Edison Disc Recordings Access Initiative

UCSB has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the Edison Disc Recordings Access Initiative. This funding provides additional support for the longtime collaborative project between the UCSB Library and the Packard Humanities Institute. 

Over the next two years, project staff will edit the discographic data for Edison’s disc recordings made between 1912 and 1929 and incorporate the data into the Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR), the online database documenting early sound recordings. Simultaneously, project staff will be digitizing the library’s Edison disc collection for free online access through DAHR and through the Library of Congress National Jukebox. We will also be coordinating with other libraries and archives including the Thomas Edison National Historic Park, Stanford, Syracuse and Library of Congress with a goal of providing online access to almost all 9,000 issued Edison disc recordings to create a comprehensive digital archive for scholarship and public access.

Recordings that are not held by the participating archives will be sought from private collectors. A public call will be made later to solicit copies to be loaned for digitization.

(Project staff pictured above l to r Dain Lopez, Gene Kim, Lynn Jurgensen, Germain Valdez, Fran Smith, David Seubert, Ally Gonzalez, Katy Costantinidis, not pictured Sam Brylawski and Eric Ederer)