Press/Journalists

Press Release nr97-50
Press Release · Monday, March 10, 1997

Washington, DC

Press Release
March 10, 1997
Eisenhower Library to Release First Dictabelt Recordings

The National Archives and Records Administration announced today that the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas, will make available on Friday, March 14, 1997, the first of ten dictabelt recordings of conversations between President Eisenhower and others in the Oval Office. The dictabelts, which will be transferred to cassettes, were recorded on January 4, 7 and 19, February 24 and March 5, 1955. The first cassette will be available at 9 A.M. (CST) from the Eisenhower Library and at 10 A.M. (EST) from the National Archives Public Affairs staff in the National Archives Building, Washington, DC. The Eisenhower Library is located at 200 SE 4th, Abilene, Kansas. The National Archives Public Affairs staff is located in Room G-5, Pennsylvania Avenue, between 7th and 9th Streets, NW. Each cassette, which is accompanied by a detailed log, will cost $12.25. Checks should be made payable to the Eisenhower Library.

The first dictabelt recording, lasting approximately 25 minutes, is a conversation between President Dwight Eisenhower and Senator Walter George (D-GA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on January 7, 1955. The focus of the conversation is Senator George's cooperation with the Administration on the Bricker Amendment issue. The Bricker Amendment, introduced by Senator John Bricker (R-OH), would have subjected all international agreements to approval by Congress. President Eisenhower's secretary, Ann Whitman, summarized the conversation between the Senator and the President. This summary was opened to researchers in 1976.

The release of the dictabelt recording is in response to a researcher's request. This was the first request the Library has received to listen to the dictablets.

The Dictaphone Corporation volunteered its services to recover the conversations from the dictabelts, that are old and were recorded on machines that are now obsolete. The remaining recordings of the dictabelts will be available as quickly as archivists can review the materials and prepare narrative information.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail at public.affairs@nara.gov. Visit the National Archives Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.archives.gov/.

97-50

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