Home is Everything

Narrators

The stories of those who have lived a century or more remind us that home is a complex and wondrous concept: where we experience security and insecurity, where we make and remake our identities, and that home changes and contradicts while also offering stability, empowerment, hope, and grace.

Meet the narrators from Home is Everything:

This Belongs to Pauline: Learn about Ms. Wheeler, a 102 year old who remembers her family's fight for a home built on freedom.

Keeping Close, Staying Safe: Learn more about Mr. LaCourse’s childhood in a diverse immigrant tenement community, where his brother protected him from gang violence. His journey led him to be an impactful school principal in Richmond, loving brother, father and grandfather.

Bringing Freedom Home: 102-year-old Mr. Brown reflects on his time as a drafted solder in World War II and his legacy as a life-long Richmonder. 

Norma's Home is Everything: Ms. Schott shares her story of resilience, loss, joy, and care. It's a story that includes everything, because home is everything.

A Place Where You're Accepted: At 100 years old, Ms. Browder Snelling defines home as more than a structure. Home is belonging and memory.

Built by Hand, Held by Love: The meaning of home runs deep for Ms. Brumfield. Learn about the beloved family matriarch who has lived all over the U.S., who now finds herself right where she belongs.

We invite you to check back here as new narrators will continue to be added, plus additional audio links and transcripts. Questions? Contact Catherine at macdonaldcs@vcu.edu.