By Rebecca Toov

Season 3: Episode 4. Women on the Air: Cokie Roberts

 

You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast. Welcome to Season 3 Women on the Air: Episode 4 Cokie Roberts.

You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast.  This is Rebecca from University Archives.

Image of Cokie Roberts from the Law School Bulletin, 1997-1999, University Digital Conservancy.

On September 17, 2019, award-winning broadcaster, journalist, and author Cokie Roberts passed away at the age of 75. In her memory, on this episode, we’ll share a recording of the speech that Roberts gave at the University of Minnesota Law School Commencement Exercises, held on Saturday, May 9, 1992 at Northrop Auditorium. The recording was later broadcast on KUOM radio on July 4, 1992.

Attendees of the Law School ceremony were provided with a printed program that included the following biography of the speaker:

“Cokie Roberts: A Special Correspondent for ABC News since May, 1988, she regularly appears on the Sunday morning ABC television news hour, “The Week with David Brinkley,” “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings,” and other ABC News broadcasts to report on politics, Congress and public policy.

In addition to her work for ABC, Ms. Roberts serves as a news analyst for National Public Radio, where she was the Congressional correspondent for more than 10 years. During this time she won numerous awards, including the highest tribute in public radio, the Edward R. Murrow Award. She was also the first broadcast journalist to win the prestigious Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for the coverage of Congress.

Before joining ABC in 1988, Ms. Roberts was a contributor to PBS-TV’s MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour. Her coverage of the Iran/Contra affair for that program won for her in 1987 the Weintal Award.

She is the daughter of Hale Boggs of Louisiana, formerly the majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Lindy Boggs, who served in Congress after her husband’s death.

A 1964 graduate of Wellesley College in political science, Ms. Roberts received a 1985 Distinguished Alumnae Achievement Award ‘in recognition of excellence and distinction in professional pursuits.’

Her lengthy and distinguished career as a journalist with a special focus on Congress has developed to the point where Ms. Roberts is considered by many of her peers as the dean of Congressional correspondents.”

In her remarks, Roberts called upon the graduates to consider using their degrees - their credentials - to bring justice to society. She asked them to consider doing this within the political arena, acknowledged the trepidation to do so, and expressed her own criticisms of the political process. Yet Roberts reminded the audience that quote, “what seems to be politics, what seems to be fecklessness, what seems to be inability to get things done, really often comes into great meaning as time goes by.”  She referenced the First Congress as example, and recounted the gerrymandering, campaigning, and dealmaking - the politics - that lead to the passage of the Bill of Rights.

Page from the July 4, 1992 programming log for KUOM, Box 25, University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records, ua01039, University Archives.

Roberts concluded with a reminder that quote, “the legislative branch is the place that brings together this incredibly diverse country. It does it messily,

By Rebecca Toov

Minnesota School of the Air: People Worth Hearing About - Joyce Jackson. Broadcast date: November 21, 1973. Audio reel and cue sheet, tray 118, University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records, ua01039, University Archives.

Season 3: Episode 3. Women on the Air: Joyce Jackson

You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast. Welcome to Season 3 Women on the Air: Episode 3 Joyce Jackson. 

This is Rebecca from University Archives.  In a previous episode, we introduced you to the Minnesota School of the Air series People Worth Hearing About, which originated on KUOM radio in 1969 with programs that featured biographies of prominent African Americans.  The series later expanded to include persons who according to School of the Air director Betty Girling, “have – for the most part – been overlooked in the writings of our history, because they were non-white, or non-male…”  The series began with profiles of historical figures told in the form of dramatization, where a voice actor played the figure and depicted a scene from their life, punctuated with musical transitions and sound effects.  In subsequent seasons, School of the Air staff produced recorded interviews with living persons. This brings us to the featured historic broadcast for this episode, the November 21, 1973 program of People Worth Hearing About, an interview with Dr. Joyce Jackson, Principal of Central High School in Minneapolis.

In a July 1973 letter addressed to Jackson, Assistant Producer Walter Brody described the inspiration for this program:

“Dear Ms. Jackson,

This is the sixth school year that the Minnesota School of the Air has scheduled vignette biographies of outstanding minority Americans, on a daily basis, for in-school listening…

… Wherever possible, after the first year we stressed only historic personalities, we have tried to interlace historic figures with people living today, and with local people, in order that our listeners in Grades 4-5-6 learn that Minnesotans, too, have made, and are making, contributions of great value in their areas of specialization.

