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Category: Recorded Sound Research Center

Mary McLeod Bethune, latter portrait, seated at desk. Papers in background. Bethune holds pen and is seen writing on notepad, looks outward.

From Our Collection: Celebrating Mary McLeod Bethune

Posted by: Stacie Seifrit-Griffin

As the great Mary McLeod Bethune gets her own statue at the US Capitol, the Library's own Stacie Seifrit-Griffin examines her life and legacy via the Library's audio-video collections.

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

The Guiding Light

Posted by: Karen Fishman

This blog post was written by Matt Barton, curator of the Recorded Sound Section. On September 18, 2009, The Guiding Light ended a television run that began June 30, 1952, and a broadcast history that began on radio on January 25, 1937.  The show’s run covered 72 Thanksgivings in all, but as we’ll see, the …

Tuning in the March on Washington

Posted by: Matthew Barton

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech has been seen and heard countless times since he gave it on August 28, 1963 at the climax of the March on Washington, and a review of the radio coverage of it, including the prelude and aftermath can bring us closer to the whole experience of that day in its many parts, and maybe even to grasp the feelings of the marchers themselves.

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

Sousa and the Talking Machine

Posted by: Karen Fishman

This blog post was written by David Sager, research assistant at the Recorded Sound Research Center. John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), the American composer and bandleader, who was known as “The March King,” was a profoundly talented and accomplished man. His musical compositions went beyond marches and included operettas, waltzes, and songs. He also wrote several …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

VE Day: Take One

Posted by: Matthew Barton

The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and other radio networks all covered the last hours of World War II in Europe in depth, and these recordings are preserved in the Library of Congress, where they are available for listening in the Recorded Sound Research Center in Washington, DC, when the Library reopens it’s doors. CBS’s coverage of …