Guide to the Washington State University Murrow College of Communication Event Recordings 1973-2002
Archives 318

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Creator
Washington State University Murrow College of Communication
Title
Washington State University Murrow College of Communication Event Recordings
ID
Archives 318
Date [inclusive]
1973-2002
Extent
2 linear feet, 2 boxes
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
This collection comprises Murrow-related recordings of the 1973 dedication of the Murrow Communications Center, various Murrow symposia from the 1970s until 2002, and the 1994 Murrow Postage Stamp dedication ceremony.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] WSU Murrow College of Communication Event Recordings 1973-2002 (Archives 318)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965), the distinguished radio and television journalist, was an alumnus of Washington State College (WSC). Hired by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1935, Murrow worked for CBS until 1961 and then headed the U.S. Information Agency until 1964. Murrow became known first for his "This is … London" radio broadcasts during the Second World War and then as a television journalist who demonstrated the power of the new medium in his documentaries exposing Senator Joseph McCarthy's red-baiting and later the wretched conditions endured by migrant laborers in the United States. Throughout his lifetime, Murrow acknowledged his alma mater in word and deed, returning to campus to speak and to offer his voice to projects such as the 1952 promotional film "This is W.S.C."

Washington State University recognized the Murrow legacy in eponymous building and program names, lecture series, and awards. In 1973 WSU renamed the home of its communications programs after Murrow when the old Science Hall later Arts Hall connected by a skyway to a new building became the Edward R. Murrow Communications (later Communication) Center. That year also began a panel discussion and lecture series focused on media issues named the Murrow Symposium. The symposium welcomed over the next two and a half decades prominent journalists such as Howard K. Smith, Charles Kuralt, Ted Koppel, and Diane Sawyer. Beginning in 1997, the Murrow Symposium expanded to add recognition of communication leaders through the Edward R. Murrow Award. Sam Donaldson, Ted Turner, Christiane Amanpour, former Murrow colleague Daniel Schorr, and Tom Brokaw are among those to receive the award.

During his college years that began in 1926, Murrow studied radio broadcasting in one of the first courses offered in the nation in that field. He graduated in 1930 with a Speech degree and held in high regard the people and the training at WSC. The Speech Department's broadcasting courses that prepared Murrow were merged in 1964 with the Journalism Department to create the Department of Communications. In 1990 that department became the Murrow School of Communication and in 2008 the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.

Murrow's lifelong connection to Washington State University was acknowledged again in 1994 when WSU in the Edward R. Murrow Communication Center hosted the dedication of the U.S. postage stamp honoring Murrow's achievements, the first broadcast journalist honored with a commemorative stamp.

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Scope and Content

This collection comprises Murrow-related recordings of the 1973 dedication of the Murrow Communications Center, various Murrow symposia from the 1970s until 2002, and the 1994 Murrow Postage Stamp dedication ceremony. The collection consists of audio and video materials in a myriad of formats.

Reel-to-reel audio recordings preserve talks delivered at the 1973 Murrow Communications Center dedication including those by Murrow's widow Janet and the speakers at the first Murrow Symposium: CBS News commentator Eric Sevareid and Harry Ashmore, Pulitzer-Prize winning editorial writer on the 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas, school desegregation and in 1973 President of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. The theme for the symposium was "Threats to the Public's Right to Know."

The next recording is a single audio cassette from the 1978 Murrow Symposium of the keynote address delivered by Richard Wald, then vice president of ABC News and former president of NBC News. That year featured Howard K. Smith of ABC News speaking about the First Amendment and broadcasting. Fifteen audio reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes preserve more of the 1979 symposium, which centered on the topic of "international rights and media news flow." Held before the Iranian hostage crisis began, the symposium featured Ted Koppel who by the end of the year anchored the nightly update on the crisis in the program that would become ABC News Nightline.

In 1980, the Murrow Symposium's theme was "Mass Media and the Political Process: Reshaping American Democracy." Seven audio cassettes record many of the talks given by regional media representatives and also a panel moderated by Richard Leonard of the Milwaukee Journal newspaper. The symposium in 1981 centered on the "information society" with PBS President Robben Fleming speaking on "The Future of Telecommunications." Three reel-to-reel audio tapes seem to preserve addresses from that symposium that were aired later as a KWSU special report.

