Overview
- Description
- On May 18, 1940 Luise Rainer spoke with William Carmichael, of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, on the NBC radio broadcast about her experience as an American. The leading lady reveals why she, and many other immigrants, choose to exchange one homeland for another. Carmichael informs his guest President Roosevelt declared the third Sunday in May “I Am An American Day”. Rainer recites The Oath of Allegiance and explains her realization of the vow. Luise Rainer says, “Perhaps it takes a new American coming from a land of not so much liberty to understand what the National Anthem means”. She concludes the interview by singing the last verse of “America”.
Luise Rainer was born on January 12, 1910 in Dusseldorf, Germany to an affluent Jewish family. She was discovered by legendary theater director Max Reinhardt and flourished under his mentorship. The young actress appeared on several stages and movies in Berlin, Vienna, and Germany in the 1930s. Rainer’s career was cut short when Adolf Hitler enacted the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. Nevertheless, the starlet was offered a seven year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and immigrated to the United States. Luise Rainer’s disdain for Hitler’s Germany earned her the moniker the “Viennese teardrop”. She went on to be the first thespian to win two Academy Awards for Best Actress consecutively in 1936 and 1937. The following year Luise Rainer became an American citizen. - Date
-
Broadcast:
1940 May 18
- Format
- WAV
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Genre/Form
- Radio broadcasts.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
- Copyright
- NBC Universal
- Conditions on Use
- Contact NBC Universal at www.nbcuniarchives.com for permission to duplicate and use this film or sound recording.
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- In process
- Recorded Sound Provenance
- The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased digital copies of these sound recordings from the Library of Congress in March 2018.
- Recorded Sound Notes
- More information about Luise Rainer:
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/arts/luise-rainer-award-winning-actress-dies-at-104.html
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0707023/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-luise-rainer-20141230-story.html
More information about I’M AN AMERICAN:
https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/historians-mailbox/im-american
https://www.npr.org/2017/10/16/557338355/im-an-american-radio-show-promoted-inclusion-before-world-war-ii - Recorded Sound Source
- Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:30:12
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn615678
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Also in "I'm An American" NBC radio broadcasts
I’M AN AMERICAN premiered in 1940 on the eve of WWII. The NBC radio broadcast was spearheaded by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Labor to foster a “deeper consciousness of the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship and more tolerance for fellow american of all birthplaces”. The weekly program featured distinguished foreign-born citizens discussing their naturalization process, the meaning of “democracy” and reminding all Americans of the value/privilege of U.S. citizenship. Sound recordings of I’M AN AMERICAN are available from the NBC Radio Collection in the Library of Congress.
Date: 1940-1944
I'm An American -- Anton Lang
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I'm An American -- Guy Lombardo
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I'm An American -- Ludwig Bemelmans
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I'm An American -- Hans Kindler
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I'm An American -- Charles Pergler
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I'm An American -- Gaetono Salvemini
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I'm An American -- Paul Muni
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I'm An American -- Béla Schick
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I'm An American -- Leopold Stokowski
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I'm An American -- Attilio Piccirilli
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I'm An American -- Igor Sikorsky
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I'm An American -- Louis Adamic
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I'm An American -- Konrad Bercovici
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I'm An American -- Emil Ludwig
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I'm An American -- Walter Damrosch
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I'm An American -- Guiseppe Bellanca
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I'm An American -- Thomas Mann
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I'm An American Day 1942 part 2
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I'm An American Day 1942 part 3
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I'm An American Day 1942 part 4
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I'm An American Day 1943 part 1
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I'm An American Day 1943 part 2
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I'm An American Day 1943 part 3
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I'm An American Day -- Christmas in Freedom
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I'm An American -- Walter Huston
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I'm An American -- Robert Zuppke
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I'm An American -- Efrem Zimbalist
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I'm An American -- Daniel Tobin
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I'm An American -- Edith Kempthorne
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I'm An American -- Pitirim Sorokin
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I'm An American Day 1942 part 1
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I'm An American -- Vilhjálmur Stefánsson
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I'm An American -- César Saerchinger
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I'm An American -- Ferdinand Schumann-Heink
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I'm An American -- Frank Kingdon
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I'm An American -- Richard Waring
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I'm An American -- William Schlamm
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I'm An American -- Max Lerner
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I'm An American -- Fortune Gallo
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I'm An American -- Fred Perry
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I'm An American -- Raymond Loewy
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I'm An American Day 1941 -- The Dangerous Days
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I'm An American Day 1941 -- I'm An American Day
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I'm An American Day 1941 -- Fiorello LaGuardia
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I'm An American Day 1941 -- One Nation Indivisible
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I'm An American -- Henry Morgenthau Sr
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I'm An American -- Kurt Weill
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I'm An American -- Franz Werfel
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I'm An American -- Frank Capra
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I'm An American -- Xavier Cugat
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I'm An American -- Anton Carlson
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I'm An American -- Johannes Steele
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I'm An American -- Yolanda Mero-Irion
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I'm An American -- Jean Hersholt
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I'm An American -- Rabbi Stephen Wise
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I'm An American -- Gregory Zilboorg
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