A Guide to the Records of WRVA Radio Station 1925-1968 WRVA Radio Station, Records 9340; 9340-a

A Guide to the Records of WRVA Radio Station 1925-1968

A Collection in
The Special Collections Department
Accession Number 9340; 9340-a


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Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed by: Special Collections Department

Repository
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Accession number
9340; 9340-a
Title
Records of WRVA Radio Station 1925-1968
Physical Characteristics
This collection consists of 114 Hollinger boxes (ca. 50 shelf feet).
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Stored off-site. Users must request boxes 48 hours in advance of desired use. Neither drop-in nor next-day requests can be fulfilled. For additional information, contact Special Collections.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Records of WRVA Radio Station, Accession #9340; 9340-a, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The materials were a gift to the University of Virginia Library from the management of WRVA, and were picked up at the Richmond studio and Chesterfield County transmitter site by representatives of the Library in August, 1969.

Processing Information

The station logs, some ninety huge volumes, were included with the gift materials from the station, but the logs have been systematically microfilmed and the originals destroyed because of the problem of storage. The station management also kindly loaned its collection of historical tapes and discs, and those that seemed historically useful were copied on tape by the Library for addition to the collection. Finally, a number of scrapbooks containing newspaper listing of the daily programs of the station, and clippings, were discarded as the Library has files of the Richmond newspapers.

Biographical/Historical Information

Radio Station, WRVA, originally owned and operated by Larus and Brother Company, Richmond, Virginia, was inaugurated November 2, 1925. Broadcasting with a 1,000-watt transmitter, WRVA was the highest powered station in Virginia-- a position it has continued to occupy. As a civic and community station, it obtained program material from all sections of Virginia, developing musical talent and originating special events of Virginia, developing musical talent and originating special events broadcasts in increasing number. The non-commercial policy was modified of November 10, 1927, in order to accept a popular National Broadcasting Company (NBC) weekly series. On January 15, 1929, a 5,000-watt transmitter was placed in operation at Mechanicsville, five miles from Richmond, and studios in Hotel Richmond were occupied in May, 1933. In 1935 the first all-wood self-supporting radio tower in America was erected to support the WVRA antenna at its Mechanicsville site. One June 27, 1937, WRVA became an affiliate of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), continuing to broadcast some Mutual Broadcasting System programs until a full-time MBS affiliation was made in Richmond. The station began operating on a power of 50,000 watts on March 17, 1939, with its transmitter located on the James River ten miles from Richmond.

In 1946 when the owners of WRVA leased the Lyric Theatre, a former legitimate playhouse, for the purpose of presenting outstanding dramatic and musical attractions currently not appearing in Richmond, the theater stage became available for broadcasting programs by orchestras, bands, and choral groups requiring greater studio space. Broadcasts originating in this WRVA Theatre included the Saturday evening "Old Dominion Barn Dance" and other special productions presented before audiences in the 1,300-seat auditorium half a block from the Hotel Richmond studios of WRVA. WRVA's FM affiliates, WRVB near Richmond and WRVC in Norfolk, began operation in 1848.

WRVA from the time of its inauguration in 1925 was closely indentified with Virginia communities and with the civic, educational, governmental, cultural and entertainment life of the state. Leading talent from these communities broadcase from the station's studios, with community leaders speaking in regard to the historic, business and cultural aspects of their respective areas. Special events were covered by remote control from counties and cities in Virginia. Beginning with the adressof President Coolidge in Williamsburg in 1926, all visits to Virginia by United States Presidents were covered by WRVA. The station also handled proceedings incident to the inauguration of Virginia governors. From Williamsburg, WRVA broadcast numerous special events, including the biennial visit of the state legislature for a one-day session in the old capitol, occasions on which distinguished visitors are honored by the College of William and Mary and, after braodcasting from its studios the finals in the Virginia high school student competition in the Voice of Democracy Contest, the excercise in connection with the visit of the four national winners who come to Williamsburg as part of their award.

Other special events include keel-laying and christening of major ships of the U.S. Navy at Newport News and Norfolk, and such annual features as the Shenandoah Apple Blosson Festival in Winchester; National Tobacco Festival in Richmond; Mother's Day exercises at the home of the mother of George Washington in Fredericksburg; the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia; and anniversaries of the landings of the First Permanent English Settlers in America at Cape Henry and Jamestown and of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. WRVA special events included the White Top Mountain Folk Music Festival in Southwestern Virginia, Virginia Music Festival in Charlottesville, dedication of the restored McLean House at Appomattox where the War between the States ended, Richmond Bi-Centennial and numerous centennials and special observances of counties, cities, churches and colleges throughout Virginia. During World War Two, WRVA broadcast frequent programs from Camp Pickett, Fort Lee, Fort Eustis, Langley Field, Quantico Marine Base, and Norfolk Naval Base, and following the war, the ceremonies incident to visits to Virginia by General Eisenhower, Admirals Nimitz and Halsey and Prime Minister Churchill. WRVA's war correspondent, Jack Stone, the only radio correspondent from a Virginia radio station, covered the final action in the Phillipines, retaking of Manila, occupation of Japan and surrender ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri. War effort promotions included the sponsoring of deliverty of Savings Bonds to Richmond by Navy blimp.

