August 24, 1998
Contact:
Press Contact: Guy Lamolinara (202) 707-9217
Leonard Bernstein Items On-Line from LC
Materials of American Composer, Conductor, Writer and
Teacher Available Aug. 25
A portion of the Leonard Bernstein Collection, one of
the largest and most varied collections in the Library of
Congress, will be available on Aug. 25 from the American
Memory Web site (www.loc.gov). Aug. 25 is Bernstein's
80th birthday.
This "preview" site offers a hint of the materials
that will later become available.
The 85 photographs that document Bernstein's
professional as well as personal life from the 1920s
to the 1980s are one of the highlights of this release.
The collection includes the first known photograph of
Bernstein conducting for the Camp Onata Rhythm Band in
1937; an image of Bernstein rehearsing contralto Marian
Anderson in 1947; photos of the musician with family and
friends and even photographic holiday cards.
Researchers will appreciate the Finding Aid, which
includes descriptions of materials processed as of August
1997. These include correspondence, writings, photographs,
datebooks, schedules, address books and programs. The music
in the collection (both printed and manuscript) will be the
final series of materials to be processed.
A bibliography lists books by and about Bernstein,
and a chronology provides highlights of his life.
In a "Message from Jamie Bernstein Thomas," one
of the musician's daughters, she says, "Leonard Bernstein' s
life, besides being richly creative, was also extensively
documented. In addition to his manuscripts and voluminous
correspondence, there are also his recordings, videos,
film footage and thousands of photographs. This is truly a
multimedia archive, which makes it particularly appropriate
for the Library of Congress's ambitious on-line initiative,
the National Digital Library Program.
"The estate of Leonard Bernstein chose the Library of
Congress in 1993 as the repository for the Leonard Bernstein
Collection because of the Library's strong commitment,
spearheaded by the Librarian, James H. Billington, to make
portions of its collections available through the new
digital media," she continues. "Moreover, Bernstein's
career coincided with the rise of television, and it was his
unique genius to understand the power of this new medium to
communicate the joy of music to millions of people through
it. So it seems entirely in keeping with Bernstein's
generosity of spirit to make materials from his archives
available to the greatest number of people -- which is the
essential purpose of the National Digital Library Program."
American Memory is a project of the National Digital
Library Program, which, in collaboration with other major
repositories, is making available on-line materials relating
to American history by the year 2000, the bicentennial of
the Library of Congress.
Thirty-nine collections are now available in media
ranging from photographs, manuscripts and maps to motion
pictures, sound recordings and presidential papers. The
most recent collection to be added is "America from the
Great Depression to World War II: Photos from the Farm
Security Administration-Office of War Information, 1935-
1945," which contains some of the best known photographs
ever published as well as never-before-seen images that
were made as part of this New Deal effort.
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PR 98-128
8/24/98
ISSN 0731-3527