From 1979 to 2012, Marion Stokes, a Philadelphia librarian and civil rights activist, recorded every single news broadcast and commercial she could access — every day, without fail. Her lifelong mission began during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, when she realized the power of preserving television history.
For 35 years, Marion ran up to eight VCRs simultaneously, capturing CNN, Fox, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and local news around the clock. She and her husband swapped tapes every six hours, renting nine separate apartments just to store the ever-growing collection. Remarkably, she financed this massive undertaking with early profits from an Apple investment.
Television networks routinely erased and recycled tapes to save money, but Marion understood the stakes: whoever controls the archive controls the narrative. Her dedication ensured that decades of news history would survive intact.
Her final recording coincided with her death on December 14, 2012, the day of the Sandy Hook shooting. Her son later donated the entire archive to the Internet Archive, requiring four shipping containers to transport the collection.
As of 2026, the digitization of Marion’s tapes continues, preserving a unique, unbroken record of modern history — a testament to her extraordinary foresight and commitment to truth.
Marion Stokes’ archive now serves as a vital resource for researchers, historians, and anyone seeking to understand how media shapes our world.
