PACIFICA RADIO MOVES TO SAVE NATION'S OLDEST PUBLIC RADIO ARCHIVE
SPECIAL FUNDRAISING DAY AIMS TO STEM DETERIORATION OF RARE RECORDINGS, INCLUDING THE VOICES OF MALCOLM X, BERTOLT BRECHT, MARGARET MEAD, LENNY BRUCE, FANNIE LOU HAMER, AND OTHERS
Producer: Pacifica Radio Archives Uploaded by: Shawn Ewald
PACIFICA RADIO MOVES TO SAVE NATION'S OLDEST PUBLIC RADIO ARCHIVE
SPECIAL FUNDRAISING DAY AIMS TO STEM DETERIORATION OF RARE RECORDINGS, INCLUDING THE VOICES OF MALCOLM X, BERTOLT BRECHT, MARGARET MEAD, LENNY BRUCE, FANNIE LOU HAMER, AND OTHERS
LOS ANGELES, CA -- In an effort to save and restore more than 47,000 historic tapes that span half a century of radio programming, the five-station Pacifica Radio network will broadcast a national on-air fundraising benefit on Tuesday, November 19, featuring rare recordings from the endangered archives.
Considered by many historians and scholars to be one of the most important audio collections in the world, thousands of tapes in the Los Angeles-based Pacifica Radio Archives are in danger of permanent damage caused by aging. Internationally recognized sound preservation experts have advised Pacifica to conduct an immediate review of the endangered tapes and to transfer them to new mediums, such as digital audio.
"This archive is a national and international treasure," said J. Brian DeShazor, Director of the Pacifica Radio Archives. "And we must act now as custodians of these rare and historic recordings before it's too late."
Founded in 1949 by World War II conscientious objector Lewis Hill, Pacifica Radio was created as the first non-commercial, listener-sponsored radio station in the United States. The Pacifica Radio Archives was established in 1971 to house the audio tape collection gathered from Pacifica Radio stations KPFA-94.1 FM in Berkeley, KPFK-90.7 FM in Los Angeles, WBAI-99.5 FM in New York, KPFT-90.1 FM in Houston, and WPFW-89.3 FM in Washington D.C.
Starting with 10,000 tapes the archive has grown to over 47,000 recordings covering more than 53 years of public radio programming. As the fifty-three-year leader in open access, First Amendment radio Pacifica has broadcast programs of singular historical and educational value, programs of people and events commercial media did not document well, if at all. The Pacifica programs have won distinguished citations including many Armstrong, Peabody, and Ohio State awards.
The November 19 marathon broadcast will include rare recordings of internationally known writers, political activists, religious leaders and entertainers such as Ann Sexton, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Patty Hearst, Fannie Lou Hamer, Paul Robeson, Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, Bette Davis, Simone de Beauvoir, Jack Kerouac, Rachel Carson, the Dalai Lama, Lenny Bruce and many others. The broadcast will be presented in an educational format, focusing each hour on a specific theme: Native American History, Womenâ
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