As 2025 draws to a close, I’m thinking about renewal. The last two years have seen a renewed presence and vision for the National Recording Preservation Foundation. This has brought many transformations: renewing our board leadership, raising awareness of NRPF and audio preservation work through the Sound Files podcast, a refreshed visual identity and expanded digital presence, and renewed pursuit of our mandate to promote and preserve America’s recorded sound history through philanthropy and grants.
What does renewal sound like? I hear it in the incredible audio preservation grants we have supported. These grants provide essential resources to preserve … sounds like the voices of HBCU radio broadcasts … sounds like Appalachian music and stories recovered from flood-damaged tapes … sounds like Bernard Herrmann’s early performances for CBS radio, now digitized and preserved for researchers.
In 2025, we have renewed and redoubled our efforts to make impactful grants that support audio preservation. For example, we supported the rejuvenation of the Sound Collections Database, the preservation of tapes in the Howard Thurman collection, and some of the earliest known scientific underwater recordings!
NRPF has been giving grants to support audio preservation since 2016! Those I mentioned above are just some of the sound collections that NRPF has supported in its first decade of grant giving. The outcomes of NRPF’s first decade provides a solid foundation from which we can renew. As we build on that foundation, I’m excited about what we can accomplish in 2026, the beginning of NRPF’s next decade!
As readers of our NRPF blog, therefore, I’m asking you to consider a 2025 year-end gift to the National Recording Preservation Foundation. Giving is easy, just click here or on the button below!
Thank you for amplifying our mission!
Sincerely,
Jesse A. Johnston, Ph.D. Executive Director
P.S. Donations are tax-deductible and those made before December 31 help us to start the next track loud and clear in 2026.
