Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Stanford Listening Post records
- Dates:
- 1940-1945
- Creators:
- Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and Stanford Listening Post
- Abstract:
- Correspondence, transcripts of radio broadcasts, study papers, notes, and card indexes, relating to radio broadcasts from east and southeast Asia
- Extent:
- 32 manuscript boxes, 1 envelope (13.4 Linear Feet)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Stanford Listening Post Records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
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.
- Biographical / historical:
-
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).
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1940.
- Physical location:
- Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-06-03 16:17:33.668303
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
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.
- Terms of access:
-
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Stanford Listening Post Records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Location of this collection:
-
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-6003, US
- Contact:
- (650) 723-3563