The Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) was established by the War Department on May 26, 1942 to entertain, inform and connect troops to back home. The broadcast were also intended to counter propaganda broadcasts by Tokyo Rose, Axis Sally and other radio personalities supported by the Axis alliance. The AFRS network was launched with a five hour broadcast on July 4, 1943. The network quickly grew and by the end of World War II included 300 stations, broadcasting to troops around the world. Programs were distributed to stations on 16" polyvinyl discs that contained fifteen minutes of information. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra and other major stars of the day performed on the network free of charge as their contribution to the war effort. Radio networks and record labels provided free access their programming and recordings to help develop programming for the network. In addition to bringing the troops programming from networks and the record labels, the service also created original programs like Jubilee which featured African American bands and entertainers. The AFRS network continued broadcasting through Korea, Vietnam and other subsequent wars and conflicts. Now known as the Armed Forces Network, the service continues to entertain servicemen and servicewomen stationed around the world.
The Arthur B. Church KMBC Radio Collection contains multiple episodes of The Brush Creek Follies featuring the Rhythm Riders, Oklahoma Wranglers, and Midland Minstrels. Most of the collection is related to the events of WWII, FDR, and Harry Truman, D-Day invasion coverage, reports on the signing of treaties, the dropping of the atomic bomb, coverage of the activities of President Roosevelt and Eisenhower. Other highlights include broadcast about the Cold War, Harry Truman's speeches to a multitude of different groups, events at the White House, some of Roosevelt's fireside chats, national news coverage, film footage of KMBC's dedication as well as a segment of the Microphone Personalities, recordings of Pun and Punishment (9/22/60), coverage of Truman and Churchill at Fulton, MO, Churchill's famed "Iron Curtain" speech, recordings of the Texas Rangers. Also included are W.S. Hedge interviews Arthur B. Clarke (6/22/66), KMBC's 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (3/24//48), Church's last KMBC broadcast (1/15/51).
Content types:
Performed music, Sounds (Other than music & language), Spoken word, and Two-dimensional moving image
Formats:
Pressed LP disc, Lacquer disc, Metal disc, and Motion picture film
The J. David Goldin Collection includes nearly 10,000 radio programs on 16" discs broadcast from the 1930s through the 1950s. The programs include variety shows, radio plays, political speeches, news programs, documentary programs, advertisements, and music programs.