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.
In the summer of 1973, César Chávez came to Dayton from the strike lines in Coachella, California to talk about the plight of farm workers. There was a week of activities and WYSO News was right in the middle of it. Rediscovered Radio’s Jocelyn Robinson examined the struggles facing the migrant worker community, then and now.
After the Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles in 1965, something unique happened. An Academy Award-winning screenwriter visited Watts and realized the neighborhood had stories the nation needed to hear.
Rediscovered Radio Encore reintroduces Florynce Kennedy, an outspoken attorney and activist who bridged the Women’s Liberation and Black Power Movements in the 1960s and 70s, said “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” She was outrageous and defiant and with her middle finger in the air and a cowboy hat on her head, she came to Antioch in 1971 to talk about fighting oppression. WYSO was there.
WYSO's Jocelyn Robinson reflects on three Black women writers. The words of Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Alice Walker still hold weight today. In this encore edition of Rediscovered Radio, we listen to audio from these intelligent women found in the WYSO Archives.
In 1962 an Ohio State student, a singer and guitarist named Phil Ochs, moved to New York City and was soon at the center of the booming folk music scene…
In this iteration of Rediscovered Radio Encore, we’re taking you back to the 1960s and meeting a legendary Yellow Springs disc jockey. Music’s been a mainstay at on WYSO since we began broadcasting more than 60 years ago.
Music’s been a mainstay on WYSO since we began broadcasting more than 60 years ago. In this encore edition of Rediscovered Radio, project producer Jocelyn Robinson takes us back to the 1960s to meet a legendary Yellow Springs disc jockey.
In 1974, one of the leaders of the American Indian Movement visited Yellow Springs to raise awareness for their cause. The man’s name is Clyde Bellecourt, and a recording of his speech is housed in the archives here at WYSO. Rediscovered Radio project Director Jocelyn Robinson found the audio, and produced this piece.
In this encore edition of Rediscovered Radio, we have a story about a white Kentucky woman named Ann McCarty Braden who fought racism in this country for more than sixty years.In the early 1980s, Braden visited Ohio, and Rediscovered Radio producer Jocelyn Robinson found an interview with her in the WYSO Audio Archives.