A seven-inch reel containing a program from the "Frankly Speaking" radio series. "Frankly Speaking" Radio Show records. George Mason University Libraries. Special Collections & Archives. Copyright George Mason University.

What issues were on the minds of Northern Virginians during the beginning of the 1980s?  A collection of public service broadcasts recorded by George Mason University’s GMU Radio offers some clues.  “Frankly Speaking” was a series of weekly radio shows which featured discussions about current topics of interest.  A recently-processed collection, the “Frankly Speaking” Radio Show records, contains 156 recordings from between 1980 and 1984 and notes from each broadcast.

Memo regarding the July 17th episode of "Frankly Speaking" entitled: The Parkway: Where, When, and Why. "Frankly Speaking" Radio Show records. George Mason University Libraries. Special Collections & Archives. Copyright George Mason University.

The Fairfax County Parkway is a 33-mile 4-lane highway which runs from the Fort Belvoir area at U.S. Route 1 in eastern Fairfax County to the Dranesville area at Va. Route 7 west of Tyson’s Corner.  Planning for the Fairfax County Parkway, originally known as the Springfield Bypass, began in the 1970s.  Construction began in 1987 and finally wrapped up (for the most part) in 2012. During construction 55 homes and five places of businesses were uprooted in order to complete the highway.  A July 1981 episode of “Frankly Speaking” entitled The Parkway: Where, When, and Why discussed Parkway plans with Fairfax County opponents and proponents of the project.

Listen to The Parkway: Where, When, and Why

The town of Colchester in eastern Fairfax County was established in 1753 as a tobacco center on the Occoquan River. Thomas Mason, the son of George Mason of nearby Gunston Hall, frequented Colchester, running a a ferry from the north side of the Occoquan to the south side in the later 1700s.  By the end of the 19th century Colchester was in decline and died off, mostly due to the success of rival Alexandria.  In an August 1982 broadcast archaeologists from George Mason University and Fairfax County discussed archaeological surveys of Colchester done during the summer of 1982.

Listen to Digging out History

In a December 1982 program entitled Economics and Electioneering, George Mason University faculty member W. Mark Crain discussed the increasing necessity of political candidates to market their campaigns to the public, generating, spending, and sometimes even making, large sums of money.

Listen to Economics and Electioneering

In an episode dealing with the fledgling home-computer market, July 10, 1983′s Computer Tips for Consumers examines the difficulties experienced by first-time users just getting into the home computer market.  The learning curve was steep with early home computers, as there were few standards with respect to software and hardware platforms.  A guest on the show prophetically observes that even though many users have trouble finding appropriate applications of computer technology in the home,  “it is becoming more and more true that computers are being used in every facet of business and… everyday use.  You can hardly function during the day without coming in contact with… a computer.”

Listen to Computer Tips for Consumers

Taken as a whole, the collection provides a look into not only significant issues of the day, but George Mason University’s involvement and community outreach with regard to these issues. The collection is open to researchers for use in Special Collections & Archives.  A finding aid to the collection can be found at:

http://sca.gmu.edu/finding_aids/gmufranklyspeaking.html

The Eugene McCarthy presidential campaign speech files collection contains documents from six speech file “books” used by the campaign staff. The speeches span from October 1967 to July 1968 and include remarks he gave prior to his entry into the race for the Democratic nomination. Some of the speeches are from campaign stops in particular primary states, such as Nebraska, and the speeches generally document McCarthy’s positions on the Vietnam War, the economy, and race relations. Although most of the documents are speeches, there are also transcripts of debates, television appearances, and press conferences. The transcripts include an exchange between McCarthy and Robert Kennedy on ABC television, and another transcript documents McCarthy’s appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. A press conference transcript from June 14, 1968, is particularly notable since it appears to be the first press conference McCarthy held following the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The documents are all photocopies, but some of them contain handwritten edits that were also copied. This collection compliments many of the 20th century U.S. political collections held by SC&A, such as the Arthur Scott photograph collection that includes photographs of McCarthy.

Senator Eugene J. McCarthy, on the bottom left, with a large group of guests at the U.S. Capitol Building. August 21, 1964. Arthur E. Scott photograph collection, Box 17, Special Collections & Archives, GMU Libraries. Copyright not held by George Mason University Libraries. Restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. For permission to publish, contact Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

In support of JAM (Jazz Appreciation Month) I’ve selected two scripts from the Federal Theatre Radio Division of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) to highlight in this update on reprocessing the FTP.  In the radio script series we have over 200 original scripts used for radio productions. These productions are arranged alphabetically by title. Found within overarching titles are often multiple broadcasts.  Examples include stories of Detective O’Malley, the Federal Theatre of the Air, the Ibsen and Oscar Wilde cycles, and many non-fiction themes such as History in Action, Pioneers in Science, and Portraits in Oil. One theme that dealt with contemporary history is the set of broadcasts called “The Story of Swing”.  Two of the scripts housed at George Mason Special Collections and Archives are “Harlem in the 30’s” and “White Jazz and the Commercial Era”.

First page of the radio scripts “Harlem in the 30’s” and “White Jazz and the Commercial Era” from the Federal Theatre Project Collection C0002. Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.

These shows featured conversations on the history of jazz and the popularity of swing at the time.  As the announcer says at the beginning of “Harlem in the 30’s”:

And so throughout the length and breadth of America, today modern music …SWING music… has become the most talked-of topic in every walk of life. Some shudder at this new trend…others glory in rhythm that spreads from the bistros of 52^nd Street to the sanctified concert hall.

Even Gilbert and Sullivan have fallen under the spell of glorified swing…as witness the current Federal Theatre hit – THE SWING MIKADO.

But whether you consider swing music to be a meaningless jumble of noise, or something beautiful and original…the fact remains that swing comes from jazz…and jazz is America’s own folk music.

As one can see in the above photograph the theme music for the show is denoted – Duke Ellington’s “Daybreak Express” was used for both productions. Here is clip by SwingMan1937 on YouTube of that song.

This blog is the second in a series on reprocessing the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) collection. As our finding aid for playscripts and radio scripts is now arranged it also includes programs. We have decided to divide playscripts, radio scripts, and programs each into their own series. The programs series includes programs, flyers, and playbills associated with FTP productions from around the country. They are further organized into two subseries – the first is arranged by location and the second by title of play. This arrangement is consistent with previous arrangement. Box numbers and titles of folders have been recorded to provide an accurate description of the materials contained within. When processing of all the series is completed a finding aid detailing the collection will be available online. One of the more visually interesting folders in the programs series is that of programs from Illinois.

Flyers from Illinois productions, circa 1936-1939, from the Federal Theatre Project Collection C0002. Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.

The above photograph provides a glimpse into the contents of the Illinois folder. Plays represented include “Street Scene”, “It Can’t Happen Here”, “Spirochete”, “Hamlet”, “Triple A Plowed Under”, and “Hell’s Holler Revue”. All productions date from circa 1936 to 1939. This folder contains seven items total and the six pictured here are all promotional flyers. These flyers provide colorful and engaging typography and overall design.