Our Story
Stories are the oldest archive we have.
Million Memory Project exists because the stories people carry — in their voices, photographs, and memories — deserve the same care and permanence as any historical record.
Why we exist
“Stories disappear every day because no one had the time or the tools to save them. We exist to change that.”
Where it began
A question about what gets remembered — and what doesn’t.
We started in Western North Carolina, recording oral histories and documenting Appalachian communities. The work showed how much was close to being lost, and that the problem wasn’t only regional. Stories everywhere were disappearing, with nothing in place to preserve them at scale.
Million Memory Project was built to fill that gap, for communities, artists, cultural organizations, and the public record.
How we got here
Month
2024
First oral history interviews, Western North Carolina
We recorded interviews and collected photographs in Appalachian communities while the people who carry these stories are still here.
Month
2024
Appalachian Memory Project becomes an imprint
The regional work got its own methods, archive, and publishing program.
Month
2025
Sound Archive Books opens to clients
A client imprint that brings the same methods to musicians, artists, and cultural organizations.
September
2025
Through Our Eyes launched
Collaborative documentary books that bring many perspectives to one community, event, or shared experience.
Now
Million Memory Project today
Three imprints, an archive that grows with every project, and fieldwork still under way.
In the field
Gathering stories where they live
In the archive
Keeping the full record
In the book
Sharing what we’ve preserved
The people behind it
Mitchell Davis
Founder & Director
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Mitchell Davis is a publishing entrepreneur and producer. He co-founded BookSurge, an early print-on-demand company that Amazon bought and later merged into what is now Kindle Direct Publishing. He later founded BiblioLabs, whose tools helped libraries share local history and community publishing; it was acquired by the nonprofit LYRASIS in 2021.
Based in Western North Carolina, he is also a founder, partner, and resident at Rare Bird Farm, a gathering place for intimate cultural and musical events.
Donna Ray Norton
Ambassador & Coordinator
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Donna Ray Norton is an eighth-generation Appalachian ballad singer, storyteller, and culture bearer from the Sodom Laurel community of Madison County, North Carolina. She carries forward one of the oldest unbroken non-Indigenous oral traditions in the United States, learned through generations of her family.
Alongside performing, she documents and preserves the traditions of her family and community, and helps others do the same, so these songs and stories are still sung and told.
Kevin Reese
Production & Technology
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Kevin Reese is a sixth-generation Madison County native. He spent more than a decade touring as a musician with longtime collaborator Pierce Edens, playing Appalachian-infused folk rock.
As Production & Tech Lead at Sound Archive Books, he builds the software that helps artists turn their lives and work into books. In Hot Springs, he also works on public information, an artist residency, and recovery after Hurricane Helene.
The work continues. Come be part of it.
Artists can publish with Sound Archive Books (opens in a new tab). Communities and organizations can start a project with us.