Ear To the Ground of a City

We’re off to the city of Orange, New Jersey, courtesy of a group of high school students and their microphones. About 32,000 people live in Orange and three-quarters of them are African-American. The city claims some distinctions. It’s the birthplace of the inventor of the Stetson hat. Orange was home to a baseball hall of famer and an Italian-American heavyweight boxer.

There’s a lot about Orange that you wouldn’t know unless you walked around and talked to its citizens. Stories about ghost sightings, hot dog eating contests, and tragic fires. From April to June of this year, high school students fanned the city, gathering an oral history of orange from its residents. It’s part of an international project called [murmur].

Beginning on Friday, as part of the Conflux festival, visitors will be able to walk around town and stop at signs in the shape of a human ear, posted throughout the city. On the signs are phone numbers that, when called, play a recorded story that relates to that spot. We’re joined by Molly Rose Kaufman, a community organizer in Orange, and Khemani Gibson, a senior at Orange High School.

[murmur] Orange website

(photo courtesy of [murmur] Orange)