Albertsons Library’s Special Collections and Archives holds collections of Idaho history in many forms, including music. These collections of history, as well as Cheryl Oestreicher’s own expertise, were leveraged during the filming of the most recent episode of Idaho Public Television’s show, Idaho Experience, titled “Idaho in Song.” The episode celebrates “the culture and history of the Gem State through the music of 10 distinct musicians.”
One of the segments featured Gary Eller, a hobbyist historian who collects and researches early Idaho music. A gem he discovered through his research was Ione Love Thielke, who had a radio show out of Cascade in the 1940s and 1950s. In 2014, Eller and Oestreicher received a grant from The GRAMMY Foundation to digitize the recordings, which are available online. One of the filming locations for this segment was Special Collections and Archives, and Oestreicher was interviewed about Eller and his projects.
Another segment highlighted the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, using recorded footage from the archives. Started in 1988, the festival features local and national musicians and has since influenced many Idaho musicians.
Robust collections of Idaho music
With a rich collection of music, memorabilia, records and more dating as far back as the 1930s, Special Collections and Archives remains dedicated to collecting past and current Idaho music of any genre. In 2024, prompted by humanities and cultural studies major Cora Lee Oxley’s student project, Special Collections and Archives established a partnership with the Record Exchange. The aim of this partnership is to collect and preserve local music and its history regardless of genre, era, or publication.
Another collection available through a partnership between the archives and the Idaho Folklife Collection is centered around Rosalie Sorrels, who has been dubbed “Idaho’s Matriarch of Folk Music.” The material of this collection includes concert posters, home and live recordings, photographs, recording and royalty contracts, poems, prose, sources of inspiration and more.
View publicly available collections about music, Idaho history, Boise State and more through the Special Collections and Archives website.