Scope and Content Note
Jim Walsh devoted his life to collecting, researching, and writing about early popular recordings and recording artists. These papers make up part of the much larger Jim Walsh Collection of early recordings, audio equipment, and related items donated by Walsh to the Library of Congress between 1965 and 1987. The complete collection consists of approximately 40,000 discs, 500 cylinders, and 23 early phonographs. Recordings in the collection are primarily of popular and vernacular music recorded during the acoustical era (pre-1926). It includes a nearly complete run of 5,000 to 6,000 Edison "Diamond Disc" recordings as well as many early Edison cylinders.
The paper portion of the collection consists of documents and other paper records that relate to Walsh's career and collecting efforts. Included are letters with prominent artists and collectors, research notes, photographs of performers, scripts for Walsh’s radio shows, drafts of his columns and articles, clippings, bound journals, advertisements, and ephemera. The papers also hold a wealth of biographical information about Jim Walsh, including a diary, scrapbooks, photographs, and writings.