Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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The Radio Network No Longer Comes Through the Radiators In December, 1939, seven undergraduates, bitten by the college radio bug let loose three years before at Brown, got together to found a station at Harvard. Ideas were plentiful, experience was adequate, and financial backing was eventually negotiated with the Crimson, interested in controlling adver- tising competition. The Crimson Network began broadcasting on April 15, 1940, operating from modest studios in now- razed Shepherd Hall with a low power transmitter connected to the University heating pipes. When fan mail began to come in from Belmont and Newton, however, since the FCC takes a dim view of unlicensed radiation, operations were sus- pended until December 2, 1940, by which time a new type of transmission using the House electric light wires had been developed. By 1942, the Crimron was able to call the Network Harvard's fastest-growing undergraduate organization, and the entering Class of '46 began to play a leading part in its growth. Out of 32 Network men from '46 came Presidents H. P. Field, Richard L. Kaye, and Carl H. Reynolds, Produc- tion Directors Bradbury Clark, james A. Harper, and Lewis Weinman, Program Managers Robert A. Green and L. Ma- gruder Passano, Technical Directors john R. McGrew and Charles A. Shaw, and Business Manager Kenneth Frankl. Crimson Network, 1943-44. Back Row: Robert A. Green '46, S. Arthur Boruchoff '45, Lawrence Creshkoff '46,John M. B. Churchill,jr. '47, Howard L. Poss '45, George M. Sokol '45, Frederick W. Roe '45, Bernard Bisgeier '46, SL't'IIlN!RII1U.' Robert Krones '45, Sherwin D. Smith '44 fBn.rff1rr.r Munagerf, Richard I.. Kaye '46 CPrngram Dirermrl, Richard M. Brown '45 fPreJidenrj, Philip M. Stem '47 fl'rnffm'li0r1 Dirtwtorj, Harold P. Field '46 Cferlmiml Directory. Fran! Row: john W. Guinee, jr. '47, William M. Flook, jr. '44, Bernard L. Klionsky '46 Richard H. Thurm '-16. Y. 'ffgffi . L11 X sal H. P. Field '46, former Network president and engineering mas- termind behind much of its transmitting equipment, prepares to record a live program for later broadcast. Among their first additions to the Network was a station in the Radcliffe Field House, built by Reynolds, Field, and McGrew. Direct lines between Radio Radcliffe and the Network permitted the interchange of programs, adding to the variety of each station's offerings and, occasionally, to the headaches of the Radcliffe deans. Regular Network programs reach the College at 8OO on Your Dial Monday through Friday evenings throughout the academic year, but special events have varied from on-the- spot coverage of Winston Churchill's honorary degree on September 6, 1943, to the twenty-four houriand longer- jazz, ballad, and symphonic orgies Enterprising Network members rose with the birds to put on Sunrise Serenade, a short-lived musical clock program designed for early-rising V-12's, and have ranged as far as New York City, to cover the 1946 Ivy League basketball playoffs, and Hanover, N. H., to report the 1946 Dartmouth game. From Margie Hart to Armchair Audits While classical music has formed the largest part of Network programs, popular music and jazz have held their own. During the spring of 1947 Harvard instituted a midnight to one a.m. disc-jockey show, Midnight Merry-Go-Round. In addition, specialty shows such as interviews, lectures, guest artists, quiz programs, and dramas have been featured. Guests have included Eleanor Roosevelt, Senator Claude Pep- 12701

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The Radio Workshop Sponsors Experimental Drama Organized in 1939 by Archibald MacLeish, then curator at Widener Library, for the promotion and production of ex- perimental radio drama, the Harvard Radio Workshop has had an erratic career of periodic bursts of activity followed by un- productive slumps. During the first year of its existence, numerous programs were produced on professional radio stations, credit was given in English A and A-1 for scripts submitted to the Workshop. After a brief barren stage, a vigorous reorganization coupled with availability of Radio Network facilities made possible the production of one half- hour play each week, ranging from light comedy to highly experimental scripts. Radcliffe provided