Thomas Alva Edison

The curators and staff at the Edison National Historic Site have undertaken the task of transferring all of the 10,700 cyinders in the Edison collection into digital format.

These recordings range back to the invention and development of the phonograph and are some of the earliest examples of recorded sound in existence.

The recordings range from music to spoken words covering genres popular in the United States during Edison's era.

You will need to have some sort of media player installed on your computer in order to listen to the recordings.  The recordings are in MP3 format so will play on virtually any type of player easily available for free download here

Here are some selected recordings by category.  Enjoy listening to history!

Brass Band Marches
Classical Instrumental
Comedy Sketches
Country & Anglo-American Folk Songs
Documentary Recordings & Political Speeches
Educational Lessons
Experimental Recordings
Jazz, Blues & Dance Bands
Motion Picture Soundtracks & Actor Auditions
Music of Foreign Countries
Negro Spirituals
Opera, Vocal & Choral
Poetry, Short Stories, Readings
Popular Instrumental, Ragtime
Popular Songs, Tin Pan Alley
Very Early Recorded Sound

All recordings are provided through the National Park Service's website and are considered public domain information.

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