The collection then jumps to the 1983 symposium, which marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of Murrow's birth with a program titled: "The Murrow Heritage: A Challenge for Tomorrow." Speakers included Walter Cronkite, Charles Kuralt, Diane Sawyer, and others but only Fred Friendly's "Socratic discussion" is preserved here on video tape. Friendly, the former president of CBS News, by that time was well known for his Socratic discussions on PBS that became the Fred Friendly Seminars.

The next recordings are video tapes from ABC News senior correspondent Bettina Gregory's 1988 Edward R. Murrow Symposium lecture entitled, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of TV News." Video recordings of FCC Chair Albert Sykes's address at the 1992 symposium and then Charles Kuralt's address in 1993 follow. At the 1996 symposium, WSU alumnus and ABC sports broadcaster Keith Jackson sat on a panel discussing inter-collegiate athletics which is preserved here on reel-to-reel video tape and cassettes.

The final symposia included are VHS recordings of Bernard Shaw's 2001 and Daniel Schorr's 2002 addresses as Murrow Award winners.

Concluding the collection, six video tapes documented the 1994 dedication at WSU of a postage stamp honoring Murrow and the media coverage of it.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series:

Series 1: Murrow Communications Center Dedication and First Murrow Symposium, 1973. This series consists of five reel-to-reel audio tapes.

Series 2: Murrow Symposium, 1978-2002. This series offers discontinuous coverage of years and generally incomplete recording of individual symposia and includes audio and video recordings in a variety of formats.

Series 3: Murrow Postage Stamp Dedication, 1994. This series consists of six video tapes recording the dedication ceremony at WSU on 21 January 1994 as well as media coverage of that event.

Arrangement is chronological, but for ease of storage within Series 2 two large 1996 Murrow Symposium open reel videotapes are in the first box and thus out of chronological sequence. Series 2 media are divided into audio then video within each box.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2012

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Revision Description

  

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Acquisition Information

This collection consists of audio and video recordings related to Edward R. Murrow and his legacy at Washington State University (WSU), drawn from numerous accessions donated between 1991 and 2008 to the WSU Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) by several WSU departments. Accessions drawn from to create this collection are: UA 1991-29, MS 2002-17, UA 2003-02, UA 2006-07, UA 2006-11, UA 2006-13, UA 2007-02, and UA 2008-15. Detailed documentation of each accession is in the processing file.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Susan Vetter.

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Related Materials

Related Material

PC 3: WSU Buildings, Photographs, 1892- [contains program for 1973 Murrow Communications Center dedication]

PC 53: Murrow Symposium U-Matic Videocassettes, Pullman, Washington, April 23-25, 1978

Archives 216: Assistant to the President, Records, 1954-1985 [files related to 1973 Murrow Hall dedication].

Archives 286: Beasley Coliseum, Event Recordings, 1980-1993 [Murrow Symposia recordings].

Archives 287: NWPR (Northwest Public Radio), Audio Recordings, 1973-1999 [Murrow Symposia recordings].

Archives 320: WSU Presents [includes Murrow Symposia addresses as well as the Murrow Stamp dedication]

WSU 101-1: WSU Publications, Communications Department [Communicator and other Communications Department newsletters refer to Murrow symposia and their speakers].

WSU 101-2: WSU Publications, Communications Department [Murrow event documents include programs and publicity for Murrow Symposia and Murrow Stamp dedication].

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Washington State University. Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
  • Edward R. Murrow Symposium -- Washington State University

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Murrow, Edward R.
  • Murrow, Edward R. -- Congresses

Subject(s)

  • Colleges and Universities
  • Washington (State)

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Formats

All items in the collection are recordings: thirteen 1/4" reel-to-reel (open reel) audio tapes; seventeen standard 1/8" audio cassettes; two 1" reel-to-reel (open reel) Type C video tapes; three 3/4" U-matic small video cassettes (so-called "field" cassettes that are camera-sized measuring 7 1/4" x 4 5/8" x 1 3/16"); eight 3/4" U-matic standard video cassettes; one 3/4" U-matic SP standard video cassette (8 5/8"x5 3/8" x 1 3/16"); eleven 1/2" VHS tapes; and two DVD copies of U-matic tapes. U-matic SP, developed in the mid-1980s, offered superior picture quality but only when played on an SP deck. Though playing U-matic SP cassettes on standard U-matic decks negates the picture improvement, playback is possible. The reel-to-reel video tape, however, presents a playback problem. Type C video tape is helical scan magnetic tape format used from the mid-1970s until the 1990s in professional television broadcasts. Machines on which to play the Type C tape are increasingly rare.

