert County, Maryland residents, workers, or regular visitors to participate. This includes children, youth, adults, and elders. (Children under age 18 may participate directly with a family member or with a non-family member provided their legal caregiver gives consent.)

What will I gain from participating in this service project?  My Calvert Life: Telling Our Stories offers you an opportunity to learn about the life experiences of others in Calvert County, enjoy a fun activity distinct from your usual routine, contribute to the growing storytelling and oral history movement in the United States, and build community in Calvert County.

What will I be doing in this service project?  The short summary – You will participate in an interview about an aspect of living in Calvert County with one other person. You will use the StoryCorps Connect videoconference service to record the interview. You and your interview partner will conduct the interview on your own computers and from your own personal space(s). You will conduct the interview at a date and time of your mutual choice. You will upload your completed interview to the StoryCorps archive.

What will the interview be about?  Generally, we are focusing these interviews on people’s experiences living in Calvert County, Maryland. The joys of living as well as hardships. Historical perspectives from our elders. Aspirations from our youth. A rich tapestry to unfold.

We will provide suggested questions that you may follow for your interview. Or you can take the interview in whatever planned or unplanned direction you wish.

Do I get to choose my role in the interview? You will let us know in advance, on the event registration form, whether you want to conduct the interview, be interviewed, or have no preference.

Who will be my interview partner? You will let us know in advance, on the event registration form, whether you have someone in mind to pair up for an interview, or rather want us to match you to someone. This gives you the choice to conduct an interview with someone you already know and want to get to know better, or someone unknown to you and who shares your same community.

How much time is the service project going to take?  The interview length will vary depending on each pair’s story and level of engagement. We assume interviews of 60 minutes or less duration.

When will the service project take place?  Generally, your interview will take place on or around the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service on Monday, January 17, 2022.

There is no fixed start date or end date for this project. You will get to set the date and time that works well for both people.

If you are conducting the interview with someone you know already, you two will set your interview date and time without our intervening.

If you are going to participate in an interview with someone we match you with, we will provide both people each other’s names and email addresses (with your consents). And then the two of you can set your interview date and time.

Where and how will the interview take place?  You will conduct the interview virtually from your personal spaces and using your own computers and internet connections.

You will capture your interview using StoryCorps Connect. StoryCorps Connect is a video conference technology developed by the national storytelling organization, StoryCorps. StoryCorps Connect records audio and captures a still photo of the interview. Interviewees upload their audio and photo directly into the StoryCorps archive.

Watch this 1.27 min video explaining how StoryCorps Connect works.

Then visit www.storycorpsconnect.org to create an account.

What happens with the interview once we finish it?  That depends on you. StoryCorps Connect has procedures in place to protect your privacy at the level you wish. Here are their privacy procedures, directly from their website:

“After recording your interview, the StoryCorps App gives you three options for sharing after you record your interview, under ‘Who Can Listen to this Interview.’” The three options are: “Everyone,” “StoryCorps Community,” and “Private.”

Please keep in mind that these options apply only if you publish your interview. Unpublished interviews are only saved to your device and therefore are not accessible online to anyone. If you decide not to publish your interview, we recommend exporting it to create a back-up as StoryCorps does not receive a copy of the audio of unpublished interviews.

If you choose ‘Everyone,’ your interview and related information will be available online to anyone on the web. Your interview will be publicly accessible on the archive.storycorps.org website, will be transmitted to the Library of Congress, and can be used in StoryCorps’ public radio broadcasts, public television, digital platforms and in other materials.

If you choose ‘StoryCorps Community,’ your interview and related information will be available online to anyone with an account on the StoryCorps Archive. If you select ‘StoryCorps Community,’ when your interview is published it will be accessible on the archive.storycorps.org website to anyone who creates an account and logs in, it will be transmitted to the Library of Congress, and can be used in StoryCorps’ public broadcasts, public television, digital platforms and in other materials.

If you choose ‘Private,’ your interview and related information will be private and only accessible online by you. When published, private interviews are still transmitted to the Library of Congress and available to StoryCorps. Private interviews are only shareable if you use a link or export the file.

Please note that you can always change your privacy settings at any time.”

Will I get a copy of my interview?  You will have access to your interview on your StoryCorps Connect account. Depending on your settings, you will be able to share it with your networks using a provided link.

How do I sign up for this service project?  Register here. Once registered, you will receive an email from us with additional instructions.

MLK Day of Service Project Resources

• MLK Day of Service Activity Profile
• MLK Day of Service Questions and Answers