Columbia University historical recordings, 1902-1985

(3 reels of audio tape. First year of dinner, second recipient of award, Frank D. Fackenthal.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape; "What do philosophers do professionally?" by Professor Irwin Edman.)

(1 reel of audio tape; this recording is from the first half of the tape. Campus tour audio for a slide show.)

(1 reel of audio tape. This recording is from the second half of this tape.)

(2 reels of audio tape; remarks during Columbia's Bicentennial, recollections about the early days in nuclear fusion research.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(2 reels of audio tape; at a panel at the Pacific Coast Institute in Santa Barbara, Prof. Rabi is introduced by Cal Tech physics professor Carl D. Anderson.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape; Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, Shah of Iran, received an honorary degree.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape; Director of Libraries Richard H. Logsdson, offers the intro, followed by remarks by University President Grayson Kirk.)

(Voices of: Grayson Kirk, Isidor Rabi, Charles Frankel, John G. Palfrey, Millicent McIntosh. For transcripts of this panel discussion, consult typescripts in Columbiana. 5 reels of audio tape. 2 copies of reels 1-2.)

(Voices of: Glen T. Seaberg, Grayson Kirk, Charles Frankel, Isidor Rabi, John G. Palfrey, Millicent McIntosh. 4 reels of audio tape.)

(Voices of: Charles Frankel, Grayson Kirk, John Palfrey, Millicent McIntosh. 2 reels of audio tape. Prof. Frankel speaks about the "general education program" or the Core Curriculum.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 film reel; "Photographed from the Library of Congress Paper Film Collection by Primrose Productions, Los Angeles, California, 1953 for the Film Archives of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences." Features parts of the installation procession, in particular the end of the procession, going from the Library (now Low Library) to the Gymnasium where the ceremony was held. Includes Barnard College students, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Chair of the Trustees William Schermerhorn, and former Columbia President Seth Low.) Moved from Box 3 to Box 4 on Mach 30, 2022 (JR).

(1 film reel; Credits: Warner Pathe News; camera: Schmidt, arranged by A. Lerner, voice: Andre Baruch. Footage of the powerful giant magnet. Moved from Box 3 to Box 4 on March 30, 2022 (JR).)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(3 reels of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(2 reels of audio tape)

(Taped from phonograph record of these events. 2 reels of audio tape.)

(2 reels of audio tape; first annual Gabriel Silver Lecture at the School of International Affairs.)

(1 film reel. There are 2 VHS copies and 1 betamax copy all with Stand, Columbia on same tape found in Box 16 of this collection. The ceremony video is in color, but has no audio. Features the University Band, the cheerleaders and the Glee Club; Professor Moses Hadas, Chairman of the Committee on Public Ceremonies; Dean of Columbia College Lawrence Chamberlain; University President Grayson Kirk; Willis Booth, father of Ferris Booth; Ted Lynn CC 1958, Chairman of the Columbia College Board of Student Representatives, who operates the steamshovel. College classes were suspended between 9:00 and 10:00 am to allow students to attend the ceremonies.)

(1 film reel; "A record of the afternoon of June 10, 1939, when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain, called at the University. The film is compiled from the newsreels of Pathe, Fox Movietone, and News of the Day." No audio from the inside of Low Library, but the audio is available in this collection.)

(7 phonograph record discs)

(1 film reel; Acting President Frank D. Fackenthal conferred honorary degrees on nine Generals and Admirals in a special convocation held on a snowy day at Low Library: Generals Marshall, Eisenhower, Hershey and Kirk of the Army, Admirals King, Halsey, Nimitz and Land of the Navy, and General Vandegrift of the Marine Corps. Generals MacArthur and Arnold, unable to attend, were awarded their honorary degrees in absentia.)

(2 reels of audio tape; incomplete recording. Kleinberg's remarks begin in reel 2; the end of his remarks and the Q&A are recorded in reel 1. Cook, Senior, Kleinberg, Underhill and others as part of a panel on population growth, birth and death rates, education as a slow-moving social force to control population growth; the birth control pill and surgical interventions in Puerto Rico.)

(4 reels of audio tape; the Alumni Association of the School of General Studies presented its Fifth Annual Dean's Day on Saturday, March 2, 1963 in honor of Dean Clifford L. Lord. The program was devoted to the "Common Market." Addresses were given by Walter Hallstein, president of the commission of the European Economic Community, and Jack N. Behrman, assistant secretary of commerce for domestic and international business. Low Library Rotunda.)

