Hiroshima Survivors: Echoes of August 6th
On the morning of August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima began like any other summer day. Schoolchildren walked to class, streetcars clanged through intersections, and workers prepared for their shift. By 8:15 a.m., life in the city changed forever. From 31,000 feet above, a U.S. B-29 bomber named Enola Gay released a single bomb […]
The 9/11 Attacks: Preserving Firsthand Narratives
On the morning of September 11, 2001, a clear blue sky over New York City gave no hint of what was to come. By 10:30 a.m., both towers of the World Trade Center had collapsed. Nearly 3,000 people were dead, thousands more injured, and the world had changed forever. The 9/11 attacks, carried out by […]
The Arab Spring: Eyewitness Chronicles
In late 2010, a spark in a small Tunisian town lit a fire across the Arab world. A young street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi, harassed and humiliated by local officials, set himself on fire in protest. His desperate act was not the first sign of anger in the region—but it was the catalyst. In the […]
2020 Pandemic: How People Remember Lockdowns
In the spring of 2020, the world went still. Streets emptied, schools closed, airports fell silent. In homes across continents, people waited—uncertain, afraid, and hoping that the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic would soon pass. What began as a local outbreak in Wuhan, China, transformed into a global public health emergency, and for many, the […]
The Great Depression: Oral Testimonies from the Dust Bowl
When the skies turned dark over America’s Great Plains and the winds carried the topsoil across state lines, it wasn’t just the land that eroded—it was a way of life. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s, unfolding amid the broader calamity of the Great Depression, devastated millions. Entire communities were choked by drought, displaced by […]
The 1969 Moon Landing: Public Memory vs. Reality
On July 20, 1969, nearly 600 million people around the world watched in awe as Neil Armstrong descended from the Apollo 11 Lunar Module and took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Moon landing became an instant icon—an American triumph, a Cold War milestone, and a symbol of human progress. […]