First hour: Special programming - "Christmas on Henry Street"
Second hour: Special programming - "Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites"
Lillian Wald grew up in Rochester, New York, and graduated from the nursing program at New York Hospital Training School in 1891. She coined the term “public health nurse,” and helped to bring health care to the residents of New York’s Lower East Side when she founded the Henry Street Settlement. In 1902, Christmas Eve and the first night of Chanukah both fell on December 24. Christmas on Henry Street recounts how Lillian Wald planned a Christmas Eve party at the settlement, but Jacob Schiff forbid a tree to be on display at the House. However, housekeeper Aileen McRae refused to stand by and let Christmas be ruined for the Henry Street residents. Christmas on Henry Street was written by Bonnie Silva and produced by Sagacity Productions with funding from the Betty R. and Ralph Sheffer Foundation. Sagacity Productions is committed to the production of brave, emotional, socially relevant historical fiction and factual content featuring a diverse range of talent for audiences around the globe. WXXI Public Media is a nationally recognized creator of quality radio and television programming including With Heart and Voice, a weekly radio program of sacred classical music, and Second Opinion, a weekly television series that offers viewers a better understanding of complex health issues.
Then in our second hour, it's Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites. This program features stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk -- these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary. Featured Stories:
- Dad 'n' Sam (Jay Allison)
- Homeless Christmas (Lee Stringer)
- Christmas Morning, 1949 (Sylvia Seymour/Paul Auster)
- Low-Glamour Christmas Party (Bailey White)
- Doing it in the Closet (John McIlwraith)
- Christopher (Jay O'Callahan)
- Ode to Christmas (Chuck Kramer)
- Santaland Diaries (David Sedaris)
- Modern Day Joseph and Mary (Scott Simon)
- John Henry Faulk's Christmas Story (John Henry Faulk)