(5 phonograph record discs)

(1 phonograph record disc)

(1 reel of audio tape; Alvar Aalto, the noted Finnish architect, received an honorary degree at a special convocation held in the Low Library Rotunda.)

(2 reels of audio tape; William T. Taylor, chairman of the board of ACF Industries)

(1 reel of audio tape; Peter Grimm, CC 1911)

(1 reel of audio tape; Andrew W. Cordier, Dean of the School of International Affairs)

(4 reels of audio tape. Tape 1. Mouldy Tales, Tape 2. Making Nature Afraid, Tape 3. The Triumph of Time, Tape 4. The Return from the Sea)

(4 reels of audio tape. Tape 1. Introduction by Dean Ralph Halford; "Know then thyself" (Pope), Tape 2. Introduction by I.I. Rabi; "Life ain't all beer and Skittles" (Du Maurier), Tape 3. Introduction by Rev. John Krumm; "Heaven is above all yet" (Shakespeare), Tape 4. Introduction by H. Houston Merritt; "The poetry of earth is never dead" (Keats))

(4 reels of audio tape; 2 copies)

(4 reels of audio tape; "Magic, Science and Civilization")

(1 reel of audio tape; 2 copies; awarded to Richard B. Morris's "The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence" and Theodore W. Friend III's "Between Two Empires: The Ordeal of the Philippines"; remarks by University President Grayson Kirk, publishers and authors.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape; President Grayson Kirk announces the award winners: Bernard Bailyn for "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution," Henry Allen Bullock for "A History of Negro Education in the South from 1619 to the Present," and Richard L. Bushman for "From Puritan to Yankee: Character and Social Order in Connecticut, 1690–1765.")

(1 reel of audio tape; President Andrew Cordier, Winthrop D. Jordan for "White over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550–1812," N. Gordon Levin, Jr. for "Woodrow Wilson and World Politics: America's Response to War and Revolution," and Rexford Guy Tugwell for "The Brains Trust.")

(1 reel of audio tape; 2 copies; President Andrew Cordier, who introduces his successor, William McGill; Charles Sellers for "Charles Willson Peale," Gordon S. Wood for "The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787," Dan T. Carter for "Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South. Baton Rouge, LA.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(3 reels of audio tape)

(3 reels of audio tape)

(2 reels of audio tape)

(2 reels of audio tape; Audio 2.1, Jacques Barzun's remarks.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(3 reels of audio tape)

(4 reels of audio tape)

(2 reels of audio tape; 2 copies; introduction by Columbia College Dean Carl Hovde; invocation by Columbia University trustee and Rector of St. Philip's Church, Dr. M. Moran Weston (CC 1930, PhD 1954), who quotes a poem by Langston Hughes (SEAS Class of 1925); Audio file 2 is a copy of Audio file 1.)

(2 reels of audio tape)

(3 reels of audio tape)

(3 reels of audio tape; digitized by PRD in 2008.)

(3 reels of audio tape. All audio reels are MISSING as of January 2020.)

(2 reels of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(2 reels of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape; John Charles Daly, head of Voice of America, assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency and noted television moderator. Daly's speech was the third Elmer Davis Memorial Lecture in a continuing series sponsored by the Graduate School of Journalism.)

(1 reel of audio tape; Awardees: Max Delbrück and Salvador E. Luria.)

(1 reel of audio tape; Awardees: Albert Claude, George E. Palade, and Keith R. Porter.)

(2 reels of audio tape; Karl A. Menninger on "The Place of Violence in the Vital Balance.")

(1 reel of audio tape. Herbert Wechsler, Manfred Gutmacher and Karl A. Menninger on "The Unconscious Motive for Committing Crime.")

(1 reel of audio tape; Peter L. Kapitza was granted an honorary Doctor of Science degree.)

(1 reel of audio tape; former editor of the New York Times, Harrison Salisbury introduces Lawrence H. Chamberlain, at the Mary Keatinge Das and Taraknath Das Memorial Lecture.)

(3 reels of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape; recently appointed Chair of the Trustees, Arthur Krim, offers the introductory remarks and discusses recent Columbia history, starting from 1968.)

(1 reel of audio tape; Nobel laureate Manfred Eigen of the Max Planck Institute speaks on "The Game on Evolution.")

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape; Kuan Yew Lee, Prime Minister of Singapore. Transcript available online from the National Archives of Singapore.)