In cooperation with the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce and non-profit Virginia Cruise Corporation, WRVA personnel conceived and broadcast a series of programs originating by short wave from aboard ships at sea to assist in promoting Virginia ports' importance to national and world commerce.

After covering all political campaigns, WRVA provided a complete news service for Primary and General Election returns with statements of winning and losing candidates from their homes or at studios. The public was invited to visit WRVA Election Night Headquarters in the studio newsroom or at the WRVA Theatre where an elaborate listing of returns could be seen on the stage. The congressman from the Third District, in which Richmond is located, has for several years broadcast regular weekly reports while Congress is in session.

One of the oldest radio programs of continuous existence in the nation is the Virginia Department of Agriculture Market Reports. Inaugurated in November, 1925, this 5-day-a-week program originates in the offices of the Division of Markets where the latest market news and quotations are available. Early morning farm programs brought to teh WRVA microphones the Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture and other authorities on matters of agricultural interest. Special agricultural events broadcast by WRVA include exercises at Hopewell incident to the corn-production-per-acre contest and Soil Conservation demonstrations in Mecklenburg and Charlotte counties.

WRVA, since it was inaugurated with a prayer of dedication, has been closely identified with the religious interests of Virginia. The station's 25th anniversary was opened with an inter-faith observance in Richmond's largest auditorium with ministerial leaders and choirs of Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic affiliation participating in a program in which the WRVA facilities were rededicated to the religious life of the community. On this occasion, leading chruchmen offered voluntary tribute to the station's quarter of a century of service to Virginia churches. WRVA has continued to enjoy the cooperation of ministerial associations, the Virginia Council of Churches, and other religious organizations.

WRVA for a number of years broadcast the Easter Sunrise service at the State Capitol grounds in Richmond under auspices of the Richmond Federation of Christian Young People; the Thanksgiving Day service from historic Leigh Street Baptist Church; a Christmas Eve Protestant service; and, the midnight Pontifical Mass from Sacred Heart Cathedral with the Bishop of the Richmond Catholic Diocese as celebrant. WRVA broadcast features in connection with religious events such as church dedications and conventions.

Educational programs produced and presented by WRVA included the Schools and Cross-roads forum under PTA auspices with educators, parents, and business and civic leaders participating, and the annual University of Richmond Scholarship Quiz in which high school students in Virginia counties and cities participated in comprehensive examinations in the classrooms and before WRVA microphones in various school auditoriums with winners receiving scholarships to the University of Richmond.

In 1968, Larus and Brother Company reorganized and became the Larus Investing Company. In July 1968, WRVA AM and FM became, respectively, WRVA Radio, Inc. and WRVA-FM Radio, Inc., subsidiary corporations of the Larus Investing Company. Larus Investing Company sold its entire WRVA stock in November 1969 to Southern Broadcasting Company of Winston, Salem, North Carolina. Harte-Hanks Newspapers, Inc., purchased Southern Broadcasting Company, including WRVA-AM and WRVA-FM in August 1977. Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc., sold the radio stations to Edens Broadcasting Company, a company formed by the senior managers of Harte-Hanks Radio, Inc., a subsidiary of Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. in December 1984.

WRVA was sold to Force II Communication, L.P., of San Diego in September 1991, and in the spring of 1992, Clear Channel Communications bought WRVA and is the current owner.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of 114 boxes of papers, tape recordings of broadcasts, scrapbooks, printed materials, 1925-1968, etc., (ca. 50 shelf feet) from the files of Richmond Radio Station WRVA, Virginia's only 50,000 watt clear channel AM radio station.

A large segment of the collection is devoted to the files of Walter R. Bishop. These files, created by the station's public relations manager, begin in the first month of broadcasting and continue until Bishop's death in 1963. They demonstrate the influence which his work had over station policy. Bishop was a religious and conservative man with great gifts of energy and friendliness. His correspondence with many state and national figures in broadcasting, politics, the church, and business, is all present, as is much material on Bishop's private life, civic activities, church, work, etc.

Soon after his arrival at the station, the manager made Bishop WRVA's "roving ambassador of goodwill," and ordered him to join every organization in sight, and to publicize their activities over WRVA. He plunged enthusiastically into his work, and became a leader in many of the organizations which he joined. Soon the connections became so close that Bishop's life became very nearly a barometer of Richmond's civic life and activity.

