On June 9, the Library of Congress inducted 25 more sound recordings into its National Recording Registry. (See story on page 144.) They join the list of 250 other recordings deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Librarian of Congress.
Jennifer Harper of The Washington Times expressed her surprise at the “big cheeses at the Library” who select these recordings annually.
“Yowsuh. Such a complex business. Well, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it,” she said.
Variety highlighted the inclusion of Etta James’ recording of “At Last,” calling it “the unofficial theme song of the Obama Administration.”
The London-based music site www.clashmusic.com said, “The United States goes further than many nations in preserving its cultural heritage. It formed the Library of Congress where the country’s major artifacts are preserved for future generations to enjoy.”
Minnesota’s MinnPost.com site touted the fact that five recordings from the state had been inducted into the registry. The 1938 recording of “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen” by the Andrews Sisters joined the NBC radio coverage of Minnesota aviator Charles Lindbergh’s arrival and reception in Washington, D.C., after his solo flight across the Atlantic; Grand Rapids’ Judy Garland’s 1961 concert, “Judy at Carnegie Hall”; The 1963 album “Freewheelin’” by Hibbing’s Bob Dylan; and the first Minnesota Public Radio broadcast of Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” on July 6, 1974.
Also running the announcement of the recording registry were The Boston Globe, Associated Press, the New Musical Express, WENN Entertainment News Service, CMT, CBS News, the blogs Memphis Flyer and Metro Times (Detroit), and resourceshelf.com, contactmusic.com, aversion.com, timesdaily.com (Alabama) and digtriad.com (North Carolina).
The Star-Exponent of Culpeper, Va., also ran a story on the registry, focused on the preservation aspects of the Library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, which is located in that area. Reporter Allison Brophy Champion interviewed Eugene DeAnna, head of the Recorded Sound Section at the facility.
“Some of the choices reflect what we are trying to communicate about the state of recorded-sound preservation and endangered recordings and others are a chance to rediscover performances that have been long forgotten because of obsoleteness,” he said.
He added that some of the work Packard Campus professionals are concentrating on is converting hundreds of thousands of hours of obsolete tape recordings to digital format—”a tremendous challenge,” he said.
Hill Rag reporter Brad Hathaway wrote a profile piece on the Packard Campus and its art deco movie theater that screens some of the preserved gems in the Library’s collections, including those named to the National Film Registry, the sister list to the recording registry.
“Why place a restoration facility away from the rest of the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill?” he asked. “Part of the reason is the pure size of the collection and the scarcity of space in the Hill buildings. But another reason is the special requirements for handling old films.”
Jacqueline Trescott of The Washington Post used the site to research major events in history like the Wright brothers’ first flight and the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.
“In looking for San Francisco’s coverage of the earthquake, a researcher would discover that local papers couldn’t publish that day but had to move across the bay and use another plant to print a unique joint edition named the Call-Chronicle-Examiner,” she said. “Its headline the following day read: ‘Earthquake and Fire: San Francisco in Ruins.’”
Brett Zongker of the Associated Press focused on some of the news headlines as well as some incorrect predictions: “’The Teddy bear craze is dying out,’” reported the Ocala Evening Star in Florida, passing off the huggable stuffed animals as merely a fad in 1907. Other reports surmised Teddy Roosevelt’s chances of returning from an African safari were “slim to none.”
He also discussed some of the tools available to make searching the site easier, including searches by topic and use of vocabulary of the 1880s.
Also running a story on the site were examiner.com, CyberJournalist.net, Kansas City Infozine and greatfallstribune.com (Montana).
Hutson joined historian Jay Winik on ABC’s Good Morning America. “So often in his lifetime, Adams was overshadowed by Jefferson,” said reporter John Donvan. “But Adams hoped to beat Jefferson at something. Although older, he wanted to outlive Tom Jefferson.”
Hutson showed Donvan letters written between the two men, which clearly showed their friendship although they never spoke again, following Jefferson’s organized opposition to Adams’ presidency. “Though Jefferson died on the very same day, he went two hours before Adams. So Adams got his wish but had no way of knowing, back when the news came by mail,” said Donvan.
