Hands that held history
Chronicle
"Every voice is an archive.
Most are never opened."
Raw audio and transcribed longform from grandmothers, veterans, and vanishing tradespeople — preserved before the stories disappear with their tellers.
"She told me the recipe once. I thought I'd remember it forever."
The people who finally pressed record.
Three collectors. Three stories already half-lost. By the third, you'll understand why Chronicle can't wait.
Granddaughter · Amateur Archivist
Margaret Osei-Bonsu
Accra, Ghana → Columbus, Ohio
Margaret spent three Saturdays recording her grandmother Abena in her kitchen in Columbus. Abena, 84, described the smell of groundnut soup on a Kumasi morning in 1962. The recordings were made on an iPhone propped against a flour canister.
"She kept stopping to laugh at herself. She'd say, 'I'm talking too much' — but she never stopped. I'm so glad she didn't stop."
30-second excerpt · Audio opens in full on launch
Retired Woodworker · Last of His Trade
Dmitri Volkov
Novosibirsk, Russia → Portland, Oregon
Dmitri is one of fewer than twelve people alive who still practice Siberian marquetry — a wood inlay technique that requires tools no longer manufactured. His apprentice moved to Berlin. His son works in finance. He records himself in his workshop every Sunday.
"The chisel, she knows my hand now. Forty years. After me — nobody knows this chisel."
30-second excerpt · Audio opens in full on launch
Korean War Veteran · Oral Historian
James "Hawk" Hawthorne
Beaumont, Texas
James was recorded by his granddaughter Priya, a library science student, who had been asking for two years. He finally agreed on a Tuesday in November. He talked for four hours. He passed six weeks later. The recording is the only document of his unit's experience at the Chosin Reservoir.
"I told the boys — write it down, somebody write it down. Nobody did. So here I am."
30-second excerpt · Audio opens in full on launch
James passed six weeks after this recording. This is the only audio document of his unit's experience.
The archive is closing faster than you think.
Every day without a microphone is a chapter lost. These aren't abstract numbers — each one is a name that will never be spoken again.
World War II veterans alive in the US today
Down from 16 million in 1945
Languages will go extinct this century
Most with no written record
Americans has no living grandparent
The window closes faster than we think
Reserve Your Seat at the Table
Chronicle launches in spring 2026. Be among the first archivists, ethnographers, and families to access the full collection — and help us decide whose voices to find next.
You have a recording worth submitting.
Chronicle isn't built by a single editor — it's built by the people who finally pressed record. If you have audio of someone whose story deserves to be heard, we want it.
Record on any device
Phone, voice recorder, laptop mic. The only requirement is that the story is real.
Upload your audio
MP3, WAV, M4A — any format. We transcribe, archive, and protect every submission.
We feature the voices
Selected recordings become Creator Spotlights. Every submission enters the permanent archive.
Submissions open at launch. Join the waitlist to be notified first.
recordings submitted
in our pre-launch pilot
