KMUW 89.1 Wichita Public Radio will celebrate the first day of StoryCorps operation in Wichita with an open house from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 204 S. Main.

The public is invited to meet the StoryCorps facilitators and KMUW personnel, and tour the mobile booth that will reside between the museum and Fidelity Bank for the month-long project. Food and beverages will be provided by Larkspur Restaurant and Grill.

StoryCorps is a project to record the nation’s stories by bringing soundproof recording booths to communities in America. Community members can accompany relatives – or other loved ones – to conduct broadcast-quality oral history interviews with the guidance of a trained facilitator.

At the end of each 40-minute session, participants receive a CD of the interview, and a second copy becomes part of an archive housed at the Library of Congress.

The presence of StoryCorps in Wichita is an opportunity for communities in south central Kansas to be part of the largest oral history project in the United States. Selected interviews are broadcast each Friday on KMUW’s “Morning Edition.” Interviews are also accessible at www.storycorps.net.

Local sponsors of StoryCorps include The Grove, Fidelity Bank, Wichita–Sedgwick County Historical Museum and Larkspur Restaurant and Grill.