Production materials documenting Smithsonian's thirteen-part program on the role of radio in transforming the African American community in the twentieth century. The program was produced in 1996 by Jacquie Gales Webb for Smithsonian Productions, with assistance from the AAAMC. The collection contains over 400 hours of interviews and historical aircheck tapes in addition to articles, research files, program scripts, and transcripts. The audio interviews feature conversations with over 150 well-known disc jockeys, radio professionals, record company executives, journalists, and scholars. The historical airchecks include station identifications and jingles, radio interviews with prominent Black figures, coverage of historical events, and programs highlighting or influenced by the contributions of Black performers, disc jockeys, and other important persons in radio.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Digital Audio Tape, Data cartridge, Optical disc (Including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Text document, and Data disk (floppy disk)
Extent:
4.3 linear feet (10 boxes) + 297 audiocassettes (DAT : digital, stereo), 168 audiocassettes (analog), 9 8mm data cartridges, 7 audio discs (CD-R), 3 data disks (1.44 MB floppies)
These materials comprise a thirteen-part radio series of public service broadcasts produced by Sam Chase for WLIB radio in New York in cooperation with Newsweek Magazine.
The collection consists primarily of audiocassette copies of the 26-part radio series Wade in the Water, produced by NPR in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, and concieved and hosted by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon.
Black radio photograph collection documenting events and personnel, including photos with rhythm and blues musicians, at Houston station KCOH in the 1960s and 1970s. Photographs were copied from the personal collection of Gardner. Accompanied by a transcription of an interview with Gardner which includes descriptions of each photograph.
Content types:
Still image
Formats:
Photographic print and Photographic negative
Extent:
12 photographs : black & white ; 8 x 10 in. + 11 negatives (black & white : 4 x 5 in.)
Photographs documenting the career of Houston deejay Skipper Lee Frazier, copied from his personal collection. Additional photo descriptions with biographical information transcribed from an interview with Frazier are available in accession folder. The collection consists of 12 b&w photographs with negatives primarily documenting Skipper Lee Frazier's activities in connection with KCOH in Houston during the 1970s and '80s.
Content types:
Still image
Formats:
Photographic print and Photographic negative
Extent:
12 photographs : black & white ; 8 x 10 in. + 12 negatives (black & white : 4 x 5 in.)
Collection consists primarily of materials related to Roberts's work at KYOK-AM in the 1960s and '70s including images of KYOK sponsored events such as the "We Love You" concert and associated publicity materials, a beauty pageant, radio contests, and on-site broadcasts throughout Houston. Also included are photographs of KYOK radio personalities and staff as well as candid and publicity photographs of visiting R&B artists.
Content types:
Still image
Formats:
Photographic print and Photographic negative
Extent:
60 photographs : black & white ; 8 x 10 in. + 60 negatives (black & white ; 4 x 5 in.)
The collection consists of materials related to Smithsonian Institution programs, including the Duke Ellington Youth Project, in addition to gospel sheet music and related research materials from George's personal collection.
Content types:
Two-dimensional moving image, Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Photographic print, and Text document
The collection consists primarily of audio tapes of two radio programs produced by Bailey Broadcasting Services: The Hip Hop Countdown & Report (1991-1998) and RadioScope: The Entertainment Magazine of the Air (1990-1996). Press releases for RadioScope broadcasts are also included.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Text document, Photographic print, and Photographic negative
Collection consists of materials related to Lewis's work at the WERD radio station in the 1950s and '60s. Founded by Jesse B. Blayton, Sr. in October 1949 in Atlanta, Georgia, WERD was the first black owned and operated radio station in the United States. The collection materials comprise 7 black and white and 7 color photographs documenting WERD's early history. Content includes the exterior of the WERD studio building, publications related to WERD such as photographs of an issue of The Printed WERD, and a portrait of J.B. Blayton Sr.
Content types:
Still image
Formats:
Photographic print and Photographic negative
Extent:
7 photographs : black & white ; 8 x 10 in. + 7 photographs (color ; 3 x 5 in.), 2 negatives (black & white ; 4 x 5 in.)
Collection consists primarily of interview transcripts, program transcripts, and artist publicity materials used in the production of the Westwood One Radio programs Special Edition, That's Country Music, Rock Chronicles, My Top Ten, and History of Rock 'n Roll. It also contains materials from various specials including programs on Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones.