With “living” personalities, we usually try to arrange for a “live” interview, since the voice of the American so cited adds a level of understanding and appreciation for these Intermediate Gradesters, in addition to the timeliness and authenticity of whatever she or he may choose to say. We try to pick people each year who will give us as broad a range as possible, in occupations, age, experience, etc.

Your new position as principal of Minneapolis Central High School is one we feel to be of interest to the children at this level and will give them an opportunity to gain greater understanding of the role of a school principal. We hope you will accept our request to participate in an interview for this series...

… At the moment we are collecting data and preparing the Teachers’ Manual... We would appreciate it if you could send us a resume... From this we will construct… copy which will give the teachers using the series some idea in advance of the broadcast of your present responsibilities and past accomplishments...”[1]

Headline: Mrs. Joyce Jackson to Become Central High's Principal. Undated newspaper clipping about Dr. Jackson found in a program folder, Box 16, Betty T. Girling papers, ua00192, University Archives.

The copy printed in the 1973-74 Teacher’s Handbook appeared in part, as follows:

By Rebecca Toov

Minnesota Daily headline, "Ferraro speaks at U to stress importance of women's issues," March 15, 1985.

Season 3: Episode 3. Women on the Air: Geraldine Ferraro visits Minnesota

You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast. Welcome to Season 3: Episode 3. Hello, this is Rebecca from University Archives.  After a brief hiatus, we are back in 2019 to share more historic broadcasts from the University of Minnesota radio station KUOM. For this episode, we will continue our Season 3 theme of “Women on the Air” with the subject of women in politics.  As of the date of this recording, 14 people have publicly announced their candidacies to seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election. Among the prospects, so far, are a record number of women - six in total - to include an author, a current member of the House of Representatives, and four sitting U.S. Senators.  

In U.S. history, only one woman has ever been nominated as a major party candidate for president - Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee in 2016.  Two other women in our country’s history were nominated as vice presidential candidates: Sarah Palin in 2008, and Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. Ultimately, none of these women were elected.

Minnesota Daily headline "Mondale makes history by picking Ferraro," July 13, 1984.

Though many months of campaigning remain before Democrats make their nominations official at the July 2020 party convention, candidates are already dining in Iowa, shaking hands in New Hampshire, and articulating their visions for the future of the country. Before we speculate about the possibility of another woman securing a major party nomination for president, vice president - or both - in 2020, let’s look back and listen to “the first.”

On July 12, 1984, at the Minnesota State Capitol, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale - Minnesota’s former U.S. Senator, and U.S. Vice President in the Carter administration - made a major announcement.  Mondale revealed that he would recommend Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate and candidate for the vice presidential nomination. At the Democratic National Convention held in San Francisco the following week, Mondale and Ferraro secured the party votes, and Ferraro became the first woman ever to be nominated to a major party presidential ticket.

Breaking ground in politics, however, does not ensure a path to victory. I won’t go into it here, but listeners can review on their own the factors that lead to voters eventually selecting the incumbent Republican candidates over the Democratic challengers on election day.  On November 6, 1984, President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush prevailed in a landslide victory. In the Electoral College, in addition to the District of Columbia, Mondale and Ferraro were victorious in only one state - Minnesota.

Four months after the election, on March 14, 1985, Geraldine Ferraro visited Minnesota where she was greeted by a large and receptive audience as the guest speaker for the Distinguished Carlson Lecture Series, sponsored by the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.  Interest was so great that after full capacity was reached in Northrop Auditorium, accommodations were made for a screening at Williams Arena across campus. The speech was also broadcast live on radio stations throughout the Twin Cities, to include University of Minnesota station KUOM.

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

Maria Sanford, undated.

 

Season 3: Episode 2. Women on the Air: People Worth Hearing About

You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 3: Episode 2.

Hello, this is Rebecca here to share another historic broadcast from the archives in continuation of the Season 3 theme, “Women on the Air.”  On this episode, I’ll introduce the KUOM program series, People Worth Hearing About, which aired on The Minnesota School of the Air from 1969-1979. The series, written and produced for school children in grades 4 through 6, was intended to promote cultural understanding. We’ll listen to a broadcast from the 1970s that features a notable woman in Minnesota history, and I’ll also share some correspondence from School of the Air director Betty Girling and scriptwriter Michele Cairns that provides insight into the production of educational radio programs.

