Title: Marilyn F. Solomon video recordings

Identifier/Call Number: FMST Mss 3

Contributing Institution: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections

Physical Description: 10 Linear Feet (87 video recordings)

Date (inclusive): 1970s-1980s

Abstract: This collection consists of 87 video recordings documenting Marilyn F. Solomon's career as a producer and moderator of television programming at KCOP-TV (channel 13) in Los Angeles.

Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library

Language of Material: English.

The collection is open for research. Audiovisual materials must be reformatted for access.

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

[Identification of Item], Marilyn F. Solomon video recordings, FMST Mss 3. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Gift of Marilyn F. Solomon, 2023.

Marilyn F. (Dillard) Solomon was raised in Detroit, Michigan by parents Ernest and Jessie Dillard who were deeply involved in labor activism, community organizing, local politics, and civil rights movements in the 1940s-1960s. Solomon was hired at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles in 1969 and given the unusual opportunity to produce weekly primetime television programs and long form documentaries that would demonstrate the station's commitment to operate "in the public interest" as per the Federal Communications Commission. Influenced by the racially and ethnically diverse City of Los Angeles she lived in and her belief that all that happens in the world is at some level, local, Solomon's professional mission was to operate in the "public interest," by creating programs that highlighted the diversity of the City of Los Angeles and Southern California, and strengthened connections between local and international politics and global events. She worked at KCOP-TV from 1969-1994, first as a co-host on the program "Minority Community" and later as the producer and moderator of award-winning television programs which addressed civic and social issues, arts and culture, current affairs and news analysis including a focus on local community issues and activities in Southern California. She produced primetime documentaries that explored in-depth issues such as the Iran hostage crisis, the Turkish-Armenian conflict, the history of the Black original settlers of Los Angeles, the impact of growing immigration on race relations in Southern California, and the plight of endangered children. Her weekly prime-time news analysis program "News in Review," tackled local and national issues of the week and she also produced "My Turn," the first weekly program addressing gay and lesbian issues in Southern California in the 1970s. As Director of Corporate Relations and the Executive Producer of Information and Public Affairs Programming, Solomon was responsible for federal regulatory compliance, corporate, government and community relations, and the production of programs about community issues and activities. She received five Television Academy EMMY Awards for producing these documentaries, news analysis, and children's programs. She was awarded the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for Excellence in Television Journalism, and received the International Documentary Association CINDY Award for a PBS "Frontline" documentary "Down for the Count: An Inside Look at Boxing." Solomon received special recognition for her documentary work in the Republic of Turkey, the government of Kenya, Israel, and the People's Republic of China. Other awards include the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals from the International Film and Television Festival of New York.

Sources: Ernest C. and Jessie M. Dillard Collection https://reuther.wayne.edu/files/LP000500.pdf

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilyn-f-solomon-2621b11

This collection consists of 87 video recordings (3/4" U-Matic, VHS, 1") documenting Marilyn F. Solomon's career as a producer and moderator of groundbreaking television programming at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. Weekly programs included are "News in Review," a current events analysis show from the 1970s-1980s, "Collage," a show from the 1970s which featured Chicano, African American, Asian and Indigenous cultures and issues, and "Speakeasy," an information series from the 1980s whose guests ranged from artists and authors to educators, elected officials, civic leaders, and Los Angeles-based foreign government representatives. Also included in the collection are long form documentaries addressing both international politics and world events, such as "Dialogue in Blood: the Turkish-Armenian Conflict," and "Israel: A Cultural Genesis," as well as local issues, such as the incarceration of young men by the California Youth Authority in "Throw Away the Key," the impact of certain sports on minority youth in "Down for the Count: An Inside Look at Boxing," and children forced to grow up too early, due to crime and poverty, in "Whatever Happened to Childhood?" The documentary, "Black Angelenos: The True Story," presented the archived histories of the multi-racial founders of the City of Los Angeles.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: News in Review, Collage, Dialogue in Blood: The Turkish-Armenian Conflict, Speak Easy, Other Documentary Programs, Other Programming.