Talk Story, often associated with Hawaii, is both concept and process. For the 1882 Foundation, it refers to the set of activities and programs that we associate with collecting oral histories and preserving story sites. These include our monthly Talk Story Events and efforts to record and store oral histories. They include the production of the Through Chinatown’s Eyes short documentary series. They are related to heritage tours.

Talk Story encourages individuals to reveal their stories in their own words and to share them with others. There are two parts to this—telling and sharing. “Telling” refers to people saying what is historically important to them. This is empowering. It allows them to define themselves, the elements of their identity, as opposed to having an “historian” define for them what is historically important.