WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has big plans to restore some historic audio recordings.
The museum will tackle restoring some of the world’s earliest recordings.
Specifically, the museum's work will focus on "hundreds of records created by Alexander Graham Bell and his colleagues at Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and at Bell’s property in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, between 1881 and 1892."
The museum said the restoration is made possible with public-private funding through an initial grant from the Save America’s Treasures program and matching support by Linda and Mike Curb and Seal Storage Technology.
Additional support was provided by SEDDI Inc. and the Alexander and Mabel Bell Legacy Foundation.
“Over the three-year duration of this remarkable project, ‘Hearing History: Recovering Sound from Alexander Graham Bell’s Experimental Records,’ we will preserve and make accessible for the first time about 300 recordings that have been in the museum’s collections for over a century, unheard by anyone.” said Anthea M. Hartig, the museum’s Elizabeth MacMillan Director. “We are grateful to this public-private partnership in funding this dynamic and innovative work.”