[ARSCLIST] unknown artists and archives

[Matthew Snyder <msnyder@xxxxxxxx>]

Steven C. Barr wrote:

>The problem is that many...possibly most...archivists think in terms
>of what is already viewed as "worthy"...fine art, fine literature
>and so forth. Whit is more likely to be of interest to future folks
>(assuming there are such?) are the "facts of everyday life" of
>their previous generations...
>Or at least that is how it seems to me...

I can only speak with authority about NYPL. It's not the fault of the 
Music Division if nobody points them to unknown people and their archives. 
Nobody there had heard of Joe Reisman (arranger for Patti Page and Henry 
Mancini, among others) until his widow called up to say she wanted to 
donate his scores, and the library took them gladly.  Most of that 
collection was actually fairly pedestrian, middle-of-the-road pop 
arrangements from the 1940s to 60s, which I'm glad the library has. 
Collections of lesser-known or unknown artists are and should be 
collected, but people should be proactive and actively contact libraries 
and archivists and TELL THEM about unknown artists and their collections. 

Matt Snyder
Music Archivist
Wilson Processing Project
The New York Public Library