Researchers at the UCLA Department of Communications recently discovered an audio recording of a speech given at the school by Martin Luther King, Jr., about six weeks after the historic march in Selma, AL, that's dramatized in the current movie Selma.
The press release describes how a student found three audio copies of the speech and began to try to digitize them, but could not until an audiophile donated an old top-of-the-line reel-to-reel tape player to replace the one the student was using.
King had a fairly standard speech delivered at similar gatherings, so speeches similar to this one already existed in audio and video formats. But as with all great speakers, every delivery of even the most familiar words carries its own special weight and meaning, which you can hear if you listen to the speech included at the YouTube link at the bottom of the story.
Fittingly, the restoration was finished in time for the speech to go live online today, on the holiday that our nation has set aside to honor Rev. King for his work.
No comments:
Post a Comment