Thanks to a $2.7 million grant from Robert F. Smith’s Fund II Foundation, The Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens, NY is digitizing thousands of valuable artifacts of the late jazz legend, including photographs, letters, audio, newspaper clippings, video, personal papers, sheet music and scrapbooks. Soon, these newly resurfaced artifacts will be available online through the The Louis Armstrong House Museum’s Research Collections. Deluxe Media Recall made the move to digitize the collection to make Armstrong’s living legacy readily available to fans worldwide.
The collection will include a scrapbook compilation of Armstrong’s early days in New York, hundreds of hours of never-before-heard concert recordings, spoken word tapes, video concert footage and photographs of the trumpeter in his Queens home.
The House Museum, named a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark, “sustains and promotes the cultural, historical, and humanitarian legacy of Louis Armstrong by preserving and interpreting Armstrong’s house and grounds, collecting and sharing archival materials that document Armstrong’s life and legacy, and presenting public programs such as exhibits, concerts, lectures, and film screenings.” This year, the museum will host the Annual Louis Armstrong House Museum Gala on November 28 at Capitale in Manhattan. The event will include a seated dinner, silent auction, cocktails, and the presentation of the Louie Award to recipients Herb Alpert, Saul Kupferberg and Gail Coleman. The House Museum is also building a new facility schedule to open next year, housing an exhibition gallery, jazz club, museum store, and the Louis Armstrong Archives.
