The Milo Ryan / CBS Radio News Phonoarchive is a unique audio time capsule that documents many historic 20th century events. It consists of sound recordings of CBS Radio News programs, public affairs shows, actualities, speeches, interviews, wartime dramas, daily World War II news updates. The recordings capture groundbreaking broadcasts by Edward R. Murrow and his "Boys": William L. Shirer, Eric Sevareid, Tom Grandin, Larry LeSueur, Charles Collingwood, Howard K. Smith, Winston Burdett, Bill Downs, Mary Marvin Breckinridge, Cecil Brown, and Richard C. Hottelet. The collection also includes recordings of programs and speeches made by public figures during and beyond WW II, including Churchill, Eisenhower, Einstein, Hitler, and JFK. As Dr. Donald Godfrey writes in his 1973 article "History Held a Microphone": "There are twenty-two hundred and twenty-seven newscasts. All but a handful originating from CBS. Their newscasts represent every weekday without a miss, from September 7, 1939, with the Germans entering Poland, to April 2, 1945, with the allies entering Germany.... Tapes contain examples of special events coverage: the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, the bombing of Japan, landings in North Africa, the 13 Normandy Invasion, the World Security Conference, April, 1945, the function of the American and Russian Armies, April, 1945, the death and funeral of FDR, and miles of tape on V. E. and V.J. days. Elmer Davis' daily five minute reports are represented in entirety from his debut, September 16, 1939, to February 13, 1941, and occasionally to July 9, 1943. H. V. Kaltenbom edits the news, complete from August 27, 1939, until January 26, 1940, and sporadically thereafter. Our library includes 21 speeches by Winston Churchill, representing 12 hours of this master of language. There are 51 talks by President Roosevelt totaling 24 continuous hours." A detailed description of most of the recordings in the Phonoarchive is available in Milo Ryan's book History in Sound (UW Press).
Content types:
Performed music and Spoken word
Formats:
Acetate open reel tape, Digital audio file (including MP3, WAV, AIFF, etc.), Photographic print, and Text document
Primarily interviews and live musical performances featuring international newsmakers to local musicians. Includes nearly complete (app. 450 hours) archive of live-performance show, "Sandy Bradley's POTLUCK," aired on KUOW in Seattle and about 50 non-commercial US stations between 1984-1995. Also hundreds of hours of live folk, classical and world-music concerts from Puget Sound region. A large portion of this material has been archived in digital (.wav/44.1/16) format (done in 2008).
Content types:
Performed music, Spoken word, and Still image
Formats:
Optical disc (including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, VCD), MiniDisc, Analog audiocassette, Digital Audio Tape (DAT), Polyester open reel tape, Acetate open reel tape, Digital audio file (including MP3, WAV, AIFF, etc.), Betamax, Text document, and PDFs
Extent:
> 1000 reel-to-reel analogue tapes, several hundred DATs, small number of cassettes, MDs, CDs
Repository/Collector:
KUOW-FM / Puget Sound Public Radio / University of Washington
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)