Exterior of Muhammad Ali Center building looking up from a slanted angle
Exterior of Muhammad Ali Center building looking up from a slanted angle
Exterior of Muhammad Ali Center building looking up from a slanted angle
Exterior of Muhammad Ali Center building looking up from a slanted angle
Exterior of Muhammad Ali Center building looking up from a slanted angle
Ali Center Receives $50,000 Grant to Preserve Rare Ali ArchivesAli Center Receives $50,000 Grant to Preserve Rare ...Ali Center Receives $50,000 ...

Ali Center Receives $50,000 Grant to Preserve Rare Ali Archives

Muhammad Ali in white button-down shirt and tie in boxing pose standing among crowd in the street

08.13.26

Muhammad Ali Center Receives $50,000 Grant to Preserve Rare Archival History of Muhammad Ali

Funded through the Recordings at Risk program, media assets will be digitized and viewable on Ali Center’s Digital Museum

LOUISVILLE, KY (August 13, 2026) – The Muhammad Ali Center is unveiling new archival film materials from Muhammad Ali’s legacy, restored and digitized thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Recordings at Risk program, administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources with support from the Mellon Foundation.

These film materials were received as part of a significant donation in 2018 from TJ Holding, Ltd., used in the production of the 1996 documentary “Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story.”

The donation included 16mm film reels and other analog media in need of proper preservation. The $50,000 grant, received by the Muhammad Ali Center in 2025, allowed for proper digitization and cataloguing of 200 of the most at-risk media assets within the donation.

“The need to more fully preserve these donated materials has been a priority of the Collections Department at the Muhammad Ali Center for many years, and this grant has given us the opportunity to make that vision a reality by providing crucial funding,” said Bess Goldy, Director of Exhibits and Collections. “The physical assets from the TJ Holding, Ltd. donation are invaluable to the Muhammad Ali Center’s Permanent Collection and to the preservation of Muhammad Ali’s legacy for future generations. We are incredibly grateful to the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) for approving our Recordings at Risk grant application and for making it possible to begin the important work of digitizing these irreplaceable media assets, ensuring they will be accessible and preserved for generations to come.”

Newly digitized materials are now available on the Muhammad Ali Center Digital Museum at https://alicenter.org/tjholdingltdcollection.

This is the first step for properly archiving and sharing the Muhammad Ali Center’s collection of hundreds of analog media materials. These materials include both audio and visual recordings that still need to be digitized and preserved, including the remaining assets of the TJ Holding, Ltd. donation and smaller donations of analog media that contain important pieces of Ali’s history.

Continued support from donors and preservation partners helps continue this important work, ensuring these irreplaceable materials are protected and accessible for future generations.

More information on the Muhammad Ali Center can be found on our website, alicenter.org.

Dustin Vogt
Muhammad Ali Center
[email protected]
502.992.5330