Ian has gifted the College hundreds of boxes of materials that highlight her family, her life, and her career.
It's been a walk down memory lane.
“There are a lot of things that I had forgotten. A challenge coin from a woman who was the first naval commander. Pictures of myself with people who are long gone, like Richie Havens, who we were dear, dear friends, or Odetta. Album covers of albums, I made a lot of albums. Back in the day, when you actually needed to be with a record company and have funding. Song lyrics, where there's a couple of exhibits that show the progress of a song. One of the great things about the archives is you can actually see in my song notebooks, the progress of a song like Nina about Nina Simone that took 13 years to write because I didn't want to get it wrong.”
As Ian gave me insights into her early years as an artist, two Grammys shimmered on the table next to us. Yes, she was proud to be recognized for her work, but said it's not just about the bling or the albums.
“It's about leaving all of my paperwork, which means my first contract when I was 13, right up to the day I die. My financials from the time I started working and earning a living, right up to the day I die. All of those things becoming completely accessible even now the earlier years are accessible to students. University of Kentucky law students reviewed the contracts. Local law students have reviewed correspondence about ‘Mean Girls’ and its inappropriate use of my name. Things like that that I think in the future will bring some insight into not just the music industry, but the entertainment industry as a whole. Women in the entertainment industry, because if you compare my contracts to say, Billie’s or Billy Joel's or Bruce Springsteen's, even though we're selling the same amounts of records, contracts are very different. Things like that, to me, are the real legacy. The rest of the stuff is stuff. That's the important thing that I have been witness to. Really, 60 years at this point of the entertainment industry.”
Along with the archives of Ian's decades-long musical career, the collection includes her grandparents' immigration papers from 1916, her parents' FBI files showing the cost of the agency's surveillance to her family, and her advocacy through the civil rights, women's and LGBTQ movements.
“I was brought up to do good, to do good in the world, basically. What I used to say at the end of my concerts was OK, thank you very much. Go out and do good. So, part of the archives for me is the emphasis on service.”
Ian said she chose Berea College because "Most schools build million-dollar stadiums. Berea builds million-dollar students.”
A four-day celebration from Thursday through Sunday, officially opening the Janis Ian Archives will include guided tours, a screening of the yet-to-be-released documentary about Ian's life, master classes, a performance of Mama's Boy, a play written by Ian's mother, and a tribute concert.
Before we close, I asked Ian what she hopes people take away from this collection and what she hopes her legacy will be.
“It's all about the work. That's all that matters at the end of the day. I mean, your family matters. I adore my wife. I love my family, but at the end of the day, we all get born alone and die alone, as they say. And while I'm on this side of the dirt, all of that matters, but once I'm on the other side, what matters is where I've left behind and this is my legacy.”
For more information on Janis Ian “Breaking Silence” A weekend celebration and event from October 17th through the 20th click here https://www.berea.edu/janisian
