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Grateful Dead Donates Archives To UC Santa Cruz
 The Grateful Dead |
The Grateful Dead announced today that the band will donate its archives to the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Band members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart made the announcement this morning at
a press conference held in the poster room of San Francisco's historic
Fillmore auditorium.
Documenting the history of the band from 1965 to the present, The Grateful
Dead Archive will reside in the University Library's Special Collections at
UC Santa Cruz. The focal point of the collection will be a dedicated room
named "Dead Central," where both academic researchers and the general
public will have access to the archive.
"The Grateful Dead Archive represents one of the most significant popular
cultural collections of the 20th century; UC Santa Cruz is honored to
receive this invaluable gift," noted UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George
Blumenthal. "The Grateful Dead and UC Santa Cruz are both highly innovative
institutions - born the same year - that continue to make a major,
positive impact on the world."
The Archive includes business records and correspondence, photographs, and
show files with tickets and backstage passes - as well as promotional
items such as flyers, posters, shirts, press clips and awards. Framed
photos by renowned photographers and unreleased videos of interviews and TV
appearances will be available for viewing. Large stage backdrops,
stained-glass pieces, and props from live performances are also featured.
An extensive collection of Deadhead fan mail and gifts is an important part
of the collection.
"We are excited that The Grateful Dead Archive will now have a home at UC
Santa Cruz," said Christine Bunting, the head of Special Collections at the
University Library. "It will provide extraordinary opportunities for
researchers and the public to examine the music of one of the most
influential bands in history, as well as explore the cultural phenomenon of
Deadheads - the most dedicated and celebrated fans in music. The study of
popular culture has become an important focus in the academic disciplines
of the arts, humanities and social sciences."
Bunting added that as it works to preserve and prepare the archive for
public use, UC Santa Cruz will be forming creative partnerships with Rhino
Entertainment (distributor of the band's music and home of the Grateful
Dead web site, dead.net), as well as the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and key
high tech companies in the Silicon Valley.
Two foundations established by members of the Grateful Dead previously
contributed to UC Santa Cruz in 2004. The Rex Foundation, founded by the
Grateful Dead and friends, and the Unbroken Chain Foundation, established
by Phil and Jill Lesh, each donated $10,000 to support the campus's archive
of maverick composer Lou Harrison. UC Santa Cruz music professor Fred
Lieberman helped to facilitate those gifts; Lieberman is co-author of two
books with bandmember Mickey Hart - "Planet Drum" and "Drumming at the Edge
of Magic."
Bunting noted that due to the monumental size and scope of the archive, a
fundraising campaign is now being launched to support it and to endow a
permanent Grateful Dead archivist position. She said that she anticipates
the archive will be of great interest to thousands of people around the
world.
"We looked around, and UC Santa Cruz seems the best possible home," Weir
noted. "If you ever wrote the Grateful Dead a letter, you'll probably find
it there!"
Grateful Dead Press Conference :: April 24 at 11:00 a.m.
The Grateful Dead to announce special partnership with UC Santa Cruz at press conference set to take place at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium on Thursday April, 24 at 11:00 a.m.
Who:
Grateful Dead bandmembers:
-Bob Weir
-Mickey Hart
-UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal
-Plus assorted guests
Where: Fillmore Auditorium (Poster Room)
(1805 Geary Boulevard, SF--Parking available in the Kabuki Cinema lot at the intersection of Geary and Fillmore)
Can't attend? Watch the press conference streamed live at Dead.net courtesy of iclips.net.
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