Register of the Stanford Listening Post records

Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 1999
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu


Title: Stanford Listening Post records
Date (inclusive): 1940-1945
Collection Number: 40001
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 32 manuscript boxes, 1 envelope (13.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, transcripts of radio broadcasts, study papers, notes, and card indexes, relating to radio broadcasts from east and southeast Asia
Creator: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
Creator: Stanford Listening Post
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Access

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Use

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Acquisition Information

Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1940.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Stanford Listening Post Records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Historical Note

The Stanford Listening Post was established in the Archives Division of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace in 1940 for the purpose of recording and studying radio broadcasts from the Far East. The Rockefeller Foundation granted $8,250 to cover the costs of equipment, supplies, and salaries for receiving, recording, and transcribing trans-Pacific broadcasts. Recording began in mid-September 1940 and continued to the end of May 1941 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established listening posts throughout the country for round-the-clock monitoring of foreign broadcasts. The Stanford post recorded foreign broadcasts for the FCC from 1941 to 1943 and transmitted American broadcasts of the United States Office of War Information (OWI) to the Far East from 1942 to 1945.
The Stanford Listening Post used two short-wave receivers, an RME 69 and a highly selective HRO. During the last few weeks of the experiment, a Hallicrafter commercial type receiver was used in place of the RME. Two rhombic antennas provided directional reception from east-west and north-south. Two standard office Ediphones recorded the broadcasts. Only transmissions in English were recorded in the beginning, although test recordings of other languages were made. News and news commentator programs in English from three stations were recorded regularly--Tokyo, Japan; Chungking, China; and Saigon, French Indo-China. Occasional recordings were made from Hsinking, Manchukuo; Shanghai, China; and Sydney, Australia.
After broadcasts were recorded on Ediphone wax cylinders, a single typed copy was made of the transcript with text double spaced. There were several checks for accuracy. After the final checking, transcripts were duplicated and sent to a selected list of persons and libraries interested in Pacific affairs.
The staff of the Stanford Listening Post included Inez G. Richardson, who was director, Richard Beckett, Pauline Hamm, Maria Hoge, Rosemary Johansson, Kay Kitagawa, Margaret Lintner, Helene von Damm, and Ann Van Wagenen.
(Source: Annual Report of the Chairman, 1940-41. Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace).

Scope and Contents

This collection contains correspondence, transcripts of radio broadcasts, study papers, notes, and card indexes, relating to radio broadcasts from east and southeast Asia, 1940-1945. Includes transcripts of foreign broadcasts received by the Stanford Listening Post, September 1940 to May 1941, and transcripts of foreign broadcasts received by Stanford on behalf of the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), June 1941 to June 1943. Includes transcripts of broadcasts originating with the OWI and transmitted from Stanford by short-wave radio to the Far East. Also includes correspondence, drafts of study papers, outlines and plans, notes, and broadcast transcripts of a project to study and compare the propaganda methods of China and Japan as revealed in their radio broadcasts.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

World War, 1939-1945 -- Propaganda
Propaganda
Radio broadcasting -- East Asia
World War, 1939-1945 -- East Asia
United States. Office of War Information

 

Card Indexes

Scope and Contents note

Three card files consisting of a list of subscribers to the Stanford Listening Post transcripts, a reference file to general information used by Stanford Listening Post staff, and a subject index to the Stanford Listening Post transcripts (citations are to the Tokyo-to-America broadcasts unless otherwise stated). Each file is arranged alphabetically by subject.
box 1

List of subscribers to transcripts

 

Subject index to transcripts (citations are to Tokyo-to-America broadcasts unless otherwise stated)

box 2

Reference file to information on important persons in the news, foreign words and idioms, and foreign newspapers

 

Correspondence 1941, 1959

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence relating to subscription of the Stanford Listening Post transcripts, arranged chronologically.
box 3

Correspondence relating to subscriptions to Stanford Listening Post transcripts

 

Transcripts of Broadcasts Received 1940-1943

Scope and Contents note

Transcripts of foreign broadcasts received by the Stanford Listening Post, September 1940 to May 1941, and transcripts of foreign broadcasts received by Stanford on behalf of the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), June 1941 to June 1943. Folders include draft translations as well as final transcripts. Arrangement is alphabetical by transmitting city and there-under chronological. The transcripts of the Tokyo broadcasts are divided into three groups--broadcasts intended for the Americas, broadcasts intended for Asia, and broadcasts received by Stanford on behalf of OWI and FCC.
box 3

Chungking September 15, 1940-February 28, 1941

box 4

Chungking March 1, 1941-May 15, 1941

box 5

Chungking May 16, 1941-May 31, 1941

 

Chungking, (second copy) March 1941-April 1941

 

Chungking, (OWI-FCC) July 1941-August 1941

 

