Identifier:

Series 2

Dates:

Inclusive 1956-1990, bulk Bulk 1963-1982,

Extent:

495 Reels

Scope and content:

KPFK was the second Pacifica station to go on the air, targeting the Southern California region. KPFK began broadcasting in 1959 from Los Angeles, CA, and featured several series focused on women’s lives and experiences, including “A Women’s Place” (1966-1967) and “Lesbian Sisters” produced by Helene Rosenbluth (1973-ca. 1986). KPFK broadcast several programs focused on women in the arts and feminist art, including the short series “Women in the Arts” (1971), and Clare Spark’s long standing arts series “The Sour Apple Tree” that broadcast throughout the 1970s. Another highlight from this series is the West Coast Women’s Music Festival which took place in Yosemite in September 1980. The series has both the raw recordings from the festival as well as a produced program of the highlights that broadcast in 1981 (KZ0454 and KZ1038).

In 1962, KPFK broadcasted two profiles of important women in the Communist Party, Dorothy Healey (KZ0174) and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (BC1097). These programs were later used in the United States Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) hearings against Pacifica, charging the network with “subversion,” and for being Communist infiltrated.

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