Archives are used to preserve the past as it was unedited by the framing of historical texts. As we explored the Special Collections I was struck by the volume of information that was preserved, essentially in pristine condition, about the Federal Theater Project (FTP). My group in particular had multiples of the same pamphlets as well as multiple copies of transcripts on onion paper. It underscored the ideas that we have been discussing in class all semester, historical pieces are not just stumbled upon and kept, they are intentionally selected and preserved and that selection process also needs to be interrogated.
Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez questioned ” Who gets to be remembered and historicized by way of record creation? Who is forgotten or purposefully silenced in history by way of omission or destruction of records? How are records themselves (official records created for governmental purposes in particular) used to communicate misguided notions of holistic representation, truthfulness, neutrality, and objectivity?”1 All of these questions can be used to not only interrogate the archival process and the preservation of certain history, but also about the ways those histories are remembered, retold, and reinforced by broad cultural narratives.
Although the FTP might have been deemed radical by the government, it was also extremely popular with the people. Digitized newspaper clippings and play reviews lend credence to the idea that it was broadly enjoyed by the public and the main obstacle to their success was government intervention. The “Voodoo MacBeth” was extremely popular and ran for several months with sold out crowds. Although The Cradle Will Rock was “shuttered at the last minute by nervous WPA officials who found the labor opera’s sentiments too radical”2 the public chased down the performers and listened to them sing it from the auditorium in a different theater. As the FTP continued to create perform more daring and radical works, the government also attempted to smother it by making claims about how the public would react. The archives in particular make it more obvious how well received and enjoyed the bulk of the FTP’s works were and highlighted how determined the government was to control the narratives that where being created and disseminated with their funding.
This is in contrast to how well received the Federal Music Project (FMP) was by the government although it was doing much of the same kind of work. The FMP was arguably more radical because it preserved the folk music of different kind of people and celebrated it rather than spreading specific subliminal (and obvious) messages by way of performance. The FMP fostered a more organic dissent from the status quo that inspired more collective movement and was more dangerous in the long run. Perhaps this is why its actual history has systemically been obscured to the point of thinking it reinforced ideas of nationalism and patriotism.
Both the FTP and FMP highlight the importance of archival information and access to that information in the digital space. It allows for the reexamination of historical narratives and a more honest accounting of the past.
- Padilla, Thomas. “Bias, Perception, and Archival Praxis.” dh lib. dh lib, September 13, 2017. https://acrl.ala.org/dh/2017/09/13/archivalpraxis/.
- Smith, Wendy. “The Play That Electrified Harlem : Articles and Essays : Federal Theatre Project, 1935 to 1939 : Digital Collections : Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. Accessed November 13, 2019. https://www.loc.gov/collections/federal-theatre-project-1935-to-1939/articles-and-essays/play-that-electrified-harlem/.
