U of M Radio on Your Historic Dial University of Minnesota Archives

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.



a href="https://www.continuum.umn.edu/umnlib/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/KUOMProgramLog-March14-1985.

By Rebecca Toov



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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



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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...