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Pacifica Radio folio collection
PA Mss 145
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Title: Pacifica Radio folio collection
Identifier/Call Number: PA Mss 145
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
8 linear feet
(8 cartons)
Creator:
Pacifica Radio
Date (inclusive): 1949-1987
Abstract: Folios from Pacifica Radio stations KPFA, KPFK, WBAI, KPFT, and WPFW ranging in date from 1949 to 1987, as well as a small
number of Pacifica administrative files and promotional pamphlets.
The collection is open for research. The collection is stored offsite. Advance notice is required for retrieval.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
[Identification of Item], Pacifica Radio folio collection, PA Mss 145 Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa
Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Founded by Lewis Hill in the 1940s, Pacifica Radio (a division of the Pacifica Foundation) was grounded in Hill's pacifist
ideals and devoted itself to upholding the First Amendment through its alternative radio programming. Pacifica's first fledgling
station KPFA-FM in Berkeley, CA went on the air on April 15, 1949. Unique for its non-commercial structure and its listener
sponsored rather than government supported financial organization, KPFA established itself as a locale for minority voices
during a period of intense scrutiny and unease—the Cold War. KPFA won several distinctions in the early years of its tenure,
such as broadcast awards for a feature by Alexander Meiklejohn about the First Amendment and a Robin Hood series by Chuck
Levy and Virginia Maynard, as well as the George Foster Peabody Award for its programs rooted against McCarthyism. Pacifica's
strident stance against the accusatory politics of the US Cold War eventually led to an investigation from the House Un-American
Activities Committee (HUAC) and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) into the activities of the organization.
In 1962, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) conducted their own investigation into Pacifica for its alleged communist
ties, resulting in the withholding of various Pacifica Radio license renewals (these were eventually renewed in 1964).
As KPFA successfully traversed the airways and gained traction for its innovative programming, Pacifica founded its second
station in Los Angeles in 1959, KPFK-FM. This was followed by the accession in 1960 of the commercial station WBAI in New
York from philanthropist Louis Schweitzer, the creation of KPFT in Houston, TX with the guidance of journalist Larry Lee in
1970, and the 1977 construction of WPFW in Washington D.C. This collection includes folios from the early years of each of
these five stations, booklets that informed subscribers about Pacifica stations' radio schedules and features. Many of these
folios also advertise Pacifica in an effort to acquire listener support, which was instrumental to their survival on the radio.
At the time of the collection's organization, KPFA, KPFK, WBAI, KPFT, and WPFW remain on-air.
Bibliography:
"About KPFT: Our History." KPFT Houston. Accessed September 18, 2018. http://kpft.org/about/.
"About WBAI 99.5 FM in New York City." WBAI-FM. Accessed September 18, 2018. https://www.wbai.org/about.html.
"94.1 KPFA: History." 94.1 KPFA. Accessed September 18, 2018. https://kpfa.org/.
Land, Jeff. "Pacifica's WBAI: Free Radio and the Claims of Community."
Jump Cut no. 41 (1997): 93-101.
"Pacifica History." Pacifica Foundation. Accessed September 18, 2018. http://www.pacifica.org/about_history.php.
"WPFW 89.3 FM: Our History." WPFW 89.3 FM. Accessed September 18, 2018. http://www.wpfwfm.org/radio/about-us/our-history.
This collection is comprised of folios from Pacifica Radio Stations KPFA, KPFK, WBAI, KPFT, and WPFW, ranging in date from
1949 to 1987. These historical station program guides from the early years of each of these five stations contain Pacifica
stations' radio schedules and features.
In addition to the folios, which comprise the bulk of the collection, these materials also hold a small number of Pacifica
administrative files, including Pacifica board meeting minutes, dating from 1965 through 1984, as well as Pacifica promotional
pamphlets and KPFA handouts.
This collection is divided into two series: Folios, which comprises the bulk of the collection, and the much smaller series,
Promotional and Administrative Files.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Radio stations -- History -- 20th century
Administrative records
Pamphlets
Programs (documents)
Pacifica Radio -- Archives
KPFA (Radio station : Berkeley, Calif.) -- Archives
KPFK (Radio station : Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Archives
KPFT-FM (Radio station : Houston, Tex.) -- Archives
WBAI Radio (New York, N.Y.) -- Archives
WPFW (Radio station : Washington, D.C.) -- Archives