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Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was one of the 50 recordings added on the first year of existence of the United States National Recording Registry.

The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000,^[1] which created the National Recording Preservation Board, whose members are appointed by the Librarian of Congress. The recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry form a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress.^[2]

The legislative intent of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 was to develop a national program to guard America's sound recording heritage. The Act resulted in the formations of the National Recording Registry, The National Recording Preservation Board and a fund-raising foundation to aid their efforts.^[3] The act established the Registry specifically for the purpose of maintaining and preserving sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.^[1] Beginning in 2002, the National Recording Preservation Board began selecting nominated recordings each year to be preserved.

The first four yearly lists included 50 selections. However, since 2006, 25 recordings have been selected annually. Thus, a total of 250 recordings have been preserved in the Registry as of 2008. Each year, open nominations are accepted until July 1 for inclusion in that year's list of selections to be announced the following spring. Thus, nominations for the 2008 list to be announced in the spring of 2009 had to be submitted by July 1, 2008 although nominations are accepted year round.^[2][4] Nominations are made in the following categories:

• Blues
• Broadway/Musical Theatre/Soundtrack
• Cajun/Zydeco/"Swamp"
• Children's recordings
• Choral
• Classical
• Comedy/Novelty
• Country/Bluegrass
• Documentary/Broadcast/Spoken Word
• Environmental
• Field
• Folk/Ethnic
• Gospel/Spiritual
• Jazz
• Latin
• Pop (pre-1955)
• Pop (post-1955)
• R&B
• Radio
• Rap
• Technology

Each yearly list has often included a few recordings that have also been selected for inclusion in the holdings of the National Archives' audiovisual collection. Those recordings on the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry that are of a political nature will tend to overlap with the audiovisual collection of the National Archives. The list shows overlapping items and whether the National Archives has an original or a copy of the recording.

Selection criteria

The criteria for selection are as follows:^[5]

• Recordings selected for the National Recording Registry are those that are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.
• For the purposes of recording selection, "sound recordings" are defined as works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sound component of a moving image work, unless it is available as an autonomous sound recording or is the only extant component of the work.
• Recordings may be a single item or group of related items; published or unpublished; and may contain music, non-music, spoken word, or broadcast sound.
• Recordings will not be considered for inclusion into the National Recording Registry if no copy of the recording exists.
• No recording should be denied inclusion into the National Recording Registry because that recording has already been preserved.
• No recording is eligible for inclusion into the National Recording Registry until ten years after the recording's creation.

2002

In January 2003, the following 50 selections were made by the National Recording Preservation Board.^[6]

Selected exhibitions recording for the phonograph were added in 2002.

Louis Armstrong was one of American music's most important and influential figures. The sessions preserved in the registry, and his solos in particular, set a standard musicians still strive to equal in their beauty and innovation.^[6]

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's "Tiger Rag" launched jazz as a music genre, and is preserved in the registry.

"Down-Hearted Blues" was the first release by "Empress of the Blues" Bessie Smith.

Booker T. Washington recreated his controversial 1895 Atlanta Exposition Speech in 1906.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats" "redefined the relationship between the president and the American people."^[6]

Orson Welles' 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio drama created alarm and panic across the United States.

2003

In March 2004, the following 50 selections were made by the National Recording Preservation Board.^[8]

"He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands" was one of Marian Anderson’s favorite spirituals, and she often performed it at the conclusion of her recitals.^[8]

O. Winston Link's recordings of the sounds produced by a variety of locomotive models capture "the unique and now-lost sounds of the engines which united the United States."^[8]

Carole King's Tapestry has sold over 25,000,000 copies; the album is credited with proving the audience for soft rock.^[9]

The Cole Porter Songbook was the first of Ella Fitzgerald's many anthologies.

2004

In April 2005, the following 50 selections were made by the National Recording Preservation Board.^[10]

The traditional pop music song "Fascinating Rhythm," sung by Fred and Adele Astaire in Lady, Be Good, was preserved in 2004.

The NBC's coverage of Colonel Lindbergh in Washington was an important achievement for the network, and involved reporters in three locations in the city.

