The Smithsonian would like to hear your voting story! Record your memories about voting, political participation, or your thoughts on civic responsibility through Be Here Stories.
What is Be Here: Main Street?
Be Here: Main Street launched in fall of 2016. This pilot project is a partnership between MuseWeb and the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program, which brings Smithsonian traveling exhibitions to small towns across the United States and its territories. With additional help from US state humanities councils, MuseWeb is working with communities to record stories about culture, history, people, and the things that make each community unique.
How do I record my story?
- Go to Be Here Stories.
- Select “Stories from Main Street, USA.”
- Put in your location on the map and click, “Next.”
- Click “Agree” to consent to having your recordings part of the Be Here Stories project.
- Choose the question you would like to talk about.
- Click the the large black and red icon of a circle beneath the questions to begin recording (make sure your audio is on).
- Click the button again when you are finished. You can listen to your message by clicking the circle with the white triangle. You can re-record by clicking the circle to the left labeled “re-record.” If you are satisfied with your recording, click the circle to the right labeled “upload.”
How Can I Listen to Other Stories?
- Go to the Be Here Stories map and zoom in on a location of interest. A circle with numbers indicates multiple stories in one area. Zoom in to view individual pins/stories.
- Click on a pin to see the question the story is about and select the triangular “play” button to listen.
OR - Click “Listen” from the top of the page.
- In option 2: “Select which kinds of stories you hear,” click all the boxes other than “Stories from Main Street, USA” to deselect them.
- Click the circle with the green triangle to play a randomized selection of stories.