StoryCorps North Dakota

Bill and Dina Butcher gave much to their adopted state of North Dakota. Dina served under governors John Hoeven and Ed Schafer, and headed up the North Dakotans for Public Integrity. Bill was a Navy man who rose through the ranks of the FBI. They’re longtime friends and supporters of Prairie Public. Bill passed away April 5 at age 79. In an excerpt from a visit to the StoryCorps MobileBooth in July 2018, Bill talks with his daughter Marnie Piehl about his love of sailing and what it was like working as an FBI agent in Minot in the 1960s, a notorious chapter in magic city history. A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 11 at the Elks Lodge in Bismarck. His ashes will be spread on the waters of Lake Sakakawea.

Dr. Wayne Sanstead served as North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1985-2013. In this segment from his visit to the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck, he speaks with his son, Jon, about his career, military service, meeting President Truman, and how he'd like to be remembered.

Herbert Wilson is 97 years young. After spending a childhood up and down the eastern seaboard, Wilson joined the air corps during World War II. His wife of 73 years served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. They survived many missions, but that all takes a backseat to his family. In this excerpt from their visit to the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck, Kelly Suchy talks to her grandpa about how he stays in the lives of his grandkids and great-grandkids.

Your childhood shapes you, for better or for worse. Tina Dietz visited the StoryCorps MobileBooth with her partner, Patrick Conteh. In this excerpt, we learn about the lives that shaped hers – most significantly, her great aunt Shirley. StoryCorps is a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. Excerpts were selected and produced by Prairie Public. Thanks Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck for helping sponsor the StoryCorps visit to North Dakota. Ashley Thornberg edited this excerpt.

In the north, we have a short growing season. Cousins Michael and Jason Tomanek make the most of it. In this excerpt from Michael and Jason's visit to the StoryCorps MobileBooth, they talk about growing up in the gardens of their grandparents, and how they carry on their family food traditions. StoryCorps is a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. Excerpts were selected and produced by Prairie Public. Thanks Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck for helping sponsor the StoryCorps visit to North Dakota. Ashley Thornberg edited this excerpt.

On the political maps of today that show the nation’s urban/rural divide, North Dakota shows up solidly red. And after the drubbing Democrats took here in November, Republicans now hold all major offices in the state, and now exclusively make up North Dakota’s congressional delegation in D.C. But it wasn’t always that way. In this excerpt, hear from former Democratic North Dakota agriculture commissioner, Sarah Vogel, who scored a huge legal victory that saved many farmers from financial ruin. She tells her friend, Karen Ehrens, that she worries that some of the dangerous trends that existed during the farming crisis of the 1980s are repeating themselves today. They discussed this, and more, in their visit to the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck. StoryCorps is a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. Excerpts were selected and produced by Prairie Public. Thanks Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck for helping sponsor the StoryCorps visit to

Families come in all shapes and forms, whether it’s through blood or circumstance. For two free-spirited North Dakota women, a pairing, a breakup, and a Queen song cemented their ageless friendship, cut through strong political convictions and made them, in essence, family. Elizabeth Schuh and her "step mom" and dear friend Lois Steffes Ternes visited the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck to talk about their love of Queen, sewing, and each other. StoryCorps is a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. Excerpts were selected and produced by Prairie Public. Thanks Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck for helping sponsor the StoryCorps visit to North Dakota. Ashley Thornberg edited this excerpt.

Callings work in mysterious ways. Karen Van Fossan is a minister at the Unitarian Universalist church in Bismarck. She visited the StoryCorps mobile recording booth this past summer with her best friend, Peter Huff. In this excerpt, we learn about how the protests to the Dakota Access Pipeline, which threatens the water supply of the Standing Rock Reservation and beyond, shaped her ministry. StoryCorps is a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. Excerpts were selected and produced by Prairie Public. Thanks Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck for helping sponsor the StoryCorps visit to North Dakota. Ashley Thornberg edited this excerpt.

