By Cynthia R. Bruce
As NCRA wraps up its 125th anniversary celebration, it seems fitting to reflect on the value of history and the hidden treasures we often overlook. Have you ever struggled to part with something that’s been around for decades — perhaps even 70 or 80 years? Since joining NCRA in 2014, I’ve experienced two office relocations. The most recent one, in February 2023, took us into a much smaller space than our previous two offices. This move was different from the others because it forced us to take a deep dive into the archives and make some difficult decisions about what to keep, donate, or discard.
Until then, I hadn’t fully appreciated the rich history stored in our library. I had only casually noticed the old machines, the magazines when I needed to research something, and the photographs lining the walls. But as we sifted through decades worth of materials, I began to understand the significance of these artifacts — not just as relics of the past, but as living connections to NCRA’s history and the legacy we continue to shape. In the process of letting go, I rediscovered the significance of one particular relic — something truly worth preserving and sharing.
If you know me, you know I have a hard time letting go of relics, especially family memories. Laura Butler, CAP, OM, our Director of Governance, quickly learned this during our last move. While organizing our new, much smaller library, she brought me a few dusty boxes of LPs and asked, “Do you have any use for these?” I didn’t have a specific reason to keep them at the time, but I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out either. So I said, “I’ll take them,” and followed her to the library to get the rest.
I hadn’t realized just how many LPs were in the collection until I saw the stack on the floor and table. I brought the records back to my office and they remained in my cabinet until earlier this year when curiosity finally got the best of me, and I decided to explore what we had.
To my surprise, I discovered nearly 70 LPs, each holding a treasure trove of more than 400 dictations in various speeds and topics, including material written in Gregg shorthand. I began thinking about how amazing it would be to share this resource with our members, especially the younger generation who may never have heard what practice dictation used to sound like.
Listen to two samples:
150 Testimony
200 Testimony
I’m sure many of our seasoned members have fond memories of using these LPs to perfect their skills, and some might even have a few tucked away in their homes.
It took us several months to carefully extract the dictation from the LPs, convert it into a digital format, and upload it into the NCRA Learning Center. Now, this invaluable resource is available to all our members (and nonmembers), serving not only as a tribute to the history of our profession but also as a practical tool for future generations of court reporters and captioners to practice with.
As we celebrate 125 years of NCRA’s legacy, moments like this remind us of the importance of preserving our past, even as we move forward. What began as a simple effort to clear out space became an opportunity to reconnect with our roots by giving members access to practice material that is more than 70 years old.
The value of history isn’t just in what we hold on to — it’s in how we share it. And now, over the coming months, members will have the chance to purchase and download this timeless dictation material from the NCRA Learning Center. Members can purchase each audio for $5 or 3 for $10; student members will pay $4 each or 3 for $10; and nonmembers pay $8 each or 3 for $20.
Cynthia R. Bruce, M.S. Ed, is NCRA’s Senior Director of Education and Certification. She can be reached at cbruce@ncra.org.
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