the female roles, and occasionally a 'Cliffedweller adapted and directed a production. The 1944 Revival The exigencies of war took their toll, draining man- power and straining that which remained, so that by April, 1944 a new nadir of non-productivity had been reached. A new reorganization, stimulated by the efforts of john Simon '46, assisted by classmates Lawrence Creshkoff and james A. Harper, put the Workshop on a manageable basis again, and the succeeding two years were unique for both the quantity and quality of radio drama broadcast at Harvard. Notable Workshop productions have included the Yeats translation of Oeelzpur Rex by Sophocles, Romeo in tloe Treer by Stanley Safiang Shaw's Saint joan, Fall of the City by Workshop founder Archibald MacLeishg Salome by Oscar 1947-48. Back Row: William F. Clark '48, Randall Worthington '49, Theodore L. Rowland '48, Walter E. Albrecht, Jr. '49, Philip M. Stern '47. From Row: john Simon '46 flepj looks on as three Radcliffe girls and V-12'er Will Gaylin '46 read one of Simon's original scripts over the Network in the old Shepherd Hall studios. Wilde, and The Lam! of Heart: Derire by Yeats, both adapted by john Simon '46. In addition to its successful adaptations of classical drama, modern plays, and short stories, the Workshop has preserved its fundamental aim of encouraging original plays, creative writing, experiment, and criticism, and retiring '46 members look for expanding dramatic activities among Harvard radio productions. L. C. Mendy Weisgal '45, James A. Harper '46, Lawrence Creshkoif '46 Qroretaryj, Harold C. Fleming '44 C Vice P7'6.l'ilf0l1l,,JOhfl I. Simon '46, Gerald Y. Genn '48, 126914 Q

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---uns-U-gl v ,V ' x Gil Hill '46 pauses for station identification. The voices of former Network announcers are now heard over many com- mercial stations. Radio Network, Spring, 1947. Bark Row: Robert C. Seaver '50, David P. Kni ht '50, Robert W. Hall '49 fClar.riml MllJiL',,JOhD S. Kornfeld '49, Theodore Storfdard '50, Robert L. Wechsler '49,,Iohn V. Bouyoucos '49, Gerald E. Weller '49, Arthur S. Bunker, jr. '49. Third Row: Melvin H. Gordon '48, Alfred L. Cotcher '48, Lawrence Creshkoff '46, Hallowell Bowser '44, Andrew R. Baggaley '45, Theodore L. Rowland '48, William R. Chanderl '46, Harold C. Fleming '44, Gilbert S. Hill '46 CPnblirityD. Serond Row: Leonard M, Passano, Ill '46, Harold per, Guthrie McClintic, Margie Hart, Carol Bruce, Ann Corio, Pete Seeger, Charles Bolte, and numerous others. Members of the Harvard Faculty have also been regular per- formers, especially during 1946-1947, Armchair Audit, a program of repeat performances of popular course lectures, brought many professorial voices to the air. On another oc- casion, President Conant spoke on the need for Federal aid to education. The Apron Strings Are Cut In 1945, when Shepherd Hall was torn clown, the Net- work moved to new studios in Dudley Hall, and began using call letters WHCN on the air. But, by spring 1947, the Net- work had freed itself from the Crim.ron'J apron strings, and existing confusion among both advertisers and students sug- gested deleting Crimson from the station's name. So, in the fall of 1947, the Harvard Radio Network went on the air for the first time, with call letters WHRV. Simultaneously with the change of name there began an expansion program designed to give the Network complete coverage of the col- lege. A new transmitter was built and wires laid to Yard dormitories, so that thereafter lowly freshmen as well as elite House-dwellers might hear the strains of Fair Harvard every evening at 7:30, when the Network resumes broadcasting activities. Continuing to grow under its new name, the Net- work is still planning more and better entertainment for its listeners and offering increased possibilities for training, ex- perience, and camaraderie to its members. L. C. P. Field '46, William F. Clark '48 fPf'0gl'tHll Mur1agerD,,Iord1ln L. Golding '48, fBu.rineJJ Munagerj, Gerald Y. Genn '48 fPre.ri1lenlj, Albert F. Feldman '48 fPro- duction Directorj, T. M. Sanders,jr. '48 fTt'L'hIlifdl Directorj, Philip M. Stern '47, Ray A. Goldberg '48, From Row: john Kunz '49, Louis I. Egelson, jr. '48, Clifton R. Wharton, jr. '47, john C. Fraser '50, M. Matthew Lynch, jr. '50, Alfred G. Redheld '50,john A. Magnuson,jr. '49. 12711