Every form of art, communication, and documentation has its limits. There are benefits of having a photograph or a in situ document of an event always offers information that is arguably the most important to many historians. However, in the case of more recent history, sources are much more variable than the odd document. Viable sources within the last century or so now include things like more abundant personalized statements, letters, biographies, and video, audio, and radio recordings. Audio recordings in particular offer a special kind of insight into the past. Providing all the necessary surroundings to recreate the same experience, the lack of visual representation allows one to create an environment from their own knowledge and imagination, while maintaining the real presence of the event.
One of the most special, and valuable places that I think historic audio sources come into play, is within the documentation of otherwise all but forgotten people. Some of the most important, and most populous peoples in the early 1900s, were farmers, agricultural workers, and cowboys. In a 1940 recording, called “Untitled cowboy song”, the performer recounts the journey of finding work, in order to gain the hand of a woman in marriage. While it’s unclear if the song documented the performer’s personal story, or if it was simply a draw upon a common cowboy experience, the recording is transporting.
The background of the audio is detailed with the sounds and voices surrounding the performer. The beginnings of the performance, the people surrounding the singer and the person recording the clip, detail normal, daily life. The beauty in having such clips and audio sources available for historic purposes, is that we are given every aspect of the time from which it came. As a historian, being able to immerse yourself in the sounds of the time, and the audible documentation of an event, you’re able to grasp the tone, the feeling, and the real emotion of the event. Given the aura of the 1930s, and the WPA and Federal One recovery projects, audio sources are so very important in being able to bring that time even more alive, and give more meaning to it’s preservation.
Citations:
“Untitled cowboy song”, Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940 to 1941 (533), Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/toddbib000080/.