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Detailed Description of Collection

Series 1 Murrow Communications Center Dedication and First Murrow Symposium 1973 

Audio 

box item

Murrow Hall Dedication: Eric Sevareid, CBS Senior Correspondent, press conference at Murrow Hall dedication, 30 min. 1/4" open reel audio tape, 7.5 IPS, 1973 [April 27] 

1 1

Murrow Hall Dedication: Question and answer period with Henry Loomis, president of CPB and WSU faculty members during a press conference at the dedication of Murrow Hall in 1973. 45 min. 1/4" open reel audio tape, 7.5 IPS, 1973 [April 27] 

1 1A

Murrow Hall Dedication: Tape 1 Murrow Symposium featuring Eric Sevareid and Harry Ashmore, introduction by Don Wells, Chm., Dept. of Communications at WSU followed by address by Eric Sevareid., 50 min. 1/4" open reel audio tape, 7.5 IPS, 1973 [April 27] 

2

Murrow Hall Dedication: Tape 2 Murrow Symposium featuring Eric Sevareid and Harry Ashmore, introduction by Don Wells, Chm., Dept. of Communications at WSU followed by address by Harry Ashmore and then into Question and Answer period to end of tape., 27 min. 1/4" open reel audio tape, 7.5 IPS, 1973 [April 27] 

3

Murrow Hall Dedication: Tape 3 Murrow Symposium featuring Eric Sevareid and Harry Ashmore, final portion of Question and Answer period., 65 min. 1/4" open reel audio tape, 7.5 IPS, 1973 [April 27] 

4

Murrow Hall Dedication: Murrow Building Dedication. Opens with President Glenn Terrell introducing Henry Loomis for Dedicatory Address. Actual dedication performed by Mrs. Henry Owens, President, WSU Borad of Regents. Response to dedication by Mrs. Edward R. Murrow., 48 min. 1/4" open reel audio tape, 7.5 IPS, 1973 [April 28] 

4A

Murrow Hall Dedication: Janet [Mrs. Edward R.] Murrow's address given at Alpha Epsilon Rho Awards Banquet on occasion of the dedication of Murrow Hall, 34 min. 1/4" open reel audio tape, 7.5 IPS, 1972 April [1973 April 28] 

5

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Series 2 Murrow Symposium 1978-2002 

Audio 

box item

1978 Murrow Symposium: Richard Wald [Vice President ABC News], 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, 1978 April 24 

6

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape 3, 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1979 March 16] 

7

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape 4, 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1979 March 16] 

8

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape AA-1, 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1979 March 17] 

9

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape AB-2, 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1979 March 17] 

10

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape AC-3, 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1979 March 17] 

11

1979 Murrow Symposium: Koppel: Thursday, 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979 March 15] 

12

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape #1, 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979] 

13

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape #2, 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979] 

14

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape #3, 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979] 

15

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape #4 Friday afternoon, 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979 March 16] 

16

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape #5, 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979] 

17

1979 Murrow Symposium: Tape #6, 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979] 

18

1979 Murrow Symposium: Scates/Read [Shelby Scates, political columnist Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and William Read, writer and broadcaster for the Voice of America], 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979] 

19

1979 Murrow Symposium: Read Add [William Read, writer and broadcaster for the Voice of America], 1/8" tape standard audio cassette, [1979] 

20

[1981] Murrow Symposium #1: 810601, 57:46 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1981?] 

21

[1981] Murrow Symposium #2: 810602 @3:00 pm Meske, 59:04 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1981?] 

22

[1981] Murrow Symposium #3: KWSU Special Report on the Future of the Telecommunication Industry with host Phil Meske, 810603, 60:36 1/4" open reel audio tape, [1981?] 

23

Video 

box item

1996 Murrow Symposium: Tape 1, A roll, 1" Open reel video tape Type C, 1996 April 16 

24

1996 Murrow Symposium: Tape 2, 1" Open reel video tape Type C, 1996 April 16 

25

Audio 

box item

1980 Murrow Symposium: Nimmo Lunch Speech [Dan Nimmo, prof of poly sci at U of TN at Knoxville, specialist in political communication], Leonard Dinner Speech [Richard Leonard of Milwaukee Journal], 1/8" tape Standard Audio cassette, 1980 February 29, 1980 March 1 

2 26

1980 Murrow Symposium: Garcia Keynote Address [David Garcia of ABC News], 1/8" tape Standard Audio cassette, 1980 February 27 

