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Edison National Historic Site
The Recording Archives
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The archive at Edison National Historic Site includes approximately 48,000 disc and cylinder records produced by Edison in West Orange, New Jersey, between 1888 and 1929. Many of these, including unreleased and experimental recordings, have been at the Laboratory since Edison's lifetime. Some of the earliest examples of recorded sound in existence are preserved within this unique collection.
The subject matter of the recordings is mostly music, covering genres popular in the United States during Edison's era. Spoken word recordings include vaudeville comedy sketches, documentary speeches, educational lessons, and motion picture dialogue soundtracks. Experimental recordings document research carried out at the Edison Laboratory to develop recorded sound technology.
We have compiled a selection of sound files in the MP3 format from the archive and arranged them by genre.
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Selected from the genres recorded by Edison:
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Did You Know?
There is a rumor that Edison was actually born in Mexico, based on his middle name Alva. However, Alva was the name of a family friend, Captain Bradley.
When he was young, Edison's nickname was "Al," from his middle name Alva.
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Last Updated: October 16, 2007 at 14:28 EST |
