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Scholar Jocelyn Robinson says about one-third of Historically Black Colleges and Universities have radio stations. Her mission is to survey them and help preserve their histories and recorded legacies through the HBCU Radio Station Archival Survey Project, which she directs.
On this episode Robinson tells us about this project, and explains why it’s important to preserve this heritage. Her interest in radio was sparked at WYSO-FM in Yellow Springs, Ohio, a station founded by college students which won a grant to digitize and protect its archives which were maintained for decades almost by benign neglect. Robinson created a radio show for WYSO, pulling from this rich store of historical recordings, called “Rediscovered Radio.” The experience prompted her to widen the search to HBCUs.
In this we explore the reasons why relatively few college and university stations have active archival and preservation programs, how station licenses are “an institutional asset” and the cultural shift that has turned us all into documentarians.
This episode is a rebroadcast of #232 from February, 2020.
Show Notes:
- WYSO’s Rediscovered Radio
- The Chronicle of Higher Education: Saving History at College Radio Stations, One Tape at a Time
- National Recording Preservation Foundation: National Recording Preservation Foundation Distributes $50,000 in 4 Grants for Audio Preservation
- Union College: Making waves: Race, radio and the legacy of Wendell King ‘24
- Black Perspectives: The Race to Preserve African American Radio
