Bubbe was a DJ?

February 8, 2014 11:50 AM

I have inherited over 70 old record albums, many 78's. They are mainly a mix of Yiddish and Hebrew songs and spoken word. I have contacted The Idelsohn Society, but they do not have room in their cramped NYC office for this. There's a chance some of these have historic value, so I'd like to get them into good hands. Any ideas who to contact?
posted by Sophont to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

Does your local JCC have a library? Even if they don't, they might have ideas for you.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:51 AM on February 8, 2014

Perhaps contact the Yiddish Book Center? Even if they're not interested in your LPs, they may know someone who would be.
posted by sciencegeek at 11:54 AM on February 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ah, they mention on their website who is taking records.

"Can I donate records?

We are currently not taking records. If you have records that you want to donate, we suggest that you contact one of the following:

Judaica Sound Archives, Florida Atlantic University, www.fau.edu/jsa. Dr. Maxine Schackman, Director ([e-mail] / 561-297-2207)
Dartmouth Jewish Sound Archive, http://djsa.dartmouth.edu/. [e-mail] / 603-646-3936
Robert and Molly Freedman Jewish Music Archive, University of Pennsylvania. http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/freedman or by email at [e-mail]
"
posted by sciencegeek at 11:56 AM on February 8, 2014 [3 favorites]

My Google is being a butt right now so I can't link you from my phone, but contact the Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Henry Sapoznik I believe splits his time between Madison and New York, but Jessica Courtier is here 100%. We have a lot of great historical record collections, so these would be a nice complement if they fit the bill.
posted by Madamina at 11:56 AM on February 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections may be able to help you find a good home for these records. Maybe try their email list?
posted by bubukaba at 1:12 PM on February 8, 2014

The Judaica Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University would be perfect for this, I think.
posted by Shmuel510 at 2:09 PM on February 8, 2014

They should stay in NYC and there are several great options for folks archiving this stuff if they are not already duplicated in an existing collection (they may well be).

Contact this guy:

https://yiddishsong.wordpress.com/tag/itzik-gottesman/


He will know.
posted by spitbull at 2:43 PM on February 8, 2014

There is also a guide on his site to archives of Yiddish recordings:

https://yiddishsong.wordpress.com/resources-for-field-recordings/
posted by spitbull at 2:45 PM on February 8, 2014

The absolute best person to contact would be Henry "Hank" Sapoznik, of the Yiddish Radio Project, who is the widely recognized central authority in this genre. I have a feeling he'd be eager to steward these records and get them into a research archive.
posted by Miko at 9:00 PM on February 8, 2014

Links:
Mayrent Institute (scholarly home of Hank Sapoznik)
Projects include the Mayrent Collection of Yiddish Recordings and an affiliated symposium held last March. (It looked pretty great; they placed klezmer in context with bluegrass and "Scandihoovian" music.)

I have personally helped catalog other historical 78s through the Mills Music Library and can touch for it being a good place. They really do encourage access, even if it's only in person right now.
posted by Madamina at 6:10 AM on February 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

touch = vouch
posted by Madamina at 8:23 AM on February 10, 2014