10/12/2025
She was afraid people would rewrite history so she saved over 30 years of TV history on 71,000 VHS Tapes. She at one time maintained nine apartments to store her tapes.
Marion Stokes recorded television nonstop for over 30 years, documenting news, local programs, commercials, sitcoms, and late-night shows.
She began in the 1970s and continued until her death in 2012, using up to eight machines to capture multiple channels like CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN.
Her goal was to save history and help people find the truth in media. She believed TV networks were throwing away their own archives, but she wanted to save everything as a resource so anyone could look back and check the facts.
She used her own money to fund the project. She became wealthy because she invested in Apple early on.
After she died, her son donated her recordings to the Internet Archive, so one day the public will be able to search and watch this whole record of television history.
The Internet archive claims the exact number tapes are 71,716.