Minnesota School of the Air teacher guide for the program "People Worth Hearing About" for the 1968-1969 season.

The idea for the program series People Worth Hearing About originated with The Minnesota School of the Air director, Betty Girling.  The series, which first aired from April 7 to May 23, 1969, featured daily ten-minute vignettes on 35 African Americans, selected in consultation with Maurice W. Britts, Coordinator for Human Relations at Minneapolis Public Schools.  In subsequent years, profiles and interviews with American Indians, Asian Americans, Chicanos, Eskimos, Hawaiians, and women were added to the series.

In a guide produced for teachers as a supplement to the programs, Girling outlined the purpose of the series:

“... we try to introduce students and teachers to outstanding Americans, who are rarely if ever mentioned in usual textbooks.  These Americans… have - for the most part - been overlooked in the writings of our history, because they were non-white, or non-male… People Worth Hearing About attempts to bring the names, personalities, problems, and accomplishments… of these outstanding “overlooked” Americans, living and dead, into thousands of classrooms via radio and tape.”

Minnesota School of the Air teacher guide for the program "People Worth Hearing About" for the 1971-1972 season.

In the 1971-1972 season, a unit devoted specifically to women was included for the first time.  Eight women were selected as subjects for the episodes.   Examples include Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony, and Maria Sanford, the first female professor at the University of Minnesota.

Girling introduced the section on women in the teachers’ guide:

“Dear Teacher,

In America, women’s struggle for equality of citizenship, the right of self-determination, the right to vote, own property, and receive equal pay for equal work, has a history over one hundred years long. And it still continues.

Few American school children ever have the opportunity to learn of the tremendous contributions women have made to our Nation, because these contributions are either omitted entirely in our textbooks, or treated in an abbreviated fashion, minimized out of proportion to their true value.

While inequalities are slowly being corrected in texts and school materials,

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

President John F. Kennedy meets with newly-appointed United States Minister to Bulgaria, Eugenie M. Anderson in May 1962. Image ID: AR7272-A, image is in Public Domain. Original is available at https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHP-AR7272-A.aspx.

Season 3: Episode 1. Women on the Air: Eugenie Anderson

You are listening to U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 3: Episode 1.

Hello again, this is Rebecca Toov, Collections Archivist at the University of Minnesota Archives.  This season, the podcast will follow the theme of the long-standing Libraries program, First Fridays.  Every First Friday of the month from October to May at 12:00 p.m. staff from Archives and Special Collections present archival materials from the collections at Elmer L. Andersen Library.

The program theme for this year is: We Are Here: Women in the Archives. The description states, “With women comprising half the population, their accomplishments and voices are found throughout the archives. Yet do their stories regularly rise to the top? The 2018-2019 First Fridays season will focus on female-identifying stories – the firsts, the unsung, the leaders, the marginalized, those who found their way to a place at the table and those who may never have managed to get there.”  

For the 3rd season of U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial Podcast, we will present to you “Women on the Air,” a supplement to the First Fridays program.   Episodes will feature radio dramatizations and interviews with and about women in University and Minnesota history. We will also share broadcasts on such topics as equal rights and continuing education for women.  The voices of the female performers, producers, and program directors at University radio station KUOM will also be heard.

Our first episode features a woman who achieved many notable firsts, a political leader who used her voice to better her community, implement and sustain diplomacy, and develop her own potentiality: Eugenie Anderson, the first woman to be named a United States Ambassador.  

A profile of Eugenie’s personal and professional life was featured on KUOM on “Minnesota Honor Roll,” a program of The Minnesota School of the Air - a series of educational radio programs designed for school-age children to listen to in the classroom. Eugenie’s profile originally aired on February 24, 1978.  Let’s listen...

Broadcast Transcript

[Band music]

Introduction: Sinclair Lewis, author, Charles Lindbergh, aviator, The Mayo Brothers, physicians, Lew Ayres, actor, Eugenie Anderson, United States ambassador... [voice fades, music plays up]

Announcer: Minnesota Honor Roll: stories from the lives of Minnesota’s outstanding men and women. Here is our story for today about United States ambassador, Mrs. Eugenie Anderson.

