The Legacy
Series
at the National
Storytelling Festival
"Just knowing what we went
through, you know, and for
people not to remember
that was hurtful."
– Leona Tate,
CBS News
“I like to urge the Navajo people to keep the
language as the basis of our culture and
heritage. It's not how we dress that
makes us Navajos, it's the language
and our hearts that really make
us Navajos."
– Peter MacDonald, Navy Office
of Information
“[Our Mission] Remembering
the past while looking
towards the future.”
- Leona Tate,
The Leona Tate
Foundation
“Gee’s Bend, Alabama, is home to one of
the most important African American
quilt-making traditions in the
United States.”
– The Huntington
"It made it better. It opened up doors,
opportunities for other people you
know. So, somebody had to make
the sacrifice and I guess it was
the three of us."
– Gail Etienne,
CBS News
"We must continue to tell all generations
their story of how in 1960 three little
girls in New Orleans were the impetus
for many of the future civil rights."
- Terri F. Love, chief judge
of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeal, NOLA News

The Legacy Series

American history is not just one single story; it is many. ISC founded its Legacy Series to platform narratives and points of view that have been hard to hear, underrepresented, or underexplored.  

Our Legacy speakers are not professional performers. They’re regular people who have had extraordinary experiences. Past programs have featured the unforgettable stories of a Holocaust survivor, a World War II Native American “Code Talker,” and three women who, as children, found themselves on the front lines of the fierce battle around desegregation.  

Set in an indoor theater during the National Storytelling Festival, the Legacy Series gives listeners the chance for an intimate encounter with our nation’s history in the midst of a very busy weekend. Each year, we capture their testimonies on video and make it available (for free) here on our website for generations to come. 

2023 Legacy Series : Daughter of Auschwitz

Tova Friedman was just two years old when she and her family were seized by the Nazis. They sent her to Auschwitz at the age of five, where they shaved her head and tattooed her arm. Tova survived a trip to the gas chamber and, with her mother, outwitted roving killing squads. The Nazis would go on to murder 150 members of their family. But Tova and her parents lived, and later immigrated to the United States.

Now a highly trained educator, therapist, public speaker, writer, and TikTok sensation (thanks to her grandson, Aron), Tova honors the victims by sharing her difficult memories of the Holocaust. Join her in conversation with Corinne Stavish for this extraordinary Storytelling Studio. 

This year’s event is made possible by Wallace Shealy and Catherine Yael Serota Shealy.

The Legacy Series Archive

Explore the astonishing stories of the people who have been featured in ISC’s Legacy Series since the program’s launch in 2017. Our archive contains footage from the series itself, context to set the scene, and links to resources for further learning. 

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2023
The Daughter of Auschwitz

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2022
Equality's Smallest Soldiers

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2020
Fred Haise

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2019
The Code Talker

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2017
Gee's Bend

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