In the fall of 1920, radio station KDKA, Pittsburgh, made history.

On a November night, the fledgling operation broadcast election results from the presidential race, and it asked anyone who heard those results to let the station know. A lot of people had heard and a lot of them responded. The ways in which we communicated would not be the same again.

AM stations proliferated over the next decade. Hundreds of them, like ants at a picnic, clogged the limited airwaves, stepping on each other's signals. From a mere 30 stations in 1921, the total grew to 600 two years later. By 1925, the Department of Commerce issued more than 1,400 station authorizations. The new technology captured the public's imagination--and wallet. In 1923, there were some 600,000 receiving sets in the U.S.; by 1930, 14 million; by 1940, 44 million.

It didn't take radio long to discover standard formats that proved to be immensely captivating, popular and long-lived: drama, comedy, music, sports, news.

Beginnings of broadcasting at KSU

Kent State College didn't wait long, either, to get involved with the exciting new method of communication. In the early 1930s, while Buryl Engleman was working on developing his print journalism curriculum, others at the college already were participating in the new broadcast medium and making plans for its academic future.

Students and faculty were becoming enthusiastic about radio and Kent's participation in it. Some people began talking about installing a wire from Kent State to some area station so that programs produced on campus could be broadcast from campus. Advocates saw radio not only as an outlet for student and faculty talent but, also, as a wonderful way to generate publicity for the growing college.

G. Harry Wright taught early radio classes.

In early 1935, E. Turner Stump, head of the Department of Speech, told the Kent Stater that giving performances and speeches on radio was "a splendid type of publicity, and the radio is undeniably a new instrument of education that has vital and increasing importance." He declared, prophetically: "In fact, I actually look for the time when we'll have a broadcasting station on the campus." Stump added that it would be easy for the Speech

Department to provide student or faculty-written one-act plays on a weekly basis, if that were necessary.

About the same time, another significant event took place that set in motion the long-term full development of radio broadcasting at Kent State. One morning in the spring of 1935, a sheet of paper appeared on the Speech Department's bulletin board. It was a petition signed by 20 students, asking that a radio broadcasting course be offered at Kent. And, the petition declared, the students would very much like said course to be offered by the next term, Fall Semester 1935.

Students ask for a radio course

Rarely have student requests been granted so quickly. That fall, Speech 374, Radio Speaking, was on the books and in the classroom. Teaching the course was an associate professor of speech whose primary expertise was in theater (and who later became head of the theater division of Speech), G[for George] Harry Wright. The developing program could not have had a more enthusiastic or devoted sponsor. Stump also proved to be a strong supporter of the course and of radio development on campus.

Radio Speaking carried two prerequisites, Speech Construction and Delivery and Speech Interpretation. The course was to provide instruction in radio speaking, microphone technique, radio dramatics, and program building. Offered only during the fall semester at first, demand quickly made it necessary to offer the course both semesters. By 1938, the 3-credit Radio Speaking class was being offered in the summer as well.

What! You need equipment?

Cramming a course into the curriculum as rapidly as Radio Speaking had been, however, led to a few "minor" early drawbacks. First, there were no microphones on which to learn "microphone technique." Indeed, there was next to no equipment.

Second, there were no outlets for any broadcasts. Students stood behind curtains and delivered their scripts, and other members of the class criticized from out front. Third, even if there were equipment, and even if there were a radio outlet, there was no studio in which the class could work.

Cold, dark, damp and in no wise cheerful

Like many speech classes (including Speech Correction), Radio Speaking was taught in a room in the basement of Kent Hall. Wright described it: "This room has the advantage of isolation from other university activities, but it is cold, damp, dark, and in no wise cheerful. The floor is of concrete and in damp weather it is frequently flooded. In addition, the room is inaccessible from other parts of the building."

Before long, though, a tiny room down the hall--some said it was a closet--was cleaned out and offered to Wright. It was as bad as the classroom. The room was partitioned to form a control room and a studio, with a window between the two.

A small public address system was installed, allowing simulation of broadcasts. Black curtains (recycled from the auditorium stage) on the walls and a crude partition helped deaden extraneous sounds. Wright again, writing in 1939: "This room, too, is inadequate for its purposes. At one time, there was an old rug, donated by one of the dormitories, on the floor, but it has not been in use since the basement was badly flooded a few months ago.

Tom Bates and Stan Mouse on Radio Workshop.

"The equipment is set up on tables rescued from various scrap heaps about the university." It was here, with low-hanging pipes and a wet floor, that Kent State radio broadcasting was initiated.

But, even with a "studio" in place, Wright wanted his course to be more than theoretical and internal. He wanted real-world conditions and an external audience. So, he negotiated with Akron station, WJW, to broadcast a weekly half hour of programming generated and developed by students in the Radio Speaking class. During 1936 and 1937, Wright's classes continued to produce weekly programming, usually for WADC.

To serve what master?

While the future looked bright, there were some fundamental philosophical differences taking root relating to the use of radio at Kent State. Initially, the only purpose for getting air time was to provide laboratory experience for students in the Radio Speech class.

Others, such as Speech Department head, E. Turner Stump, and the university president, saw radio programming as a potentially powerful publicity device for the university. Still others viewed radio as a teaching tool, a device that could deliver adult education programming. Wright wrote in 1939: "We ran into the difficulty of confused objectives. We found ourselves trying to train undergraduates, to publicize the university, and to educate the general public, all on one program. This, of course, was impossible."

Formalizing the radio program

To help alleviate the problem, Wright suggested two things to President Engleman. First, provide the Radio Speaking class with more and better equipment and facilities. Second, appoint a faculty committee to develop and administer a university radio program of activities; the committee would have jurisdiction over all radio broadcasting at the university, except for the Radio Speaking class.

President Engleman had a strong, and growing, interest in Kent State's involvement in radio, and he agreed with Wright's suggestions. Money became available to buy some equipment that, as one person said, "made it possible to simulate studio conditions on the campus." Even better facilities would come later.

And, in 1937 Engleman appointed a Faculty Committee on Radio Activities. The Radio Activities Committee worked hard, coordinating all radio broadcasts involving the college and anyone affiliated with it. In October of that year, Kent State received more radio coverage--more media coverage--

President Leebrick

than at any time in its history. More than 100 radio stations, nationally, carried all or parts of the inauguration of new president, Karl C. Leebrick of Syracuse University. The new emphasis on radio generated even more student interest in radio. About that time, Wright made a major announcement, one that would force and shape the development of student broadcasting at Kent. He revealed plans to create a

"Radio Workshop" the next year (1940), where participation would be on an audition basis "much in the manner of the present University Theatre."

The Radio Workshop, Wright said, would be an extra-curricular activity open to any university student, and regular broadcasts would be made on area stations. That would allow all members of the student body an outlet "for whatever talent they may have in this field."

Speech 374, Radio Speaking, was to serve as a sort of "feeder" course for the new organization, but the two clearly were to be separate operations. Wright noted that the students in Radio Speaking did not broadcast under the name of the university, nor regularly appear on any station. Broadcasts under the new Radio Workshop would be limited to "dramatic or educational" programs.

The workshop would be an extracurricular activity with regular scheduled programming on specific area stations. And, it would be instantly popular. Entering the 1940s, radio at Kent State was flexing its muscles. Dozens of students were signing up for the one available course each semester and, literally, hundreds were about to try out for the new Radio Workshop.

On the print side, the resignation of Buryl Engleman in 1936 left the growing program in a lurch. Enter Bill Taylor. Read more

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