Tulsa Radio Station Works To Preserve Large, Rare Music Collection

A Tulsa radio station is working to preserve some of its oldest collections of music.

Radio IDL is responsible for one of the largest Blues and Black history sheet music collections in the nation. Now work is being done to archive and digitalize them.

Kerry Kudlacek, also known as the “professor of blues” was a collector for 63 years. He said it is his dream to turn the collection of over 20,000 items into a digital library. Some sheet music dates back to the early 1800’s.

Radio IDL CEO Eliz Hollis said they want people to have access to this music. But she said they can’t have people comb through the antique sheets, especially since they are originals.

“Thousands of thousands of 45’s, 78's, lots and lots of vinyl that has never been heard. 450 of the 1,200 wax cylinders that Thomas Edison produced and the Thomas Edison player to play them," Hollis said.

Hollis said it will cost an estimated $50,000 to get the music digitalized and archived. Radio IDL is hoping to raise this money by the end of the year.