Kemp audio/visual archives at Library of Congress, Culpeper, VA

I didn't learn until recently that the Jack Kemp Collection at the Library of Congress is only partially housed in the Madison building in downtown DC.  The audio/visual components are housed at the Library's "National Audio-Visual Conservation Center" (NAVCC) about an hour and a half away, in Culpeper, Virginia.

The facility began in 1969 as a high-security storage facility for the Federal Reserve.  It was essentially a bunker made of concrete one foot thick, with lead-lined shutters that could shield the windows in event of a nuclear attack.  It stored several billion dollars worth of U.S. currency, which could be used to restore the U.S. economy east of the Mississippi in a nuclear emergency.  (No mention of the economy west of the Mississippi.  Hmmm....)  It also contained the seven computers that made up the hub for all electric funds transfers at that time.

In 1988, all the money was removed.  And in 1997, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation bought the facility on behalf of the Library of Congress.  A state-of-the-art 415,000 square foot facility was built on top of the bunkers, and, thus, in 2007, NAVCC was born.

Since I had tagged along on one of Rob's business trips, and since part of that trip involved the NAVCC facility, we were given a tour of the Kemp archive material stored there.  [You can click on any image to enlarge it.  It will take you to another pop-up window, which you can close by clicking on the X in the upper right of that window.]

Above is just part of the many many miles of underground storage.  The boxes on the left are from the "Prelinger Collection," over 60,000 "ephemeral" films (advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur films) donated to the Library of Congress.

Below are the photos of the Kemp collection.  They're stored in their original file boxes on ordinary metal shelves.

(On the left is Rob's partner, Dan Rosen,
who was mentioned in a previous post on Thomasville.)

Dan Rosen and our NAVCC guide, Rob

Kemp archives

Jimmy going through Kemp boxes

Rob and Jimmy looking through Kemp boxes

Jimmy found this video cassette with a "T. P. Kemp" label.
No idea what it is.... 

The PBS archives nearby.  Jimmy wants to see if  they contain
the interviews on Firing Line with Buckley and Jack.

Right now, funds are not available for Jack's audio/visual material to be curated and preserved. But it was a privilege to be able to see them in their new home, and know that they'll eventually be made available to all who would like to view them.  The facility stores over six million items, ranging from original Edison wax cylinder recordings to silent movies to NBC radio broadcast discs from 1935 to 1970.  The Kemp collection is in interesting company indeed.