The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts > Collections > Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

Major Collections: Voices Past and Present

The Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound is a unique public repository of the words and sounds that shape our cultural legacy. Its origins date to the mid-1930s, when Columbia Records began donating copies of its releases to the Library. Originally part of the Music Division, it officially opened its doors as a separate research unit in 1965, following a major gift from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation. Its vast holdings have been assembled through generous donations from recording companies, the broadcast industry, and individuals. Major collections housed in the Archives include:

• Benedict Stambler Memorial Archive--Jewish music and theatre
• Toscanini Legacy--a gift from the Toscanini family documenting the conductors career in live performances and rehearsals,1926-54
• WNEW--popular music from the 1930s-60s
• Favorite Story--literary works adapted for radio broadcast by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E Lee, 1940s
• Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts--Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, 1930s-present
• Society for Asian Music--folk and classical music of Asia and lectures
• Heritage of the March--LP recordings of college and armed forces marching bands
• Bell Telephone Hour--NBC radio broadcasts (1941-68) highlighting famous performers of the period
• Marian McPartland Piano Jazz--radio broadcasts of jazz performances and interviews with musicians
• Personal collections of soprano Rosa Ponselle; pianist and conductor Rosalyn Tureck; composers Richard Rodgers, Deems Taylor, John Watts, Paul Jacobs, Joseph Schillinger; conductor Thomas Scherman; Yiddish artist Ruth Rabin; singers Lanny Ross and Libby Holman; and many others.