Overview
- Description
- On September 28, 1941 Edith Kempthorne spoke with Joseph Savoretti, Deputy Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, about why she's proud to call America home. Edith talks about her large family and growing up in New Zealand. She credits her family for fostering her love of the great outdoors. She shares the history of the CampFire Girls and how she became involved with the organization. Ms. Kempthorne confesses she was scared to become a citizen. The National Field Secretary reveals she brought two campfire girls to the studio with her, 10-year-old refugee Ruth Sandman and 16-year-old Czech-Viennese refugee Maddie Pospisil. The girls talk about their experience in America, why they love the CampFire Girls and how the organization has taught them American citizenship. The program ends with Kempthorne stating the spirit of cooperation leads to a happy, healthy and productive life.
Edith Kempthorne was born the oldest of 16 children in New Zealand. To save money, her large family often spent time outdoors and took camping trips. In 1912, Edith traveled to Alaska to visit a friend. There she heard about the CampFire Girls and attended Camp Sebago-Wohelo in Maine, where the organization started. In accordance with the CampFire Girl slogan “Give Service”, Edith became a camp counselor, started new groups and encouraged other children to join. She went on to become the National Field Secretary of the Camp Fire Girls. Edith represented the organization for 36 years before returning to her homeland of New Zealand. - Date
-
Broadcast:
1941 September 28
- 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 Edith Kempthorne:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19730608.2.82
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?uidh=000&rank=1&new=1&so=3&msT=1&gsln=Kempthorne&gss=angs-d&MSAV=1&cp=0&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&db=MediaStoryPublic&sbo=t&gsbco=Sweden&gl=&gst=&hc=&noredir=true
http://www.acacamp.org/anniversary/collection/campingmagazine/Alaska-forgotten-pioneer.pdf
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 6672
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 07:27:12
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn621023
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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 -- Luise Rainer
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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 -- 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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