RCA Records

CTL-E-5784 · Institution · label · 1901–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07047 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-5784.

RCA Records is an American record label whose lineage begins with the Victor Talking Machine Company, incorporated in Camden, New Jersey, in 1901 by Eldridge R. Johnson with the patents of gramophone inventor Emile Berliner. Victor became one of the world's leading record companies before the Radio Corporation of America acquired it in 1929, after which it operated as RCA Victor. Black artists are present from the label's first years: Broadway performers Bert Williams and George Walker recorded for Victor in 1901, and in 1914 Victor recorded Black composer James Reese Europe directing the Castle House Orchestra, though Europe's name was left off the record's advertising. RCA Victor's East 24th Street studio in New York, operating from 1928 to 1969, hosted recordings by the Isley Brothers, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, Della Reese and Charles Mingus, among others. In 1960 Sam Cooke signed with RCA, where he recorded a run of hits; under his agreement he retained control of the copyrights to his music, and his posthumously released 'A Change Is Gonna Come' was later selected by the Library of Congress for preservation.

The record

• Also known as: RCA Victor, Victor Talking Machine Company, RCA Victor Records

Notes

STAGED 2026-10-16 (747 Program, Wave 7, Batch B) — not merged; packet-named gap carried from the Shorts Wave 2 further-gap list. Gate A: no match in the live graph (3,443 entities) at staging. Vital status: institution/label, active — not applicable. LINEAGE PRECISION (shown, not blended): the label's founding is carried as Victor (1901) acquired by RCA (1929); claims that 'RCA Records was founded in 1901' without that lineage are not made. The 1914 Europe sessions are attributed to Victor, the predecessor company, not retroactively to RCA. Peer Motown Records (CTL-E-1639): no relationship type in the schema matrix covers label-to-label peerage, so no edge is staged. Photo HELD. MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Teams, companies, labels and persons carry no map slot under the media-layer rule; maps attach to places and i) | visual_assets = HELD: 'His Master's Voice' / Nipper artwork or RCA Victor Camden building photograph (candidates only) | chart = FILLED (Built only from this record's own sourced facts.) | video = HELD (No entry in the Shorts Link Map catalog (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 rows, searched 2026-10-16) bills) | audio = HELD (No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio exists at staging.)

Referenced by

• Avery Wilson — recorded for → this record

Sources

• Hagley Museum and Library, Radio Corporation of America photographs collection, historical note — Johnson combined his patents with Berliner's and incorporated the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey, in 1901 (primary source · build store)
• Wikipedia, 'Victor Talking Machine Company' and 'RCA Records' — Victor independent until 1929, when it merged with the Radio Corporation of America and became RCA Victor; Victor's East 24th Street studio (1928–1969) recorded the Isley Brothers, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, Della Reese and Charles Mingus, among others (build store)
• Emory University Scholar Blogs, 'Race Records — Sounds of the Century' (citing Sutton) — Victor began recording Black artists in 1914, enlisting James Reese Europe to direct the Castle House Orchestra, with Europe's name left out of every advertisement (build store)
• Wikipedia, 'Race record' — Bert Williams and George Walker recorded for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901 (build store)
• Moguldom (reporting AllAboutJazz and Cooke's official site) — Sam Cooke signed with RCA in 1960 and recorded 'Chain Gang,' 'Cupid' and other hits; under his RCA agreement he retained control of his copyrights; 'A Change Is Gonna Come' was selected by the Library of Congress in 2007 (build store)

More institution records

• Culina Health
• culturetechlens.com
• Curtom Records
• DAIR
• Dakar Records
• Dance Mania Records

Browse the full directory: all entity records

Record CTL-E-5784 · Combined Graph record U-07047 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 5 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

Cite this record

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

Black Chicago’s musical record, kept frame by frame. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.