[Orchestral music]

KUOM's Minnesota School of the Air "Minnesota Honor Roll" transcript page for radio program on Eugenie Anderson.

Narrator: Among the very high officials of the United States government, there are some who do their work not in Washington D.C., but in the capital cities of other nations. These officials are called ambassadors. Ambassadors have the job of representing the United States in the country to which they are assigned. The ambassadors go to live in the other country, and, in short,

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to Metropolitan Stadium to learn how to stay dry on a rainy day.

Season 2: Episode 6. A Cover-up at the Met.

Audio reel box for "Look What We Found... A Cover-up at the Met," April 13, 1978.

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 5.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. The title for the April 13, 1978 broadcast of Look What We Found is “A Cover-up at the Met.” Met is a nickname for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home to Minnesota’s professional sports teams. The stadium opened in 1956 and was demolished in 1985.  It’s where Harmon Killebrew hit home runs for the Twins, and where Fran Tarkenton threw touchdown passes for the Vikings. The Kicks, a professional soccer team, also played in the stadium from 1976-1981.

The introduction to this program in the Teacher’s Guide states, “When a Carew homer whizzes across the diamond at Met Stadium and into the stands, not many fans are thinking about why the field looks such a brilliant green under the lights. Likewise, when some fancy footwork by the Vikings or the Kicks throws up patches of sod, who puts the field back together?  One thing fans probably have noticed is the enormous protective tarp that covers the field when it rains. Those are the groundskeepers who pull that out.”

Text from the "Look What We Found" teacher's manual for the April 13, 1978 episode "A Cover-up at the Met."

On today’s historic broadcast of Look What We Found, you’ll hear from Dick Erickson, the stadium supervisor at the Met.  He described the difficulties of rearranging the field to accommodate three different professional sports.

After the broadcast questions from the "Look What We Found" teacher's manual for the April 13, 1978 episode "A Cover-up at the Met."

Metropolitan Stadium was built before Minnesota had any professional sports teams.  In the 1950s, a Metropolitan Sports Area Commission was created to oversee the construction and operation of a stadium with the potential to accommodate professional teams. A local fundraising campaign was initiated to secure the funds. Farmland was purchased in the city of Bloomington, south of Minneapolis, as the site for the stadium.

On opening day, April 24, 1956, it was the Minneapolis Millers minor league baseball team that took to the field.  However, Minnesotans only had to wait a few more years for professional teams to come.  The Vikings played their opening game on September 17, 1961 and pulled off a victory against the Chicago Bears 37-13.  The Twins lost their home opener on April 21, 1961 5-3.

Within a year after this program aired on KUOM, construction began on a new indoor domed stadium in downtown Minneapolis.  The Kicks, Vikings, and Twins all played final games at Metropolitan Stadium in 1981.

The stadium was demolished in 1985 and the site was replaced by the Mall of Ameri...

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to the zoo, and ends with an important lesson.

Season 2: Episode 5. At the Zoo.

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 5.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives.  Today’s featured broadcast of the program Look What We Found is titled, “At the Zoo.”  It is an interview with a zookeeper from Como Zoo in St. Paul who introduced listeners to some new animals.  Normally on this podcast, I give a short introduction and then we listen to the historic broadcast. Due to something that happened after this program originally aired on March 30, 1978, we should meet the animals and hear from the zookeeper first. I’ll come back at the end to conclude the program.

Audio reel box for "Look What We Found... At the Zoo," March 30, 1978. Minnesota School of the Air.

 

Broadcast Transcript

[Music]

Various voices: I don’t believe it. You’ve got to be kidding… Whew… oh wow!

[Group exclamation] Look what we found!

Announcer: Come on you’ve been sitting there far too long. Join the Minnesota School of the Air as we take a field trip in sound to someplace you’ve probably never been, somewhere in and around the Twin Cities. And here to go with you are your hosts Walter, Patty, and Bill.

[Animal sounds]

Walter: Ok Patty, what’s that?

Patty: It’s guessing game time.

Bill: Well it’s definitely something alive.

Patty: That’s right Bill.

Walter: Sounds like a baby of some kind.

Patty: You’re right too Walter. It’s the voice of St. Paul’s youngest celebrity. He’s a lion cub that was born at Como Park Zoo last week.

Bill: Well, tell us some more.

