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Dwayne Tomah, the youngest fluent Passamaquoddy speaker, sings a Passamaquoddy song outside of his home in Perry, Maine. Tomah is translating and interpreting songs and stories from wax cylinders recorded nearly 130 years ago. Robbie Feinberg/Maine Public hide caption

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Robbie Feinberg/Maine Public

Historic Recordings Revitalize Language For Passamaquoddy Tribal Members

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The upstairs porch of Anne Blessing's home in Charleston, S.C., has been a stop on a popular historic home tour. For the first time, visitors will tour the kitchen where enslaved people once spent most of their lives toiling over hot fires. Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption

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Sarah McCammon/NPR

Looking 'Beyond The Big House' And Into The Lives Of Slaves

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XFR Collective member Carmel Curtis works on a VHS cartridge during an event at the Baltimore Museum of Art in March. Lorena Ramirez-Lopez/XFR Collective hide caption

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Lorena Ramirez-Lopez/XFR Collective

Videotapes Are Becoming Unwatchable As Archivists Work To Save Them

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Pat McCawley (left) and Eric Emerson look at a drawing of an asylum built in Columbia, S.C., in the 1820s. Cooper McKim/South Carolina Public Radio hide caption

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Cooper McKim/South Carolina Public Radio

Being Destroyed By Laminate

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The Shanghai Rowing Club (middle) was rescued after preservationists fought a proposed demolition. In the background to the left is the futuristic skyline of Shanghai's financial district, Lujiazui. Frank Langfitt/NPR hide caption

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Frank Langfitt/NPR

After Decades, A Shanghai Preservationist Heads Home To America

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Qiao Guohua patrols a 5-mile stretch of the Great Wall of China. Roughly a third of the wall's 12,000 miles have crumbled to dust, and saving what's left may be the world's greatest challenge in cultural preservation. Anthony Kuhn/NPR hide caption

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Anthony Kuhn/NPR

China's Great Wall Is Crumbling In Many Places; Can It Be Saved?

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Neonta Williams (left) shares family letters dating back to 1901 with preservationist Kimberly Peach during the Smithsonian's Save our African American Treasures program at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Peach advises her to use archive-quality polyester sleeves to protect the fragile papers, rather than store them in a zip-lock bag. Debbie Elliott/NPR hide caption

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Debbie Elliott/NPR

Preserving Black History, Americans Care For National Treasures At Home

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Many institutions have their archives stored on CDs — but the discs aren't as stable as once thought. There is no average life span for a CD, says preservationist Michele Youket, "because there is no average disc." Sarah Tilotta/NPR hide caption

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Sarah Tilotta/NPR

How Long Do CDs Last? It Depends, But Definitely Not Forever

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Geneva Post Office in Geneva, Ill., with no clear disposition review process in place, hundreds of these historic civic buildings may be endangered by U.S. Postal Service cost cutting, including this one. Matthew Gilson/National Trust for Historic Preservation hide caption

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Matthew Gilson/National Trust for Historic Preservation