Dear Kurt,
Thank you so much for your quick reply. Indeed we are looking for stories
that involve an artifact or object that may be tied to an important event
in American History. I kind of liken the story to Antique's Roadshow that
is much more elaborate and involved with a detective story twists and
turns. Often the best stories come from people just like you who happen
to be very avid collectors!
I would appreciate any fanning of this story query to any appropriate
people or groups.
I'm curious about this cylinder that you wrote about. What kind of
technology is that? I have never heard of it before.
Many thanks,
Tania Castellanos
-----Original Message-----
From: Kurt Nauck [mailto:nauck@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 3:07 PM
To: Tania Castellanos
Subject: Re: History Detectives on PBS--Story Ideas
I would suppose the most enduring mysteries have to do with the whereabouts
(or existence) of the Buddy Bolden cylinder or the Lincoln Phonautograph
tracing.
But since you seem to be looking for mysteries about objects that are known
to exist, I suppose those wouldn't qualify.
There is a cylinder at the Belfer archive at Syracuse University that may
be a recording of Adelina Patti, a legendary opera singer. They haven't
played it yet, as they are working on developing a laser player so that
they can reproduce the sound without touching the groove.
Certainly, there are many questions collectors would like to have answered,
or recordings they would like to have identified. I might have some
interesting possibilities in my own collection - I would have to think
about it.
Would you like me to post your message to a couple of relevant internet
discussion groups?
At 11:32 AM 2/11/2005, you wrote:
>Dear Mr. Nauck,
>
>I found your name and e-mail on the arsc-audio.org website. My name is
>Tania Castellanos and I am writing to you on behalf of Lion
>Television. We are currently producing a documentary series titled
>History Detectives that will air on PBS this summer. I am writing to you
>because I am searching for new potential stories for the series.
>
>History Detectives is a national prime-time series about the discovery,
>documentation and preservation of historic American buildings and
>artifacts. The format of our program is an investigation of a question
>posed by an individual who is interested in learning the history behind an
>artifact or location and its possible historical significance.
>
>We are currently seeking story submissions from all over the country
>regarding American buildings or artifacts that may be historically or
>culturally significant. The most promising ideas are historically
>significant, and are still unsolved. The best objects belong to people who
>may not have a research background, but are enthusiastic about American
>history or the specific area that their object relates to.
>
>I would like to develop stories that would permit us to talk about the
>history of Blues or Jazz. If you are aware of individuals that might have
>historical questions about objects (they don't have to be major
>collectors) please let me know.
>
>For example, if there was someone who had a record but could not verify
>the artist or the origin of the recording and wanted to know more about
>where the record came from or its place in the history of the Blues. If
>someone had an instrument that they thought once belonged to a well known
>artist or a piece of sheet music that they could not identify or verify,
>etc. that would work as well. Also, if you have suggestions that you feel
>might be relevant to our show, please let me know.
>
>Thank you for getting the word out to your colleagues. Hopefully this
>will find a new and interesting story! You can find out more about the
>series on the website as
>well:
><http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/>http://www.pbs.org/opb/history
detectives/
>
>Since we are currently in production, I look forward to hearing from you
>at your earliest convenience.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Tania Castellanos
>
>
>History Detectives
>Lion Television/PBS
>304 Hudson Street, 5th floor
>NYC, NY 10013
>212-206-8633
"Tania Castellanos" <taniac@xxxxxxxxx>