Patty: Why don’t we listen instead to someone who really knows what she’s talking about. Joanne is a zookeeper at the zoo.  We talked about it and she told me that spring is her favorite time at the zoo and it’s because spring is the time for baby animals.

[Animal sounds]

Joanne: Pretty big ostrich… [Laugh]

Patty: What are the best parts of the job?

Joanne: The best parts… um, well some of the easiest… like right now in the springtime it’s, uh, duckling season, and baby cat season, and baby chicken and baby rabbit season. It’s time for babies, and that’s really my favorite time of the year because everything is kind of opening up and springtime in Minnesota is beautiful anyway and then when the animals are kind of adding to it it’s really nice and sometimes you get to bottle feed the babies and take care of our little zoo animals, so it’s really interesting.

Patty: Wasn’t there a new arrival here? A couple days ago?

Joanne: Yes, we had the birth of one lion cub which was male and he was born Friday. We’re not too sure. He wasn’t here Thursday night but he was here Friday morning.  So he was born Friday during the early hours of the morning. Um, Saturday throughout the day we had 3 tiger cubs born, and… Alexandra’s good at this… she usually picks a busy Saturday or Sunday always, and she usually starts about 9 in the morning and then she finished by a...

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to a clinic that's for the birds...

Season 2: Episode 4. A Clinic That’s for the Birds

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 4.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. Are you ready to take another field trip in sound on Look What We Found?  Today we’ll travel to the St. Paul campus to "A Clinic That’s for the Birds" – which also happens to be the title of the December 8, 1977 episode of Look What We Found.  If you haven’t yet deciphered the title of the broadcast, we are going on an audio tour of the Raptor Center.  The Raptor Center is a research and rehabilitation center for birds of prey which today cares for approximately 800 ill and injured raptors each year.

"A clinic that's for the birds" audio reel and playback note.

When the program “A Clinic That’s for the Birds,” aired in 1977, the Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program – as it was then known – was a relatively new program in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  The program was initiated with the research of Dr. Gary Duke in the early 1970s. According to a published history of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Duke’s area of study centered on the digestive systems of raptors.  He asked the Department of Natural Resources if they had any injured owls that he could examine, and the DNR brought 30 owls to him. Duke cared for their illnesses and injuries and developed methods to treat the birds with the hope of releasing them back into the wild. From 1972-1974 Duke and other veterinary students cared for 280 birds, 120 of which they were able to return to the outdoors.  After veterinary student Pat Redig graduated in 1974, the Mardag Foundation and the College of Veterinary Medicine offered funds to hire Redig to continue the raptor program. You will hear Redig in the broadcast as he gives a program producer and friends a tour of the raptor program facilities.

Information brochure for the Raptor Research & Rehabilitation Program, today's Raptor Center.

The Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program was housed in a building known as Temporary East of Haecker where Duke and Redig modified rooms to accommodate injured raptors. Other grants, including an annual grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supported their work and allowed them to start caring for the endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle.

Temporary East of Haecker and Veterinary Clinic, St. Paul Campus, 1954.

In 1988, with a donation from Don and Louise Gabbert, the Gabbert Raptor Center was built on the St. Paul campus and the rehabilitation program was renamed The Raptor Center.

So what did the Minnesota School of the Air intend to teach young students on this field trip broadcast? The teacher’s manual that was disseminated to educators offered clear suggestions for before and after broadcast discussions. Answer the questions “What is a bird of prey? What is an endangered species?

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners another way to go from Minneapolis to St. Paul!

Season 2: Episode 3. Another Way to Go From Minneapolis to St. Paul

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 3.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives.  Today’s field trip in sound on the program "Look What We Found" is more of a staycation.  On the November 17, 1977 episode, program announcers Walter, Patty, and Bill, gave a tour of the KUOM radio studios and interviewed the staff at the station.  The title of the program, “Another Way to Go From Minneapolis to St. Paul,” notes that the radio station is in more than one place: the studio, in Rarig Center on the West Bank campus in Minneapolis, and the transmitter located on the St. Paul campus.

