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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Fr 771

Music and poetry relating to the May 1968 Paris protests : sound recordings

Overview

Six phonograph records containing protest music and poetry related to the 1968 May Paris protests.

Dates

  • Creation: 1968

Creator

Condition Description

Quality of sound recordings has not been verified by archival staff at this time. Gloves required for handling.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research

Patrons may consult the originals via appointment with curatorial staff. Requests for playback of originals are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Due to the fragility of the media, digital copies of originals will be provided when possible.

Extent

.3 linear feet ((1 box) )

Six 45 rpm phonograph records produced in France around the time of the May 1968 Paris protests. The records contain protest music and poetry created by various artists and organizations including Mexican singer Judith Reyes, French singer Dominique Grange, French protest band Les Barricadiers, and the "Cultural Agitation Committee." One record is accompanied by a typescript paper explaining its purpose. Five out of the six records were produced as part of the "Collection Expression Spontanee."

Biographical / Historical

The May 1968 Paris protests were a series of demonstrations, general strikes, and the occupation of universities and factories which lasted for seven weeks. It was the largest general strike ever attempted in France, and the first nationwide wildcat general strike. The protests are sometimes linked to similar movements around the same time worldwide that inspired a generation of protest art in the form of songs, imaginative graffiti, posters, and slogans.

Arrangement

Arranged as received.

Custodial History

Ownership prior to this acquisition is unknown.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2023M-131. Purchased with 2016M-88 and 2018M-103 with the Bayard Livingston and Kate Gray Kilgour Fund, the Stanley Marcus Endowment for Rare Books, the Parkman D. Howe Fund, the Thomas W. Streeter Fund, and the Gore Vidal Endowment Fund for Arts and Letters, 2018 February 28 and 2018 March 16.

Related Materials

For related material, see the May 1968 Paris poster collection (call number FB9.A100.968p2) and the Julio Mario Santo Domingo May 1968 Paris protest collection (call number FB9.A100.968p).

Processing Information

This collection was processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation. (Aurora Charlow, 2023)

Title
Music and poetry relating to the May 1968 Paris protests : sound recordings, 1968 (MS Fr 771): Guide
Status
completed
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard University
Date
2023 July 5
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
hou03579

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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