WYSO’s Audio Archives project began in 2009 when boxes of old magnetic tapes surfaced in a musty storeroom. With funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Archive Project and partnerships with the Greene County Library and other local organizations, over 200 hours of broadcasts, most from the 1960s and 70s, were cataloged and digitized. A project to collect oral histories to complement the recordings was also begun.
With support from Ohio Humanities, the station has been airing this archival content since early 2014. The collection chronicles events at Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, around the Miami Valley, and well beyond.
In our first season, we heard the echoes of the civil rights movement as it morphed into many subsequent movements. In the second season, we explored the Vietnam era, with stories about Vietnam vets, peace activists, the Black Power movement, women’s liberation, and more. We’ll continue to sample news reports, interviews, documentaries, concerts, lectures, music shows, and other historical tape. We’ll listen for our collective presence in the voices, and sometimes add contemporary commentary as we reflect on our progress (or lack thereof). We’re also launching the WYSO Archives Blog to provide in-depth views into this volatile and formative period of our history, and to highlight our historic preservation efforts.
This program is made possible, in part, by the Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
A few years ago, Producer Jocelyn Robinson rediscovered some incredible gems in our library that had gone lost. Including a rare recording of writer and social critic Susan Sontag, who visited Antioch College in the Spring of 1965 for a lecture series on “The Shape of Things to Come in America.”
Between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s, about three and a half million people migrated from Appalachia to the urban manufacturing centers of the Midwest. Over 40,000 came to the Dayton area from West Virginia, Tennessee, and especially Eastern Kentucky, seeking work at companies like National Cash Register, Frigidaire, and General Motors. They brought their culture and their music along with them. Archives Fellow Jocelyn Robinson brings us the rich mountain heritage in the WYSO audio collection, preserved through the efforts of three local brothers.
A few years ago, Producer Jocelyn Robinson rediscovered some incredible gems in our library that had gone lost. Including a rare recording of Studs Terkel, the legendary author, oral historian, and radio journalist. But producing a radio story was just the start of this recording’s journey.
Just about every place has a local hero, a hometown kid who grew up to make their mark on the world. In Yellow Springs, Ohio, one hometown hero made her…
Throughout this season of Rediscovered Radio, we’ve heard voices from the 1960s and 70s, from the peace movement, Black Power and Native rights activists.…
Today on Rediscovered Radio, we return to early May 1971, when huge demonstrations were held in Washington, DC to protest the war in Vietnam. After the protests, young militants who had taken part in the demonstrations came to Antioch College to talk to students about revolution, and a recording of their conversation is in the WYSO Archives.
In 1965, a kid named Gene Lohman came to Yellow Springs to attend Antioch College. He brought with him an almost encyclopedic knowledge of popular music,…
In the spring of 1969, the Community Lecture series at Antioch College brought activist Clifton DeBerry to campus. DeBerry’s message to the students was about what he called the shift from civil rights to Black liberation.
In the WYSO Archives, we have many recorded gems, and one of them has recently been unearthed: a rare recording of Studs Terkel, the Pulitzer Prize winning author, oral historian, and Peabody Award winning radio journalist from Chicago. The WYSO tape has intrigued Rediscovered Radio producer Jocelyn Robinson, and some other radio preservationists working to carry on his legacy.