Friday, July 22, 2011

Three years later. . .

Presumably readers are aware the David Sarnoff Library closed its doors at Sarnoff Corporation in Princeton at the end of 2009.  Naturally we were all unhappy with that decision, but thanks to the board of directors, volunteers, and project staff, we managed to find new and productive homes for the archival and artifact collections.  The Hagley Library in Wilmington, Delaware, is presently engaged in archivally digesting 2,200 cubic feet of RCA lab notebooks, reports, photos, and other largely paper-based collections.  The Camden County Historical Society received several late-1940s RCA Victor "home instruments" made in Camden.  InfoAge's Marconi Hotel in Wall Township, NJ, received the RCA Broadcast Equipment manuals collection and a painting of David Sarnoff, which was appropriate since Sarnoff visited several times.  And last but hardly least, The College of New Jersey received the museum collection for resurrection as a teaching museum.  Given the state's budget crisis, it may be awhile before visitors can once again appreciate the remarkable stories and themes comprised in Sarnoff's life and RCA's arc.  But we wish Dean John Laughton and new curator Emily Croll well in rising to this exciting and worthy challenge.