27

1980 Murrow Symposium: Thurs. morning #1 and 2, 1/8" tape Standard Audio cassette, 1980 February 28 

28

1980 Murrow Symposium: Thurs. morning #3 and 4, 1/8" tape Standard Audio cassette, 1980 February 28 

29

1980 Murrow Symposium: Thurs. afternoon #1 and 2, 1/8" tape Standard Audio cassette, 1980 February 28 

30

1980 Murrow Symposium: Thurs. afternoon #3 and 4, 37:20 1/8" tape Standard Audio cassette, 1980 February 28 

31

1980 Murrow Symposium: Friday, 1/8" tape Standard Audio cassette, 1980 February 29 

32

Video 

box item

1983 Murrow Symposium: Socratic Discussion led by Fred Friendly, Part 1, 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1983 

2 33

1983 Murrow Symposium: MASC-produced (2009) DVD copy of above, Digital Video DVD, 1983 

34

1983 Murrow Symposium: Socratic Discussion led by Fred Friendly, Part 2, 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1983 

35

1983 Murrow Symposium: MASC-produced (2009) DVD copy of above, Digital Video DVD, 1983 

36

1988 Murrow Symposium: Bettina Gregory Address, Tape 1, 3/4" U-matic small cassette, 1988 

36.1

1988 Murrow Symposium: Bettina Gregory Address, Tape 2, 3/4" U-matic small cassette, 1988 

36.2

1988 Murrow Symposium: Bettina Gregory Address, Tape 3, 3/4" U-matic small cassette, 1988 

36.3

1992 Murrow Symposium: Alfred Sykes Address, Tape 1, 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1992 April 23 

37

1992 Murrow Symposium: Alfred Sykes Address, Tape 2, 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1992 April 23 

38

1993 Murrow Symposium: Charles Kuralt Address, Tape 1, 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1993 April 1 

39

1993 Murrow Symposium: Charles Kuralt Address, Tape 2, 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1993 April 1 

40

1996 Murrow Symposium: Keith Jackson and Panel (discussing inter-collegiate sports), Tape 1, 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1996 [April 16] 

41

1996 Murrow Symposium: Keith Jackson and Panel (discussing inter-collegiate sports), Tape 2, 3/4" U-matic SP standard cassette, 1996 [April 16] 

42

2001 Murrow Symposium: Bernard Shaw, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 2001 

43

2001 Murrow Symposium: Bernard Shaw, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 2001 

44

2002 Murrow Symposium: WSU - Daniel Schorr Symposium 1X:30 [30 sec. promo], K5 Seattle, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 2002 March 27 

45

2002 Murrow Symposium: WSU Symposium Revised 1X:30 [30 sec. promo], K5 Seattle, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 2002 April 1 

46

2002 Murrow Symposium: Daniel Schorr, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 2002 April 10 

47

2002 Murrow Symposium: KWSU/KTNW, Daniel Schorr, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 2002 April 10 

48

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Series 3 Murrow Postage Stamp Dedication 1994 

Video 

box item

[Murrow Stamp]: Rep. Foley/Smith (Stamp) Heng on tape label [promos?], 00:01:05 3/4" U-matic standard cassette, 1994 Jan. 11 

49

Murrow Stamp: Coverage of Murrow Stamp on KBCI (Boise), KIRO (Seattle), KREM (Spokane), KRQE (Albuquerque), KLAS (Las Vegas), KLEW (Lewiston), 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 1994 January 

50

Murrow Stamp: Coverage Murrow Stamp - CBS-TV "This Morning" and KWSU on Cable 8, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 1994 January 21 

51

Edward R. Murrow Stamp Dedication Ceremony: also includes Dan Rather 1993 RTNDA @ Miami, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 1994 January 21 

52

Edward R. Murrow Stamp Dedication Ceremony [USPS Murrow Stamp]: , 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 1994 January 21 

53

Edward R. Murrow Stamp Dedication Ceremony: Duplicate?, 1/2" VHS standard cassette, 1994 January 21 

54

 

 

Processing file, includes detailed documentation of recordings by original accession as well as copies of articles about the 1973 Murrow Center dedication from the WSU Daily Evergreen newspaper and from the Department of Communications newsletter, newspaper articles and newsletters about various Murrow symposia to verify speakers on media, and Daily Evergreen and Washington Post coverage of the 1994 Murrow Postage Stamp dedication. Paper. 

55

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