Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Schmich traces the lives of seven people in Studs Terkel’s first book of oral history: A Black public school janitor; a Lithuanian tavern owner; an Appalachian mother of 15; a closeted gay actor; a Native American activist; a Black labor leader; and a prominent white woman in Chicago high society. What happened to them? To their children? To their dreams?

Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Schmich takes a deeper look at the lives of seven people featured in Studs Terkel’s first book of oral history. They include a Black public school janitor; a Lithuanian tavern owner; an Appalachian mother of 15; a closeted gay actor; a Native American activist; a Black labor leader; and a prominent white woman in Chicago high society. What happened to them? To their children? To their dreams? And what has changed from their time in the 1960s to today? Our series launches Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, and drops every Tuesday for six weeks thereafter.

Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Schmich takes a deeper look at the lives of seven people featured in Studs Terkel’s first book of oral history. They include a Black public school janitor; a Lithuanian tavern owner; an Appalachian mother of 15; a closeted gay actor; a Native American activist; a Black labor leader; and a prominent white woman in Chicago high society. What happened to them? To their children? To their dreams? And what has changed from their time in the 1960s to today? 
Our series launches Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, and drops every Tuesday for six weeks thereafter.

Trailer

Witty, outspoken Myra Alexander was 54 years old when she met Chicago radio host Studs Terkel on a train to the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Studs included Myra in a book of interviews he published called Division Street: America. Her family had warned her about the trip: “Oh grandmother, you’re too old for that!” But Myra, a janitor in Chicago public schools, refused to soft-pedal the injustices that Black people like her endured. She insisted, “You’re never too old to be free."  Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mary Schmich asks: What happened to Myra as she went on in her life? What about her kids and grandkids? How can their lives help us understand our lives? Executive Producers: Melissa Harris and Mary SchmichWriter/Host: Mary SchmichProducer: Bill HealyEditors: Cate Cahan and Mark JacobSound Designer/Audio Engineer: Libby LussenhopAssociate Producer/Dialogue Editor: Chijioke WilliamsMusic Director/Composer: Chris Walz For more information, visit <a href="http://www.divisionstreetrevisited.com/">divisionstreetrevisited.com</a>.

Witty, outspoken Myra Alexander was 54 years old when she met Chicago radio host Studs Terkel on a train to the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Studs included Myra in a book of interviews he published called Division Street: America.
Her family had warned her about the trip: “Oh grandmother, you’re too old for that!” But Myra, a janitor in Chicago public schools, refused to soft-pedal the injustices that Black people like her endured. She insisted, “You’re never too old to be free." 
Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mary Schmich asks: What happened to Myra as she went on in her life? What about her kids and grandkids? How can their lives help us understand our lives?


Executive Producers: Melissa Harris and Mary Schmich
Writer/Host: Mary Schmich
Producer: Bill Healy
Editors: Cate Cahan and Mark Jacob
Sound Designer/Audio Engineer: Libby Lussenhop
Associate Producer/Dialogue Editor: Chijioke Williams
Music Director/Composer: Chris Walz


For more information, visit divisionstreetrevisited.com.