LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SEEKS SERMONS AND ORATIONS
RELATING TO 2009 PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION

Over many decades, the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of
Congress has documented everyday citizens’ reactions to major historic
events in our collective American experience.  For instance,
man-on-the-street interviews were recorded on the day after the attack on
Pearl Harbor in 1941; Italian Americans were documented to celebrate the
Columbus quincentenary in 1992; interviews were conducted with Americans
across the nation in the weeks following the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001;
and the Veterans History Project is preserving the personal experience
stories of Americans who served the nation in wartime.  These voices of
ordinary Americans responding to extraordinary events exist as valuable
research collections for the scholars of today and they are a cultural
legacy preserved for future generations.

On Jan. 20, 2009, the United States will inaugurate Barack Obama, the
country’s first African-American president. In anticipation of citizens’
efforts to mark this historic time around the country, the AFC will be
collecting audio and video recordings of sermons and orations that comment
on the significance of the inauguration of 2009. It is expected that such
sermons and orations will be delivered at churches, synagogues, mosques
and other places of worship, as well as before humanist congregations and
other secular gatherings. The AFC is seeking as wide a representation of
orations as possible.  This collection is one of many oral history and
spoken word collections at the AFC that preserve American emotions and
memories of important cultural events.

Congregations and groups interested in contributing to this
once-in-a-lifetime documentary project are asked to record sermons and
orations delivered during Inauguration Week 2009 and donate them to the
Library of Congress. The donated recordings will be preserved at the AFC
in order to enhance the nation’s historical record and preserve the voices
of religious leaders other orators for researchers and scholars of the
future. After being processed by archivists, the collection will be made
available to scholars, students and the general public.

Individuals and groups interested in contributing to the Inauguration 2009
Sermons and Orations Project are asked to submit audio and video
recordings made in digital or other approved formats. To be accepted into
the collection, the recordings must be of sermons and orations that were
delivered to congregations and other audiences between Friday, Jan. 16 and
Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009.
 
In addition to audio and video recordings, the AFC is collecting written
texts of sermons and orations (submitted in the form of print or
electronic media), as well as printed programs from the events during
which the sermons and orations were delivered. All submissions must be
postmarked by Feb. 27, 2009, and must be accompanied by a signed release
form and completed data form, found on the AFC Web site,
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/inaugural/.

For additional information about the Inauguration 2009 Sermons and
Orations Project, including the technical specifications of the recordings
that can be accepted, downloadable copies of the required forms, and
instructions for submitting collections, please visit
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/inaugural/, or call the center at (202) 707-5510 between 8:30
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday - Friday, Eastern Standard Time.

The Library of Congress, the nation's oldest federal cultural institution,
is the world's preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled
collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people.
Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed
through the Library’s Web site www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions
on a new, personalized Web site at myLOC.gov.

The American Folklife Center was created by Congress in 1976 and placed at
the Library of Congress to “preserve and present American Folklife”
through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation,
reference service, live performance, exhibition, public programs and
training.