Hsinking (Manchukuo), (OWI-FCC) August 1941

 

Saigon September 15, 1940-October 15, 1940

box 6

Saigon October 16, 1940-February 28, 1941

box 7

Saigon March 1, 1941-May 15, 1941

box 8

Saigon May 16, 1941-May 30, 1941

 

Saigon, (OWI-FCC) August 1941

 

Sydney February 1, 1941-May 31, 1941

 

Tokyo-America September 15, 1940-September 30, 1940

box 9

Tokyo-America October 1, 1940-December 31, 1940

box 10

Tokyo-America January 1, 1941-March 31, 1941

box 11

Tokyo-America April 1, 1941-May 30, 1941

 

Tokyo-Asia September 15, 1940-November 30, 1940

box 12

Tokyo-Asia December 1, 1940-May 31, 1941

 

Tokyo, (OWI-FCC) June 1941-September 1941

box 13

Tokyo, (OWI-FCC) August 1941-September 1941

 

Thailand, (OWI-FCC) September 1942-February 1943

box 14

Thailand, (OWI-FCC) March 1943-June 1943

 

Miscellaneous transcripts (Stanford Listening Post)

 

Transcripts of OWI Broadcasts Transmitted 1942-1945

Scope and Contents note

Transcripts of broadcasts originating with the Office of War Information (OWI) and transmitted from Stanford by short-wave radio to the Far East. Arranged alphabetically by names of the OWI news services and there-under chronologically. The OWI news services included the Chinese News (sometimes called the Chinese Dialect News or Dialect News), Japan-Formosa News, and Thai News.
box 15

Chinese News, August 1942-March 1943

box 16

Chinese News, April 1943-September 1943

box 17

Chinese News, October 1943-March 1944

box 18

Chinese News, April 1944-September 1944

box 19

Chinese News, October 1944-November 1944 and January 1945-April 1945

box 20

Chinese News,and miscellaneous broadcasts May 1945-August 1945

 

Japan-Formosa News, May 1945-August 1945

box 21

Thai News, May 1942-June 1943

 

Project to Analyse Foreign Broadcasts Received by Stanford Listening Post 1940-1942

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence, drafts of study papers, outlines and plans, notes, and broadcast transcripts of a project to study and compare the propaganda methods of China and Japan as revealed in their radio broadcasts. The final report was not completed, but the records contain drafts of some chapters, notes and copies of Stanford Listening Post broadcast transcripts arranged by subject.
box 22

Project correspondence 1942

 

Outlines and plans

 

Chapter outlines

 

Project report--outlines, introduction to Chungking chapter, resume of propaganda content

 

Project report, drafts

 

Comparison of Chungking and Tokyo broadcasts

 

Comparisons of press

 

Chungking broadcasts

 

Quantitative tables comparing broadcast references to subjects

 

Tabulated analysis of references to leaders

 

Subject arrangement of transcripts 1940-1942

 

Burma Road

 

China

 

Agriculture

 

Communism

 

Education

 

French Indo-China relations

 

General

 

Government control of economics

 

Government development of economics

box 23

Health

 

Industrial cooperatives

 

Military failures

 

Monetary policy

 

Morale

 

Occupation of

 

Overseas Chinese

 

Pleas for American aid

 

Political developments

 

Radio communications

 

Relief program

 

Shanghai, international settlement

 

Transportation and communications

 

War (Chungking broadcasts only)

box 24

European War

 

France

box 25

Collaboration with Axis

box 25

International policy

box 25

Marshal Petain

 

French Indo-China and Thailand

box 25

Radio Saigon

box 25

Saigon

box 25

Germany

 

Great Britain

box 26

Pro-British broadcasts

box 26

Anti-British broadcasts

box 26

Anglo-Soviet relations

 

Japan

box 26

Balkan relations

box 26

Chungking bombings

box 26

Culture, education, and research

box 26

Dutch East India relations

box 26

Economy

box 26

Economic expansion

box 26

Expansion

box 26

Foreign travellers

box 26

German relations

box 26

Imperial way

box 27

Indo-China penetration

 

Italian relations

 

Morale

 

Occupation of China

 

Peace offensive

 

Political reorganization

 

South American relations

 

Special references

 

Triparte Pact

 

U.S. relations

 

War (Tokyo broadcasts only)

 

Russia

 

Chinese relations

 

Japanese relations

 

United States

box 28

American evacuation

box 28

Anti-American propaganda

box 28

Pro-American propaganda

box 28

Placating American public opinion

box 28

War stories

box 28

Unindexed transcripts

box 29

Unindexed transcripts

 

Miscellaneous project notes

box 30

Australia

box 31

Australia

box 32

Australia

 

China

 

Indo-China

 

Tokyo-America

 

Tokyo-Asia