In part one of a two-part blog post series, NEH Audio Digitization Project Coordinator Katie Quanz chronicles the progress of Unlocking Sound Stories, a NEH grant funded project digitizing and preserving more than 2000 rare recordings. [Read more…] about Unlocking sound stories
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NEH helps to break the sound barrier
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
Deadline: 2028—Countdown to preserve audio materials
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
Deadline: 2028—Time is not on our side
High stakes for cultural heritage
In just 11 years, the Harry Ransom Center could reach the point of no return!
Listen: Frank Reaugh’s favorite monochrome pastel painting
One of the most popular visitor features of our current exhibition Frank Reaugh: Landscapes of Texas and the American West is the “guide by cell” audio tour for visitors. This audio tour lets visitors call in and hear informational snippets about the paintings on display. Ransom Center Curator of Art Peter Mears discusses highlights from the exhibition, and Project Specialist Greg Curtis speaks as the voice of Frank Reaugh to narrate the artist’s own comments.
[Read more…] about Listen: Frank Reaugh’s favorite monochrome pastel painting
LISTEN: Gabriel García Márquez’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
Born in Colombia, Gabriel García Márquez began his career as a journalist in the 1940s, reporting from Bogotá and Cartagena and later serving as a foreign correspondent in Europe and Cuba. In 1961, he moved to Mexico City. Alongside his prolific journalism career,
[Read more…] about LISTEN: Gabriel García Márquez’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
