External Site: Harry Ransom Center Multimedia Page[info]
The Harry Ransom Center is a library, archive and museum based at the University of Austin, Texas. Its mission is to advance the study of the arts and humanities by acquiring, preserving, and making accessible original cultural materials. Amongst its holdings are over 36 million literary manuscripts as well as a smaller collection of film and television materials. The centre’s multimedia page features an eclectic selection of videos, including talks by writers, features on aspects of conservation, and films about selected artefacts and objects held in the Center’s archives.
Also available is the Mike Wallace Interview collection. Wallace was an American journalist noted for his direct interviewing style, whose programme ran from 1957 to 1960. He donated the show’s footage, on 16mm kinetoscope, to the Ransom Center in the 1960s. A wide range of notable personalities submitted themselves to Wallace’s probing, hard-hitting approach, including Henry Kissinger, Frank Lloyd Wright, Diana Barrymore, Jean Seberg, Gloria Swanson, Aldous Huxley and Margaret Sanger. The 65 interviews are freely available to view (five are audio only) and come with full transcripts.