(1 reel of audio tape. 2 copies. David Morse, lecturer, "Employment & Economic Growth : An International Perspective." International Labor Office (ILO) anniversary.)

(1 reel of audio tape; Abba Solomon Eban, lecturer, "Toward a World Community." the then former Israeli Foreign Minister taught at Columbia in the fall of 1974.)

(1 reel of audio tape. Burke Marshall, lecturer, the assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's civil rights division on "The Problems of Federalism in Our Moral Crisis." Audio of the second and final lecture only.)

(1 reel of audio tape and 1 reel of 16mm film; interview from the President's office in Low Library; discussion of the 6-year building program, increases in faculty salaries, library budgets and student aid; and the fund raising campaigns. Includes footage of Alma Mater.)

(1 reel of audio tape; McGill's remarks.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 film reel; excerpts.)

(4 reels of audio tape; Paul Ramsey on "Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine.")

(2 reels of audio tape; 2 copies; in honor of Andrew Cordier. Includes remarks by Mayor of New York City John V. Lindsay.)

(1 reel of audio tape; Award recipients: Renato Dulbecco, Harry Eagle, Theodore T. Puck.)

(1 reel of audio tape; 2 copies; Award recipient: Boris Ephrussi.)

(1 reel of audio tape; 2 copies; Award recipients: Michael Heidelberger, Elvin A. Kabat, Henry G. Kunkel)

(1 reel of audio tape; Dr. Chaim Pekeris on "The Dynamo Theory of the Origin of the Earth's Magnetic Field")

(1 reel of audio tape; FitzGerald, Frances for "Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam;" Gaddis, John Lewis for "The United States and the Origins of the Cold War;" Harlan, Louis R. for "Booker T. Washington.")

(1 reel of audio tape; Billington, Ray Allen for "Frederick Jackson Turner: Historian, Scholar, Teacher;" Hoopes, Townsend for "The Devil and John Foster Dulles;" Thernstrom, Stephan for "The Other Bostonians: Poverty and Progress in the American Metropolis, 1880–1970.")

(1 reel of audio tape; Davis, David Brion for "The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823;" and Lewis, R. W. B. for "Edith Wharton: A Biography.")

(1 reel of audio tape; 2 copies; Dawley, Alan for "Class and Community: The Industrial Revolution in Lynn," and Gross, Robert A. for "The Minutemen and Their World.")

(1 reel of audio tape; 7 1/2 ips; General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, Columbia president on leave to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, sent a message to those gathered at the dinner.)

(1 reel of audio tape; 2 copies; Professor of International Law Wolfgang Friedmann was robbed and stabbed to death three blocks from the campus.)

(1 reel of audio tape; 6th Kemp Dinner, Kemp Medal for distinguished service in Geology awarded to Gerald J. Wasserburg, professor of geology and geophysics at the California Institute of Technology, and Paul Werner Cast, who was professor of geology at Columbia and chief of the Division of Planetary and Earth Sciences in NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.)

(1 reel of audio tape; University Lecture; introduced by Provost Ted de Bary.)

(3 reels of audio tape; "The Early Years: Building a Consensus for Freedom," "The Protest Era," and "Strategies for a New Agenda."

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 audio cassette tape; Countryman, Edward for "A People in Revolution: The American Revolution and Political Society in New York, 1760–1790" and Ryan, Mary P. for "Cradle of the Middle Class: The Family in Oneida County, New York, 1790–1865." Introduction focuses on Kenneth A. Lohf's contribution to the libraries; Lohf shares some remarks.)

(1 reel of audio tape; 3 3/4 ips.)

(2 reels of audio tape; 3 3/4 ips; 3 copies; alumni luncheon program.)

(1 reel of film; 16mm, sound; no audio for the Columbia footage. Features University President Grayson Kirk and Dean John R. Dunning of the School of Engineering; groundbreaking of the Seeley Mudd Buildings/Engineering Center, 120th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.)

(1 reel of film; 16mm, sound. John R. Dunning points out the workings of his "atomic pinball machine," which he uses to explain atomic energy to the public.)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(2 audio cassettes)

(1 reel of audio tape; 3 3/4 ips.)

(2 VHS tape and 1 Beta tape; Original reel of film also found in Box 3 of this collection.)

(1 reel of audio tape; 7.5 ips; introductions in Japanese.)

(1 reel of audio tape; 7.5 ips)

(1 reel of audio tape)

(2 VHS tapes and 1 Beta tape; Original film is Reel #5 in Box 18 of this collection.)