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The
Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress are preserving
important collections of historical recordings of spoken word and music,
from Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" to Martin Luther
King's "I Have a Dream" speech, from American Indian
recordings of the 1890s to the oral histories of ex-slaves recorded in
the 1930s.
Included in these collections are hundreds of thousands of recordings from every state in the nation and from around the world, including music, songs, poems, and speeches that have inspired artists, leaders, and communities over the generations. These original recordings are on old wax cylinders, decaying wire, decomposing acetate, and deteriorating audio tape. If we are to save these original sounds, we must preserve these audio recordings now. To help do this, the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress were granted $750,000 through the U.S. Congress as part of Save America's Treasures, a bipartisan program to preserve our cultural heritage. Together, and with the help of experts in the field, the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress will:
We need your help too. |
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