Teacher’s manual description of the program

Before we listen to a guided tour of KUOM studios in Rarig Center in 1977, let’s look back at some other places on campus where KUOM was once located.  As early as 1912, Electrical Engineering professor Franklin Springer began experimenting with wireless telegraphy, and by 1914 the department was offering coursework in radio transmission and operation.  When Cyril M. Jansky, Jr. joined the department in 1920, he applied for an experimental license and began limited broadcasting under the call letters 9XI.  On January 13, 1922, the department received a non-commercial radio broadcast license and was assigned the call letters WLB. After a new Electrical Engineering Building was built on campus in 1925, the department outfitted the building with a radio studio where broadcasting continued in the spring of 1926.

Radio studio in the new Electrical Engineering Building, 1926

Radio equipment in the new Electrical Engineering Building, 1926

The April 17, 1926 edition of the Minnesota Alumni Weekly featured a description of the studio in the article, “U Has Complete Radio Plant.” The article stated that “The station has been under construction for some time, and consists of one room on the third floor of the Engineering building, fully equipped with a transmitter, microphone, and acoustical material. The walls are deadened and hung with heavy curtains. Wicker furniture and a grand piano are placed at the convenience of entertainers.”

In 1938, the University purchased a new transmitter that was erected on the St. Paul campus. A new home for the radio studio was made in Eddy Hall in 1939.

Radio station WLB transmitter, 1939

The University publication Minnesota Chats featured an article about the studio in Eddy on May 2, 1939 titled, “University Radio Station Busy in New Home.” The article stated, “The layout contains four studios for broadcasting, two of them large enough to accommodate casts of considerable size in dramatic or musical numbers, a main control room, a smaller control room adjoining the largest studio, ample office space, and air conditioning equipment made necessary by the fa...

By Rebecca Toov

You are listening to U of M Radio on your Historic Dial!

From 1938-1979, the Minnesota School of the Air brought educational programs into the classrooms of Minnesota and beyond over radio airwaves and through tape transcription. During the 1977-1978 season, School of the Air produced a series of radio “field trips” called Look What We Found, a program that introduced students to people and places in Minnesota. Join us this season as we revisit these radio field trips. Today’s episode takes listeners to a Vietnamese kitchen...

Season 2: Episode 2. Look What We Found! In a Vietnamese Kitchen

You are listening to U of M on your Historic Dial podcast. Welcome to Season 2: Episode 2.

Hi, this is Rebecca from University Archives. Today we return to looking back and listening to Look What We Found, a program of the Minnesota School of the Air that aired on University radio station KUOM from 1977-1978.  Forty years ago, on October 27, 1977, KUOM took a field trip in sound to Bamboo Village, a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Paul.

Audio reel-to-reel tape for "Look What We Found: In a Vietnamese Kitchen." Available in the University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records at the University of Minnesota Archives.

The teacher’s manual for the program suggested that before the broadcast the class should start a conversation about Asian cuisine.  "Are any of the children familiar with it?" the description questioned. "Does anyone know the differences between Chinese and Japanese food? Discuss the war in Vietnam. What do your students know about it? Talk about the history of Vietnam, from the French colonial period to the Communist victory."

Teacher's Manual for "Look What We Found: In a Vietnamese Kitchen." Available in the University of Minnesota Radio and Television Broadcasting records at the University of Minnesota Archives.

The Communist victory refers to the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975.  That event ended the Vietnam War and displaced millions of Southeast Asians.  In response, the U.S. Congress passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act that authorized over 400 million dollars in federal assistance for the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States.

In Minnesota, Governor Wendell Anderson established the Indochinese Resettlement Office to coordinate refugee relocation to the state. A task force was also established to create collaborations among federal agencies, state resources, and local charities to provide aid to incoming refugees.  An article in the Minneapolis Star published in November of 1977 estimated that Minnesota was then the new home to approximately 4,000 Southeast Asian refugees.

In this week’s episode of Look What We Found, titled "In A Vietnamese Kitchen," the producers teach an important lesson about cultural understanding by starting a conversation about cuisine. While interviewing the owner of Bamboo Village, Patty asked, "What made you decide to open a restaurant?" She replied, "I like a place where we can exchange the culture between the Vietnamese and the American and have something more to show, you know? We have a chance to interact with the American, to meet them on a day-to-day basis."

The After the Broadcast conversation suggestions in the teacher’s manual further reinforced her message.  The manual stated, "Discuss how food from different cultures differs and why. Discuss the problems of refugees entering an unfamiliar culture. If there are any Vietnamese families in your community, invite them to visit your class."