Abstract

Sean Street tells the story of Marie Slocombe and the BBC Sound Archive. One of the most important collections in the world, the archive began almost by accident one day in the 1930s when Marie, a temporary secretary, was told to clear out some old records. The first batch included recordings by G B Shaw, G K Chesterton and Winston Churchill. Slocombe held on to them and spent the rest of her career developing the collection, from the great and the good to the experiences of ordinary people