The mission of the Cincinnati Museum Center Audiovisual Collections Department is to collect and preserve selected photographs, moving images, prints and sound recordings documenting local history; to research local photography, radio and television history; and to collect and preserve selected broadcasting records in cooperation with the museum, manuscripts, and printed works departments; to make these historical records available to the public.
Overview of Collections
The Audiovisual Collections Department houses approximately 700,000 archival photographs, as well as film, video, sound recordings and prints. The print collection documents Cincinnati’s history from 1788 to the present. The photograph collection dates from the 1840's to the present; films and recordings date from around 1917 to the present.
Most of the film is television news footage dating from 1959 to 1980. However, Museum Center also collects and preserves selected newsreel footage, television programs, industrial films, commercials and home movies.
The bulk of our sound recording collection consists of radio programs, which were preserved on transcription disks in the 1930's and 40's. But we also have: an interview in which a 90-year-old Cincinnatian recalls the World War I era in Cincinnati; radio coverage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1939 speech at Latonia Racetrack; and events recorded off the air by Cincinnatians, such Romilda Dilley’s home recording of the D-Day invasion in 1944.
Public Access
Our archival images and recordings do not circulate, but they are available to the public without charge in the Cincinnati Historical Society Research Library at Cincinnati Museum Center. The library is open between the hours of noon - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Processed sound recordings and moving images are available to the public on reference copies. The public does not have access to the archival masters, which are housed for preservation in temperature and humidity controlled areas. Public access is provided on equipment in a public access booth adjacent to the reading room. Absolutely no copying is permitted. No audiovisual equipment may be brought into the library without the permission of the Audiovisual Curator.
Requests for copies for personal and commercial use:
For VHS copies there is a $30 fee per call number, plus tax, shipping, and handling. The purchaser must agree to use the sound recordings or moving images for personal reference only and not for broadcast or further duplication.
Audiovisual Collections
(513) 287-7094
E-mail: lbailey@cincymuseum.org
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