Overview
- Description
- On May 11, 1941 Raymond Loewy spoke with William H. Marshall, Assistant District Director of Immigration at Ellis Island, about why he’s proud to be an American. Loewy shares his immigration story with Mr. Marshall. He explains why it took him 17 years to decide to become naturalized citizen. Loewy praises America for having great industry and plans; but condemns the country for only utilizing half of what it needs naturally and for humanity. He goes on to explain how he catapulted the industrial design profession and his predictions for the industry’s future.
Raymond Loewy was born on November 5, 1893 in Paris, France to a Jewish father and French mother. When he was 15, Loewy distinguished himself as a talented designer when he won the Gordon Bennett Cup for model airplanes in 1908. Loewy served in the French Army during WWI. He moved to New York after the war in 1919. He revolutionized the industry, working as a consultant for more than 200 companies and creating product designs for everything from cigarette packs and refrigerators, to cars and spacecrafts. Loewy transformed products by “streamlining”, a technique that Loewy is credited with coining. Calling the concept “beauty through function and simplification,” Loewy spent over 50 years streamlining. His most famous creations include the Lucky Strike cigarette package, the slenderized Coca-Cola bottle, the Greyhound bus and logo, the Shell International logo, the Exxon logo and the U.S. Postal Service emblem. - Date
-
Broadcast:
1941 May 11
- 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.
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 Raymond Loewy:
https://www.theverge.com/2013/11/5/5068132/raymond-loewy-the-man-who-designed-everything
http://www.raymondloewy.org
https://www.raymondloewy.com
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)
- File Number
- Source Archive Number: RWB 6674
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:27:10
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn620835
Download & Licensing
- Request Copy
- See Rights and Restrictions
- Terms of Use
- This record is digitized but cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Requires Research Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
Contact Us
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
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Guy Lombardo
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Ludwig Bemelmans
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Hans Kindler
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Luise Rainer
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Charles Pergler
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Gaetono Salvemini
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Paul Muni
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Béla Schick
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Leopold Stokowski
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Attilio Piccirilli
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Igor Sikorsky
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Louis Adamic
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Konrad Bercovici
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Emil Ludwig
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Walter Damrosch
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Guiseppe Bellanca
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Thomas Mann
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1942 part 2
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1942 part 3
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1942 part 4
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1943 part 1
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1943 part 2
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1943 part 3
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day -- Christmas in Freedom
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Walter Huston
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Robert Zuppke
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Efrem Zimbalist
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Daniel Tobin
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Edith Kempthorne
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Pitirim Sorokin
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1942 part 1
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Vilhjálmur Stefánsson
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- César Saerchinger
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Ferdinand Schumann-Heink
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Frank Kingdon
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Richard Waring
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- William Schlamm
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Max Lerner
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Fortune Gallo
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Fred Perry
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1941 -- The Dangerous Days
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1941 -- I'm An American Day
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1941 -- Fiorello LaGuardia
Recorded Sound
I'm An American Day 1941 -- One Nation Indivisible
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Henry Morgenthau Sr
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Kurt Weill
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Franz Werfel
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Frank Capra
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Xavier Cugat
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Anton Carlson
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Johannes Steele
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Yolanda Mero-Irion
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Jean Hersholt
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Rabbi Stephen Wise
Recorded Sound
I'm An American -- Gregory Zilboorg
Recorded Sound