Commercial radio, public affairs discourse and the manipulation of sound scholarship Isolationism, wartime civil rights and the collapse of the attractiveness of communism in America, 1933–1945

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgments Hugh Richard Slotten is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand). His most recent book is Radio and Television Regulation: Broadcast Technology in the United States, 1920–1960 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000). Notes University of Chicago Round Table promotional brochure, ‘The serious side of radio … ’, n.d., folder ‘Current additions’, box ‘Radio & TV Office’, General Archival Files, Department of Special Collections, The Regenstein Library, The University of Chicago (hereafter Regenstein/UChicago). See, for example, Susan Smulyan, Selling Radio: The Commercialization of America Broadcasting, 1920–1934 (Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994); Susan J. Douglas, Inventing American Broadcasting, 1899–1922 (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987); Michelle Hilmes, Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922–1952 (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1997); Eric Barnouw, A History of Broadcasting in the United States (3 vols) (New York, Oxford University Press, 1966, 1970, 1972); C. H. Sterling and J. M. Kittross, Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting (Mahway, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002). Two recent studies begin to fill this historiographic gap: Douglas B. Craig, Fireside Politics: Radio and Political Culture in the United States, 1920–1940 (Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000); Barbara Dianne Savage, Broadcasting Freedom: Radio, War, and the Politics of Race, 1938–1948 (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1999). However, only Savage's book analyzes the content of programs. Herbert Hoover, Opening remarks, Proceedings of the Fourth National Radio Conference and Recommendations for Regulations of Radio (Washington, G.P.O., 1926), 5. Allen Miller, Broadcasting at the University, The University of Chicago Magazine, March 1930, pp. 243–44, reprint in folder ‘Radio Correspondence, 1925–30’, box 3, series 39/1/1, University of Illinois Archives, Champaign/Urbana, Illinois. On Harper and adult education, see untitled document beginning ‘Early in 1931 … ’, 3 February 1938, folder ‘University of Chicago Roundtable’, box 1, Allen Miller Papers, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin (hereafter Miller Papers, SHSW); Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed, A History of the University of Chicago: The First Quarter-Century (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1972), pp. 136, 150, 210. Miller, Broadcasting at the University, The University of Chicago Magazine, p. 243. F. W. (President Frederic Woodward), n.d. [probably 1925], folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago; ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, 19 February 1926, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin (hereafter SHSW). ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, 13 April 1926, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, 10 June 1926, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Allen Miller to Frederic Woodward, 13 April 1929, folder 18, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago; Miller, Broadcasting at the University, The University of Chicago Magazine, p. 242. On chapel service being broadcast, see Miller, Broadcasting at the University, The University of Chicago Magazine, p. 242. On early public affairs programs, see University radio activities in 1925–26, The University of Chicago Magazine, March 1926, reprint in folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. Thomas Vernor Smith, A Non-Existent Man: An Autobiography by T. V. Smith (Austin, University of Texas Press, 1962), p. 62. The university considered establishing its own station during the early 1930s, but budget problems made this impossible. See ‘Radio at the University: a resume of growth of reputation and expansion of programs’, 28 April 1935, pp. 1–11, on 5, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW; Robert M. Hutchins to Harold L. Ickes, 13 January 1933, folder 20, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Allen Miller, ‘Radio broadcasting at the University of Chicago’, August 1930, pp. 1–2, on 2, folder 18, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Miller, ‘Radio broadcasting at the University of Chicago’, August 1930, p. 2. Allen Miller to R. C. Higgy, 16 February 1931, folder 921, box 48, Payne Fund Records, Western Reserve Historical Society Library, Cleveland, Ohio (hereafter Payne Records). Smith, A Non-Existent Man, p. 62. Allen Miller to Charter Heslep, 15 July 1963, pp. 1–6, on 2–3, folder ‘University of Chicago Round Table’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. Smith described himself as a ‘specialist-in-things-in general’ in his autobiography: Smith, A Non-Existent Man, p. 63. For ‘tacit understanding’ quotation, see ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, 14 April 1931, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. S. G. Reynolds, ‘Construction plans of the University of Chicago Round Table’, 6 January 1941, microfilm reel 7, record group 15, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon. Allen Miller to Charter Heslop, 15 July 1963, p. 2. George E. Probst, ‘Round Table memorandum’, 1948, folder ‘University of Chicago Round Table’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. Allen Miller to William Benton, 22 February 1938, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Allen Miller to Charter Heslop, 15 July 1963, p. 5. George E. Probst, ‘Round Table memorandum’, 1948, folder ‘University of Chicago Round Table’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. Allen Miller to William Benton, 22 February 1938. Charles A. Siepmann to William Benton, 10 April 1941, folder 15, box 18, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Sound Recording, Town Meeting of the Air Radio Program titled ‘Has twentieth century civilization improved mankind: are we better; are we happier?’ 