WSB Radio Log Books

The Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) is pleased to announce the addition of the WSB radio logs to the DLG and to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).

View collection: http://bit.ly/U7312q

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WSB program log, September 1937

The radio logs document programming in the early years of WSB Radio, Atlanta’s first radio broadcast station. The logs, which span 1922 to 1949, document WSB programming during the “Golden Age of Radio.” They contain a combination of program listings, technical information, and transcriptions of radio “conversations” between engineers at WSB and ham radio operators. The shows included market reports, weather forecasts, news, old-time and gospel music performed by regional musicians, game shows, variety acts, and soap operas.  Many programs and performers included in the logs are recognizable today, such as Guiding Light, Dick Tracy, Eddie Cantor, and the Ziegfeld Follies.

WSB (“Welcome South, Brother”) Radio, was created on March 15, 1922, when it broadcast “Light Cavalry Orchestra” at a power of 100 watts. Originally owned by The Atlanta Journal, the station was first located in a makeshift studio on the fifth floor of The Journal building on Forsyth Street in downtown Atlanta.  Hailed as the “Voice of the South,” WSB Radio was a pioneer, being the first station to adopt a slogan, broadcast a complete church service, and employ radio as an educational medium by establishing “WSB’s University of the Air.” These were daily broadcasts conducted by the faculties of Georgia Tech, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and Cox College. WSB was also the first station to use a musical signature, a practice later adopted by NBC. When the station became an affiliate of NBC in 1927, its programming expanded to include commercials. The logs are a rich resource for those interested in radio broadcasting history, early 20th century radio advertising, and Georgia’s cultural and technological contributions to the “Golden Age of Radio.”

As a service hub for the DPLA, the Digital Library of Georgia provides digitization and metadata assistance for its partner institutions around the state. The DLG also aggregates and shares metadata about digital items with the DPLA, allowing the DPLA to act as a portal to these collections. Thanks to grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Arcadia Fund, the Digital Library of Georgia has digitized and described these items for inclusion in both the DLG and the DPLA.

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Mercer Cluster Archive Now Available

The Digital Library of Georgia and the Mercer University Libraries are pleased to announce the availability of a new online resource: The Mercer Cluster Archive.

http://mercercluster.galileo.usg.edu/

The Mercer Cluster Archive is an online database of Mercer University’s Macon campus newspaper that provides access to over fifty years of the publication ranging from 1920 to 1970. Consisting of over 5,000 newspaper pages, the archive provides images that are both full-text searchable and can be browsed by date. The images were scanned from microfilm held by the Mercer University Libraries’ Special Collections.

Mercer University was established as a private Baptist-affiliated school in 1833 in Penfield, Georgia, where ministerial students were trained in manual labor as well as classical studies. In 1871, the school moved from Penfield to Macon, where one of its campuses remains. The Mercer Cluster began publication as the university’s longest-running student newspaper in 1920. The paper is named for school founder Jesse Mercer’s hymnal, The Cluster of Spiritual Songs, Divine Hymns, and Sacred Poems. Since its inception the newspaper has covered stories and editorials about campus events, sports, sororities and fraternities, local issues, religious affairs, and club activities. The new Mercer Cluster Archive will allow users to explore twentieth century student life at Mercer University from the convenience of their computer.

The Mercer Cluster Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia, a GALILEO initiative that shares Georgia’s history and culture online. Digitization is made possible by the Mercer University Libraries.

Other newspaper archives available through the Digital Library of Georgia include the Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive (1847-1922), the South Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive (1845-1922), the Macon Telegraph Archive (1826-1908), the Columbus Enquirer Archive (1828-1890), the Athens Historic Newspapers Archive (1827-1928), the Milledgeville Historic Newspapers Archive (1808-1920), the Southern Israelite Archive (1929-1986), and the Red and Black Archive (1893-2006). These archives can be accessed at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/MediaTypes/Newspapers.html

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