Doug "Jocko" Henderson was a pioneering "rapping" deejay primarily associated with Philadelphia radio station WDAS in the 1970s. Collection primarily documents Henderson's Get Ready company, which published materials to be used in schools to teach American history, spelling, and the dangers of drug abuse using rap lyrics. Also included is material documenting Henderson's bid for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in Pennsylvania. Materials include audiocassettes, teaching manuals, correspondence, photographs, business cards, press clippings, flyers, and other memorabilia.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Text document, and Photographic print
Extent:
1 document case (.5 linear feet) + 8 audiocassettes : analog
Jack "The Rapper" Gibson was a pioneer in Black radio, as well as an innovator, a leader, and a mentor to many in the radio and music industries. His work as a Black radio deejay spanned the early days of Black radio in the 1940s through the Civil Rights Movement, and included stints at WERD-Atlanta, WLOU-Louisville, WMBM-Miami, WCIN-Cincinnati, and WABQ-Cleveland. After retiring from radio in 1961, he became a successful music industry executive working for Motown, Decca, and Stax Records. In 1976, he launched the industry magazine Jack the Rapper, the oldest Black trade publication targeted to radio, and for the next twenty years organized the annual "Jack the Rapper’s Family Affair," a Black music convention drawing generations of performers and music industry executives. His professionalism, continuous fight for racial equality and justice, and endearing human qualities made him a legend in the industry. This collection documents his long career in radio and music through personal correspondence, clippings, memorabilia, photographs, publicity materials, airchecks, interviews, lecture materials, and over 500 issues of his trade magazine "Jack the Rapper's Mellow Yellow."
Content types:
Two-dimensional moving image, Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Open reel tape (unknown material), VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Optical disc (Including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Text document, and Photographic print
Collection consists of black and white photographs from the 1950s through the early 1980s related to KYOK in Houston. Including are images documenting the activities of KYOK's deejays in the studio and surrounding communities, particularly in connection with listener contests and station-sponsored events such as dances and the "We Love You" concert. Also included are photographs of KYOK publicity materials and publicity photographs of many of the rhythm and blues artists, jazz, and blues artists featured on the station.
Content types:
Still image
Formats:
Photographic print and Photographic negative
Extent:
98 photographs : black & white ; 8 x 10 in. + 97 negatives (black & white : 4 x 5 in.)
The collection consists of personal papers, photographs, and a video documenting the career Ed Castleberry, a pioneering black radio disc jockey and newscaster.
Content types:
Two-dimensional moving image, Still image, and Text
Formats:
VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C), Photographic print, and Text document
Extent:
1 document case (.25 linear feet), including 26 photographs and 1 videocassette (VHS)
Audio recordings of taped radio show episodes, primarily from the series The Afro-American in Indiana, but also including the additional programs Reflections in Black and Black Heritage , as well as a radio special and recordings from a NAACP convention. The radio shows, hosted by Fr. Boniface Hardin, featured multiple high-profile guests. The episode topics includes sports, music, education, historiography, slavery, the American Civil War, Reconstruction, segregation, the Indiana Constitution, the United States Constitution, church, religion, the NAACP, WWI, WWII, medicine, black businesses, the Institute of Afro American Studies, prison, labor history, and more.
Content types:
Performed music and Spoken word
Formats:
Analog audiocassette and Open reel tape (unknown material)
The collection consists primarily of materials collected during research for Nelson George's book Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound (St. Martin's Press, 1985). This includes interviews (audiocassettes and transcripts), photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, photocopies of legal documents, manuscripts, and correspondence.
Content types:
Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Text document, and Photographic print
Extent:
8 document cases (5 linear ft.), including 137 photographs + 24 audiocassettes
Series G, "Music Industry Interviews," consists of transcripts and audiocassettes of interviews primarily conducted by Portia K. Maultsby between 1981-1986 as part of her research on the Black music industry. The remainder of the series in this collection are still in the process of being accessioned and are unavailable for general research and public use.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Optical disc (Including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Text document, and Photographic print
The Michael McAlpin Collection consists primarily of print materials used in the production of the PBS television documentary Record Row: the Cradle of Rhythm and Blues. Included are production materials and interview transcripts created during Dr. Portia Maultsby's collaboration on the project as AAAMC director as well as VHS tapes of the rough cut, final broadcast version, and local coverage of the documentary.
Content types:
Two-dimensional moving image, Performed music, Spoken word, and Text
Formats:
VHS (including SVHS and VHS-C) and Text document
Extent:
1.5 linear feet (3 boxes) including 3 videocassettes (VHS)
Collection includes audiocassette recordings of interviews about Ray Charles for Lydon's book Ray Charles : Man and Music (2004), a radio series about Ray Charles based on Lydon's book, complete or partial transcripts for many of the interviews organized loosely into book chapters, interviews with and about other African American musicians, class lectures given by Lydon at Indiana University and related publicity materials, and original music performed by Lydon.
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, Still image, and Text
Formats:
Analog audiocassette, Optical disc (Including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), Text document, and Photographic print