The great strength of the collection is its detailed documentation of the services of civic awareness, inspiration, and solidarity a radio station can provide for its community. WRVA's pre-eminent status among Richmond stations--for some time it had the highest average rating in the nation--and its unswerving devotion to these same public-spirited ideals make it a perfect object of studyfor the researcher seeking examples of the realization of certain aspects of radio's potential as a mass medium.

Unfortunately, some of the station's files were destroyed when the station moved from its old quarters in the Hotel Richmond to its new office and studio building at 22nd and Grace Streets. Thus, there is practically no material on the relationship between the station and Larus and Brother, its original owners, for instance.

Other materials, such as much of the historical files of the first years of the station, were borrowed from Mr. Calvin T. Lucy, the first station manager, and microfilmed (See accession no. 9040-a) by the University of Virginia Library.

WRVA broadcast church services and speeches of local civic leaders, politicians, and educators to a far greater extent than strictly necessary to evidence a perfunctory concern with such matters. From the earliest times WRVA proved its desire to create a strong civic awareness in Richmond. Its success as a station and the widespread acceptance of many of the station's ideals show how pervasive has been its influence.

Organization

Series I:
Boxes 1-28: This group comprises three files on the station's everyday happenings kept by Walter R. Bishop. The years 1942, 1946-1948, and 1954-1963 are present. Bishop died 5 May 1963, and information after that date is sketchy.
Boxes 1-11: File for 1942: An excellent, complete picture of the problems of operating a radio station during World War II: restrictions, propaganda, news, and advertising, all aimed at the war effort.
Boxes 12-16: Files for 1946-1948
Boxes 16a-28: Files for 1954-1963

Series II:
Boxes 29-42: Economic and Technical Growth Files, 1939-1961. These fourteen boxes contain information about advertising, personnel, construction, transmitters, budgets, and other aspects of WRVA's economic and technical growth. One files on advertisers, 1940-1942, has survived.
Boxes 29-34: WRVA advertisers, 1940-1942
Boxes 35-39: Station Finances, 1939-1961. Very valuable materials on station expenses and dealings with the Federal Communications Commission. There are several budgets, office memos, and data on sale of air time to political candidates and agencies. How this was alloted may be of special interest. In Box 39 there is material on the stations' business in the first year of its existence, and in box 40, several journals and ledgers.
Box 40: WRVA Advertising History. Data on a few special aspects of WRVA's advertising in the past.
Boxes 41-42: Scientific, Personnel Material. Data on the growth of WRVA's physical plant, demonstrating how often it had proven necessary to discard old ideas, machines, and even station locations. Other information on personnel and personnel policies is in box 43.

Series III:
Boxes 43-81: Walter R. Bishop Files, 1925-1963.
Boxes 43-44: "Bishop's Cracker Barrel ", 1955-1963. Material used on a folksy-chat type of radio program treating Virginia politics, the state of the nation, etc., and which presents perhaps the best opportunity to delve into Bishop's mind to see how his ideas interacted with the potential of broadcasting to create an actual program.
Boxes 45-51: Bishop Personal Material. Undifferentiated personal materials come first, followed by Naval Affairs in box 48, Financial Affairs, box 50, and Letters in box 52.
Boxes 52-64: Bishop's Public Relations and Civic Activities Files.
Boxes: 65-76: Religious Miscellany
Boxes: 77-81: Political Miscellany

Series IV:
Boxes 82-114: Miscellaneous Station Files, 1933-1962. This section contains chiefly general purpose files from the station, but included is some material on the history of the early years of the station, plus a short file of materials on anniversaries and other observances.

Series V:
(Microfilm) Station Logs from 1925-: These logs, required by the Federal Communications Commission, record the minute-by-minute broadcast activities of the station. The three earliest logs were borrowed from Mr. Calvin T. Lucy for filming and the originals were returned to him. The other original logs were destroyed as filming was completed.

Series VI:
(Tape recordings): Copy tapes of materials from the station's historical filee of discs and tapes of significant national and local broadcasts.

Related Material

The Library of Virginia holds another substantial collection of material from WRVA Radio Station. The collection spans the years 1925-2000 and contains applause letters, minutes, anniversary booklets, program scripts, program guides, newsletters, histories, interviews, employee questionnaires, sales manuals, audience and sales promotions, rate cards, listener surveys, posters, newspaper clippings, FCC applications and reports, drawings, photographs,and sound recordings. The guide to the collection is available online.

Additional Descriptive Data

Contents List

Series I: Daily Events Files
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Series II: Economic and Technical Files
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Series III: Walter R. Bishop Files 1925-1963
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Series IV: Miscellaneous Station Files 1933-1962
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Station Logs from 1925-

original vols. destroyed after microfilming

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Tape Recordings of Material from WRVA Archives
All tapes, with exception of no. 1, are recorded on one side only. All tapes should be played at 3 3/4 ips.
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