16 February 1939, Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Sound Recording, University of Chicago Round Table Radio Program titled ‘Problem of propaganda in the United States’, 14 August 1938, Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. On Hutchins wanting NBC to absorb the costs of programs, see Special ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, 13 February 1932, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, February 1932, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, November 1931, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, February 1932, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. W. G. Preston to William Benton, 10 April 1941, folder 11, box 18, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. John F. Royal to William Benton, 8 April 1941, folder 7, box 18, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, February 1932, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. ‘Meeting of the Radio Committee’, 8 June 1933, folder ‘University of Chicago Radio Committee’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. Sydney Hyman, The Lives of William Benton (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1969), pp. 69, 126, 158–193; William Benton to James Angell, 8 December 1937, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. For 1937 statistic, see Sherman H. Dryer to Robert M. Hutchins, 1 July 1939, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. W. B. Benton to James Angell, 8 December 1937, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Hyman, The Lives of William Benton, pp. 132, 143. For first quotation, see Hyman, The Lives of William Benton, p. 177. For his views about ‘good broadcasting’ practices, see William Benton to James Angell, 8 December 1937. William Benton to Miller et al., 18 February 1938, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. For first quotation, see William Benton to Robert M. Hutchins et al., 10 November 1944, folder 6, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. For second quotation, see John F. Royal to Lenox R. Lohr, 8 August 1938, folder 21, box 65, NBC Records, SHSW. Allen Miller to William Benton, 22 February 1938, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Allen Miller to Robert M. Hutchins, 18 February 1938, folder 3, box 86, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Miller's reluctance to support Benton in his attempts to get NBC to change the time for the Round Table was another source of friction for the two men. See William Benton to Charles Newton, 30 August 1938, folder 3, box 86, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Judith Waller to Niles Trammell, 5 January 1938, folder 21, box 65, NBC Records, SHSW. John F. Royal to Lenox R. Lohr, 8 August 1938. William Benton to Niles Trammell, 6 November 1944, folder 2, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. On the importance of increased attention to developing station relations, see Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 27 June 1939, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. For number of stations, see Sherman H. Dryer to Robert M. Hutchins, 1 July 1939, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Benton to Trammell, 6 November 1944. John Howe to D. F. Cameron, 25 May 1940, folder 12, box 11, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Hyman, The Lives of William Benton, pp. 203–4. George E. Probst, ‘Round Table memorandum’, 1948, folder ‘University of Chicago Round Table’, box 1, Miller Papers, SHSW. William Benton to John Howe, 20 January 1939, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to John Howe, 9 July 1941, folder 15, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. William Benton to Robert M. Hutchins et al., September 1940, folder 9, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. John Howe to William Benton, 3 December 1937, folder 9, box 1, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Alfred P. Sloan to William Benton, 19 June 1945, folder 1, box 44, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Arnold Zurcher to Neil H. Jacoby, 9 November 1945, folder 6, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Zurcher to Jacoby, 9 November 1945. On Dryer's background, see Sherman H. Dryer to Charles Newton, n.d. [probably May 1938], folder 17, box 8, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Zurcher to Jacoby, 9 November 1945. Howe admitted that Merriam uncharacteristically interrupted Hayek too many times during their program, but he claimed that Hayek said he enjoyed the experience and that before the program when they played recordings of other Round Table programs Hayek had criticized participants for being too polite. On uncertain relationship with foundation, see George Probst to Ernest C. Colwell, 14 January 1946, folder 5, box 33, Presidents’ Papers, 1946–50, Regenstein/UChicago. On Sloan Foundation being satisfied with the Round Table, see George E. Probst to Ernest C. Colwell, 2 April 1947, folder 4, box 33, Presidents’ Papers, 1946–50, Regenstein/UChicago. Sloan's views related in Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 24 July 1939, folder 9, box 10, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Comments reported in John Howe to William Benton, 22 June 1945, folder 3, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Virginia Hawk to William Benton, 10 April 1945, folder 15, box 41, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Reports from the station relations director who visited individual stations found that this economic motivation was the major factor local stations did not take the program from the network. See, for example, Virginia Hawk to John Howe, 11 June 1945, folder 15, box 41, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Robert M. Hutchins to Judith Waller, 25 June 1931, folder 18, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Allen Miller to Robert M. Hutchins, 13 April 1934, folder 17, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Preston quoted in John Howe to William Benton, 18 February 1939, folder 3, box 86, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Judith Waller to Sherman Dryer, 25 October 1940, folder 7, box 18, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 3 October 1940, folder 35, box 17, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Judith Waller to William Preston, 12 May 1939, folder 39, box 73, NBC Records, SHSW. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 28 June 1939, folder 32, box 73, NBC Records, SHSW. William Benton to Niles Trammell, 30 June 1939, folder 32, box 73, NBC Records, SHSW. On Dryer's advice about the title for the program, see Dryer to Benton, 28 June 1939, folder 32, box 73, NBC Records, SHSW. John F. Royal to Niles Trammell, 6 July 1939, folder 32, box 73, NBC Records, SHSW. Royal to Trammell, 6 July 1939, folder 32, box 73, NBC Records, SHSW. Niles Trammell to John Royal, 17 July 1939, folder 32, box 73, NBC Records, SHSW. