Her 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit" is added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
On 19 March 2003, the Library of Congress selected Billie Holiday’s 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit" for inclusion in the National Recording Registry, recognizing it as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The Registry, established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, aims to preserve sound recordings that reflect the American experience. Holiday’s "Strange Fruit" was among the early additions, underscoring its dual importance as both an artistic masterpiece and a document of racial terror and protest. The selection affirmed scholarly assessments that the record marked a watershed in the use of popular music to confront social injustice.
For Holiday’s legacy, this designation provided formal acknowledgment by a national institution that her work belongs to the core cultural memory of the United States. It also highlighted the contributions of a Black woman artist to the country’s sonic heritage, at a time when archival and preservation initiatives were increasingly attentive to issues of race and representation. The Registry listing has helped ensure that "Strange Fruit" remains accessible to future generations as a primary source for understanding both the horrors of lynching and the power of music as resistance.