Parents have many hopes and fears for their children. Health and happiness are near the top of many lists. For Loah Clement, that health and happiness is not tied to things. She visited the visited the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck this past July with her son Jason where they shared their fears about the current political climate and the future of the environment. StoryCorps is a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. Excerpts were selected and produced by Prairie Public. Thanks Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck for helping sponsor the StoryCorps visit to North Dakota. Ashley Thornberg edited this excerpt.

You don’t have to listen to Prairie Public for very long before you hear News Director Dave Thompson. He’s known as the dean of the North Dakota press pool and he’s infamous for his puns. Dave visited the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck with his Prairie Public colleague, Lowell Loritz. In this excerpt from their conversation, we learn about Dave's lifelong love of radio, the beginnings of Prairie Public's radio service, and how the radio industry has changed.

They say a rising tide lifts all boats. For Barnie Botone, the great-grandson of a famous Kiowa chief, the Civil Rights Movement and an unlikely change agent helped pave the way for a fulfilling and pioneering career. But why were the tears flowing from his grandmother’s eyes not happy ones? Botone spoke with StoryCorps facilitator Savannah Winchester at the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck.

Those who work to revitalize Native American languages often find it challenging to reach the hearts of young people. But for one Lakota father and daughter, language has always been at the center of their lives, their bond and their purpose. Manny and Claudia Iron Hawk recently visited the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck to discuss family history and the Lakota language as a healing force.

Kurdish-American couple Berivan and Abdullah Ali describe their harrowing trip from Iran to Germany , a stepping stone in immigrating to the United States . While they chose to settle in Bismarck, North Dakota, for geographically incorrect reasons, they soon discovered the welcoming nature of its people. After many decades of happy living, Berivan and Abdullah are ready to start a new chapter in their lives, and that means leaving their beloved home, once again.

A father raising a daughter on his own might not raise any eyebrows today, but forty-some years ago, it was a bit of a novelty. For Tasha Carvell, she’s glad her single dad Kevin inspired her wanderlust and an affinity for the underdog.

Some adopted kids want to know their birth parents, some don’t. For Gary Anderson, it was his own kids who finally persuaded him to ask questions. One even bought him a DNA kit from ancestry.com. That’s when he discovered he has nine half siblings. He told the story to his niece Cathryn Sprynczynatyk at the StoryCorps mobile recording booth in Bismarck of how he figured out who his parents were, based on a report from what was “technically” a closed adoption.

In a war torn country, life is fraught with hardship. Paul and Lydia Zondo grew up in Liberia during the First Liberian Civil War, a conflict that killed a quarter of a million people from 1989 to 1997. They’ve moved many times in their lives, first as refugees, later to find good jobs and a safe place to raise their children. Between them they’ve lived in Liberia, Ghana, New York, Maryland, Ohio, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Montana, and both Dakotas. They visited the StoryCorps mobile recording studio in Bismarck where they spoke of overcoming famine, disease, and families being torn apart.

Deep in the heart of the sauerkraut triangle, you know your bratwurst from your bockwurst, and strudel from your streusel. And you know your polka from your two-step. Victor Schwahn has been playing the accordion for 73 years. He visited the StoryCorps MobileBooth in Bismarck with friend Harvey Schilling to talk about how he got his start.

Kevin Locke tells StoryCorps Facilitator, Madison Mullen, about a promise and gift made by his friend and benefactor, Arlo Good Bear, shortly before his death. He describes Good Bear's lessons and gift of the hoop dance, which Locke has since shared with people all over the world.

Dina Butcher talks with her daughter, Marnie Piehl, and grandson, Owen Piehl, about her political leanings, involvement, and concerns, and how they are directly influenced by her family history as Jewish refugees in United States who fled Nazi Germany in 1939. Dina reflects on her parents' history, both in the US and in Germany, and no matter the climate, the importance of speaking up.