Illinois Voices 250 recording sessions “preserve the humanity behind history”
Published 9:02 am Monday, June 22, 2026
QUINCY — Area residents can add their voices this week to a statewide effort tied to America’s 250th anniversary.
Illinois Voices 250 aims to collect recorded conversations from all 102 Illinois counties.
Recording opportunities in Quincy will be available 5 to 7 p.m. Friday in the Washington Theater during Blues in the District and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday on the Sixth Street Promenade during the Quincy Farmers Market.
“The coolest part of this is it goes into the permanent collection of the Library of Congress as part of the America 250 Collection,” said Arts Quincy Executive Director Laura Hesseltine, who coordinates the project in West-Central Illinois.
“Each state is allotted a certain amount of space. We brought it here because I wanted to make sure that West-Central Illinois, that the rural people of our region are represented in the permanent collection celebrating America’s 250th.”
The recordings feature two people having a conversation, with no special preparation or professional experience required beyond a willingness to share a story.
“A lot of times you see these as generational conversations — a father and a son, a mother and a daughter, a grandmother and a granddaughter. It could just be best friends, or people in the Army together,” Hesseltine said.
“These conversations help preserve the humanity behind history,” she said. “A pair of people come to our StoryCorps recording and one interviews the other about any topic they like.”
Conversations can center on life experiences, family memories, community connections and personal perspectives.
“You don’t have to have some great, grand story. It could be about their childhood, It could be about their family business, their family farm,” Hesseltine said. “They are definitely looking for everyday stories of the everyday people who live around here. If you just want to talk to your favorite teacher from elementary school, do that.”
Participation is free and open to everyone in the project led by Illinois Humanities in partnership with the Illinois America 250 Commission and StoryCorps Studios. For those unable to attend in person, Illinois Humanities offers a do-it-yourself recording option through the Illinois Voices 250 project website, ilhumanities.org/ilvoices250.
StoryCorps Studios, the national nonprofit partner behind the recordings, has spent more than two decades documenting meaningful conversations among family members, friends, coworkers and neighbors. Since 2003, the organization has recorded hundreds of thousands of interviews nationwide, all with the mission of building empathy, preserving memories and strengthening human connection.
