Ransom Center Magazine

Conservation

NEH helps to break the sound barrier

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Rare sound recordings to be preserved and made accessible with grant

For the first time, sound recordings documenting the work and lives of notable cultural figures such as Julia Alvarez, Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Norman Bel Geddes, Norman Mailer, Anne Sexton, and Gloria Swanson will be publicly available for research. [Read more…] about NEH helps to break the sound barrier

Theatre critic Mel Gussow’s legendary interviews available online

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by Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa and Eric Colleary

British and American theatre history preserved in candid recordings

Mel Gussow was the lead cultural critic for the New York Times for more than 40 years. Throughout his career, he recorded interviews with stars and unknowns of the American and British theatre. [Read more…] about Theatre critic Mel Gussow’s legendary interviews available online

Preserving Arnold Newman’s photography slides

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The Ransom Center’s Arnold Newman papers and photography collection, acquired in 2006, includes more than 25,000 prints, original sitting books, early sketchbooks, photographic albums, and video recordings of interviews and lectures. Newman, who lived from 1918 to 2006, was a prolific artist known for his “environmental portraiture,” a style which captures a subject in his or her typical setting. Conservator Diana Diaz treated sets of color slides wrapped in different types of tape. [Read more…] about Preserving Arnold Newman’s photography slides

Deadline: 2028—Countdown to preserve audio materials

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We left off in part one wondering how to evaluate the Ransom Center’s unique non-commercial sound recordings, particularly when we aren’t able to access their audio content prior to preservation. Verifying written descriptions helps, but there are other considerations to keep in mind, such as a recording’s physical format—different types of material become increasingly unstable with age, but at different rates, and in different ways. [Read more…] about Deadline: 2028—Countdown to preserve audio materials