A reference librarian stumbled across a tiny recording of a speech by Amelia Earhart tucked inside a copy of her 1932 memoir, published soon after she became the first woman (and the second person) to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. The record was just a promotional gimmick at the time; could it still be played, 94 years later? Yes, thanks to the Library's IRENE project, which uses optical imaging to scanned damaged or broken records to reconstruct their sounds on a digital file.
During World War II, the Office of War Information recorded news and American propaganda onto 16-inch discs which were then broadcast domestically and overseas. The Library acquired tens of thousands of these discs after the war and has been working to preserve them ever since. Colin Hochstetler, a Library Junior Fellow, talks about his work with these time-capsule discs in this question-and-anwer session.
“Chicken Heart,” a 7-minute episode of the “Lights Out” radio series that aired just before midnight in March 1937 was a cheesily effective landmark of the Golden Age of Radio. Living on for decades through rebroadcasts, remakes, in syndication and on records, it snaked its way into the childhood memories of everyone from horror master Stephen King to comedian Bill Cosby, becoming a campy horror cult favorite. It was the brainchild of playwright Arch Oboler, a major star of radio whose name has since faded from popular recognition.
