Speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt on “a date that will live in infamy”. The rock band Journey’s song about “a small-town girl living in a...
Speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt on “a date that will live in infamy”. The rock band Journey’s song about “a small-town girl living in a lonely world” who takes a midnight train anywhere. And firsthand descriptions of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Each of them are “unforgettable sounds in the nation’s history,” the Library of Congress said Wednesday, adding that they were among 25 recordings selected this year for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.
Since 2002, the Librarian of Congress, with expert advice, has selected recordings that are at least 10 years old and “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” for inclusion in the register.
The program, library officials said, aims to provide a long-term repository for the preservation of records and to recognize their importance.
The register “reflects the diversity of music and voices that have shaped our nation’s history and culture,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement.
“The National Library is proud to help preserve these recordings,” she added.
Other recordings selected this year include Alicia Keys’ debut album, “Songs in A Minor”; the 1997 album “Buena Vista Social Club”; a 1956 recording of Duke Ellington and his orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival; and Hank Aaron’s 1974 715th Circuit radio call, which broke a record previously held by Babe Ruth.
The 575 recordings already included in the national register include classical music; opera performances; blues and pop songs; monologues and poems; and speeches and radio broadcasts reflecting important current events. Among these are Robert F. Kennedy’s speech on the death of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the Wailers’ 1973 album “Burnin'” and a 1977 recording of a Grateful Dead concert at the University Cornell.
That diversity can also be seen in this year’s selections, which include all of Roosevelt’s speeches as president and the 1981 Journey single that became karaoke favorite, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which the library described. as “the personal empowerment anthem of millions”. ”
One of the darker recordings chosen this year is the September 11, 2001 broadcasts of radio station WNYC, which was located at the time in Lower Manhattan, a few blocks from the World Trade Center.
That morning, station employees broke from scheduled programming to depict the chaos of the Twin Towers terror attacks, airing what the library called “the first eyewitness accounts of the tragedy.”
“As the story unfolded,” the library wrote, “WNYC’s dedicated staff stayed on the air.”
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