|
The Archives
of Iowa Broadcasting is a work in progress located at Wartburg College in
Waverly, Iowa. It began as a response to the fact that, as important as
radio and television have become our lives, no comprehensive effort had
been made to collect and preserve their historical development in Iowa.
Much of that history already has been lost to the trash bin and death of
the early practitioners. Wartburg, which has a strong Communication Arts
program, stepped into that void by agreeing to assume responsibility for
starting to collect and preserve this important part of Iowa’s history. It
did so with encouragement and support from the Iowa Broadcasters
Association.
The specifics of the task were begun by
Grant Price, professor emeritus, who joined the Communication Arts faculty
in 1990 when he retired from a 40-year career in radio and television
news, all of it practiced in Iowa. Reasoning that the actual experience of
the men and women who created and developed the electronic media in Iowa
is the most perishable part of this vanishing history, Price has given
oral histories a high priority in the efforts undertaken thus far.
The first oral history interview was done
in 1994, with William B. Quarton of Cedar Rapids, who was the chief
executive officer of the WMT stations and the first president of the Iowa
Broadcasters Association. The oral histories, recorded on videotape, now
total more than 80 with many more remaining to be done. Although the
primary focus has been on capturing the first person experience of Iowa’s
broadcast pioneers, there has been a parallel effort to collect the
artifacts associated with this history. We have been able to assemble a
sizable number of records, documents, photos and tapes which represent the
development of broadcasting in Iowa. However, it is slow work, impeded by
the fact that many already have been lost or lie forgotten in some dusty
storeroom or transmitter building. The greatest challenge is to develop an
awareness that--where they still exist--it is urgent that these materials
be saved and placed in a setting where they can be preserved, cared for on
a long-term basis, catalogued and made accessible for current and future
generations.
That is the central vision of the
broadcasting archives. When Wartburg College designed a new library, which
was opened in the fall of 1999, it assigned more than two thousand square
feet for archival use. That is where the broadcasting history collection
is housed and managed. The college archives are also housed in the space.
In addition to climate-controlled storage, the space includes display and
study areas and is equipped with a bank of equipment capable of
reproducing most audio and video formats.
As we work toward a formal archival
management system, we are now accepting materials that tell the story of
radio and television in Iowa. That includes the vital role they have
played in the lives of Iowans beginning with those early 1920’s radio
stations which opened the whole new world of electronic communication
which has brought us into the information age. We are accepting documents,
records, program guides, promotional materials, photographs, recordings,
audiotape, videotape, film, anniversary programs, and the like. Although
it is not our primary emphasis, we also are assembling a representative
hardware collection--microphones, cameras, recorders, studio and
transmitter equipment, early radio and TV receivers. For information on
donations, visit the "Contact the Archives"
page.
|