In spite of the controversy surrounding MacArthur at the time, his farewell speech to congress is noted for its eloquence and effectiveness.^[10]

"Houston. Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed.... I’m going to step off the LEM now. That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong's words upon landing on the moon "have become some of the most recognizable and memorable sentences spoken in United States history."^[10]

2005

In April 2006, the following 50 selections were made by the National Recording Preservation Board.^[11]

An athlete, a gentleman and a scholar, Robeson used his diverse talents to pave a successful career as a performer and become active in sociopolitical affairs.

Count Basie, prominent band leader during the big band era, influenced many musicians of his day.

Archibald MacLeish, Librarian of Congress and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.

Former champion Max Schmeling handed Joe Louis his first loss.

B. B. King and his guitar Lucille.

Stevie Wonder has been awarded over 20 Grammy Awards. His 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life won the Grammy that year for Album of the Year.

2006

On March 6, 2007, the following 25 selections were made by the National Recording Preservation Board.^[12]

Cal Stewart was among the most prolific and popular recording artists of the first 20 years of commercial recording.

President Roosevelt signs the declaration of war against Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the "date which will live in infamy".

Folk singer Pete Seeger adapted a gospel song, "I Shall Overcome", by changing "I" to "We", and it became a standard for the civil rights movement.

2007

"Allons à Lafayette" was the best-known recording by Cajun accordionist Joe Falcon.

Fiorella LaGuardia read the comics on WNYC radio during the 1945 newspaper delivery strike.

The Sounds of Earth is an eclectic 90-minute record of life and culture, sent into space by NASA.

On May 14, 2008, the following 25 selections were made by the National Recording Preservation Board. ^[13][14]

2008

Shortly after his Carnegie Hall debut on November 7, 1917, violinist Jascha Heifetz made his first recordings for Victor.

Marian Anderson performed for more than 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial, opening with "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."

Winston Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" address originated the term "Iron Curtain."

On June 10, 2009, the following 25 selections were made by the National Recording Preservation Board. ^[15]

Odds and ends

• As of 2008, the oldest recordings on the list are the Edison phonograph cylinders which date back to 1888. The most recent is the album Nevermind by Nirvana which came out in 1991. ^[16]

• Selections vary widely in duration. Both the early Edison recordings and the instrumental “Rumble” by Link Wray clock in at under three minutes. Meanwhile Georg Solti’s recording of Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle is approximately 15 hours in duration and Alexander Scourby’s recitation of the King James Bible is over 80 hours in length. ^[16]

• As of 2008, there are eight cast show recordings on the Registry, including Oklahoma!, Show Boat, and The Cradle Will Rock.^[16]

• As of 2008, excluding radio series, there are eight comedy recordings on the Registry, including The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart by Bob Newhart, 2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, and “No News, or What Killed the Dog” by Nat M. Wills.^[16]

• As of 2008, there are 28 solo female musical artists represented on the list, including Sophie Tucker, Carole King, Judy Garland, Joni Mitchell, Fanny Brice, Ella Fitzgerald and Patsy Cline. (Women are also represented as members of groups, for example: the Velvet Underground and Nico with Maureen Tucker and Nico; the Carter Family with “Mother” Maybelle Carter and Sara Carter, and Sonic Youth featuring Kim Gordon).^[16]

• Some of the country music titles on the list include: “Crazy” by Patsy Cline, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones, “Wildwood Flower” by the Carter Family, and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” by Bill Monroe.^[16]

• Some of the radio series or broadcasts so far included on the list include: Gang Busters; Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast; A Prairie Home Companion; The Fred Allen Show; and Norman Corwin’s We Hold These Truths.^[16]

• As of 2008, the spoken words of seven U.S. Presidents are represented on the Registry, including Woodrow Wilson, Harry S. Truman, and John F. Kennedy. Franklin D. Roosevelt is featured twice-—for his Fireside Chats and his December 8, 1941 address to Congress. Registry items by some Presidents—-Eisenhower and Reagan—-either precede or follow their Presidential terms.^[16]

See also

• National Film Registry

Notes

• ^A The original 25 recordings from July 24, 1933 and July 28, 1934 are preserved at the Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York.^[17]

References

External links

• National Recording Preservation Board
• Full National Recording Registry
• NPR "All Things Considered" – series spotlighting selections from the Registry