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 1 February 1940, folder 7, box 10, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Dzuback, Robert M. Hutchins, p. 160. Hyman, The Lives of William Benton, p. 238. On Benton denying that neither he nor Hutchins belonged to the committee but acknowledging his connection to Bowles who was a member, see William Benton to Paul S. Mowrer, 16 December 1940, folder 2, box 7, Presidents’ Papers, 1945–50, Regenstein/UChicago. William Benton to Sherman H. Dryer, 28 February 1940, folder 7, box 10, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. William Benton to Sherman H. Dryer, 19 September 1939, folder 9, box 10, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Richard W. Steele, Propaganda in an Open Society: The Roosevelt Administration and the Media, 1933–1941 (Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 1985), pp. 127–46; Gerd Horten, Radio Goes To War: The Cultural Politics of Propaganda During World War II (Berkeley, California, University of California Press, 2002), pp. 27–40; Hilmes, Radio Voices, pp. 230–33. William Benton to John Howe, 21 May 1940, folder 9, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. William Benton to Samuel H. Dryer, 21 May 1940, folder 9, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 24 October 1941, folder 26, box 25, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 24 May 1940, folder 9, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 24 May 1940, folder 9, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to Mr. Lewis, n.d., folder 6, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Dryer to Lewis, n.d., folder 6, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 15 December 1941, folder 25, box 25, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Hilmes, Radio Voices, pp. 236–44. ‘Notes on Meeting of the Faculty Advisory Committee on Radio’, 29 January 1943, folder 3, box 33, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 12 February 1943, folder 25, box 32, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Excerpt from This is War! program quoted in Horten, Radio Goes to War, p. 45. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 23 March 1942, folder 24, box 25, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. John Howe to William Benton, 12 May 1942, folder 5, box 25, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to Albert W. Sherer, 6 March 1942, folder 24, box 25, Office of theVice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 12 May 1942, folder 5, box 25, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. On the federal government's efforts to deal with race using radio broadcasting during the war, see Barbara Dianne Savage, Broadcasting Freedom: Radio, War, and the Politics of Race, 1938–1948 (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1999); Michele Hilmes, Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922–1952 (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1997), pp. 238–64. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 29 May 1942, folder 23, box 25, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago; Savage, Broadcasting Freedom, p. 200. For other programs broadcast during this period that addressed the issue of racial discrimination, see Hilmes, Radio Voices, pp. 256–59. William Benton to Sherman H. Dryer, 9 April 1943, folder 25, box 32, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago; Dryer to Benton, 2 April 1943, folder 25, box 32, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Savage, Broadcasting Freedom, p. 200. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 2 April 1943, folder 25, box 32, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. John Howe to William Benton, 30 June 1943, folder 7, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. George E. Probst to David Englestein, 12 November 1946, folder 18, box 69, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Howe to Benton, 30 June 1943, folder 7, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. There is evidence that Waller did not personally find prejudiced views of African Americans a particularly troubling matter. When a participant expressed extreme embarrassment after he unintentionally used the phrase ‘Nigger in the woodpile’ during a Round Table discussion on China, Waller tried to reassure him by expressing her own view that ‘it is such a common term that it is not as offensive as some other phrases which might be used. Waller is quoted in George E. Probst to Ernest C. Colwell, 17 December 1945, folder 6, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Waller quoted in John Howe to William Benton, 30 June 1943, folder 7, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. On Waller's threat to cancel program unless they included a Southern white, see Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 7 July 1943, folder 7, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Dryer to Benton, 7 July 1943, folder 7, box 14, Presidents’ Papers, 1925–45, Regenstein/UChicago. Sherman H. Dryer to William Benton, 15 July 1943, folder 27, box 36, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Eddie N. Williams, ‘Foreword’ to unidentified document, pp. 1–3, on 3, Round Table folder, General Archival Files, Regenstein/UChicago. George E. Probst to Benton et al., 4 Oct 1949, folder 3, box 33, Presidents’ Papers, 1946–50, Regenstein/UChicago. George E. Probst to R. M. Hutchins, 17 February 1950, folder 2, box 33, Presidents’ Papers, 1946–50, Regenstein/UChicago. John Howe to William Benton 19 January 1944, folder 15, box 36, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. George E. Probst to Benton et al., 4 Oct 1949, folder 3, box 33, Presidents’ Papers, 1946–50, Regenstein/UChicago. Christopher H. Sterling and John Michael Kittross, Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting (Mahway, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002), pp. 331–33. Harold D. Lasswell, ‘University Policy and the Round Table’, n.d., folder 11, box 37, Office of the Vice President Records, 1937–46, Regenstein/UChicago. Hugh R. Slotten, Radio and Television Regulation: Broadcast Technology in the United States, 1920–1960 (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), pp. 113–88. George E. Probst to E. C. Colwell, 4 April 1950, folder 2, box 33, Presidents’ Papers, 1946–50, Regenstein/UChicago. Board of Trustees Minutes, University of Chicago, 14 April 1955, p. 64, Regenstein/UChicago. After helping to pioneer a non-commercial educational television station for Chicago, WTTW, the university resurrected the Round Table as a television program beginning in December 1967.