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Aural History Productions
The Radio Archive ~ January - June, 2001
 June 28, 2001
"Nicholas II Revisited."
Russian historian Nadia Kizenko of the University at Albany interviews Dr. Richard S. Wortman, Professor of Russian History at Columbia University and the author of the award-winning 2-volume Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy. Wortman is a specialist in Russian history and has written on Russian populism, the development of legal consciousness, and intellectual history. His
most recent project, a massive two-volume study of myth and ceremony in the Russian monarchy from Peter the Great to Nicholas II, was awarded the George L. Mosse prize of the American Historical Association. Produced at the University at Albany.
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June 21, 2001
Segment 1: "City of Eros."
Prof. Richard Hamm, of SUNY-Albany, interviews Timothy Gilfoyle, author of City of Eros: New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1790-1920. From the University at Albany.
Segment 2: "Out of the Darkness"
Bryan LeBeau interviews Eric A. Shelman and Stephen Lazortiz, authors of Out of the Darkness: The Story of Mary Ellen Wilson, about Wilson, child abuse, and the founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. From Creighton University.
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June 14, 2001
Segment 1: "How De-Stalinization Worked."
"After Josef Stalin's death in 1953, Russia embarked on an ambitious program of de-Stalinization. The thrust of this effort was to grant much more authority to community level organizations throughout the country. Officials were surprised, however, when these organizations rapidly expanded their powers and influence. Stephen Bittner describes the unintended consequences that helped pave the way for eventual democratization." From Dialogue. [NOTE: 56 kbps audio file is defective and will soon be replaced].
Segment 2: "Film Noir."
Ron Enclerico produced this examination of Film Noir. A movie-making genre characterized by elegant, stylized, and moody atmospheres, sombre lighting, and direct pacing, Film Noir emerged in the post-WW II era and continues to influence many filmmakers today. This piece was produced as a final project for the Producing Historical Documentaries course at SUNY-Albany, spring 2001.
Segment 3: "Tiananmen Square"
A look back at the repression of student protest at Tiananmen Square in June of 1989. Terry Clark interviews Prof. Andrew J. Nathan of Columbia University, co-editor of The Tiananmen Papers : The Chinese Leadership's Decision to Use Force Against Their Own People--In Their Own Words. From Creighton University.
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June 7, 2001
Segment 1: "The Civilian Conservation Corps In New York State: An Aural Narrative."
Historians depict the Civilian Conservation Corps as one of F.D.R.�s most successful New Deal programs. Roosevelt�s CCC camps were a home to almost three million undernourished victims of the Depression. After several months in the camps, most of these �CCC boys� emerged as healthy, skilled workers. Through archival sounds and oral testimonies, Mark Wolfe tells us about life in some of the CCC camps in New York State. This is Mark's final project for the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2001.
Segment 2: "The Underground Railroad in Upstate New York."
Perhaps less well-known than other regions, the Capital District of New York State was nonetheless a stop on the Underground Railroad. In this piece, Mary Jane Zanelli asks longtime researchers Paul and Mary Liz Stewart to explain: what was the Underground Railroad; who was involved; what was life like for a runaway slave; and how successful was the Underground Railroad in the Capital Region? Letters and diary entries, read by actors, describe the experiences and feelings of the time. This is another final project for the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2001.
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May 31, 2001
Segment 1: "The Execution of Private Eddie Slovik: War and Military Justice"
When Pvt. Eddie Slovik was executed in January of 1945, he became the first
and only American soldier to be killed for desertion since the Civil War.
The story is told by several veterans who were involved in the execution as
well as the now 25 year attempt to get a pardon for Slovik. Questions about
war, death penalty, military justice, and the pardon process are explored. Joe Balducci produced The Execution of Private Eddie Slovik as his final project for the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2001.
Segment 2: "The Lost Voice of Radio Beijing"
As we approach the anniversary of the Tianneman uprising in China, this piece offers a brief vignette of one event that took place at the time. Lost Voice was produced by Jack Urso as a short feature for the Producing Historical Documentaries course in the spring of 2000.
Segment 3: "The People's History."
Popular historian Howard Zinn speaks about his revisionist approach to the writing of American History. From Creighton University.
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May 24, 2001
Segment 1: "The Stelton Modern School."
Formed in 1914 after leaving its original Manhattan home, The Stelton, New Jersey Ferrer Modern School offered a profoundly influential experience for all who attended it. The school employed the philosophy of free education espoused by Spanish anarchist Francesco Ferrer � Guardia. The school flourished throughout the 1920s, and then began a slow decline until eventually dissolving in 1953. This is the story of the Ferrer Modern School at Stelton, New Jersey as told by some of the people who were there. The Stelton Modern School is Aaron Wunderlich's final project for the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2001.
Segment 2: "Before Auschwitz: The Nazi Extermination of People with Disabilities."
Before Auschwitz presents the story of a little-known Nazi killing operation called Aktion T-4. Before the extermination of Jews in concentration camps, the Nazis first created a highly organized operation which killed over 350,000 people with disabilities, primarily mental disabilities. This story is told through the first-person accounts of an American soldier who liberated one of the killing centers and a woman who survived the killing center—as well as by two scholars of pyschiatric history. This piece was produced by Darby Penney as her final project for the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2001.
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May 17, 2001
Segment 1: "Henry McNeal Turner: Civil War Chaplain."
Henry McNeal Turner was an African Methodist Episcopal minister who
served as an army chaplain during the civil war. He was in the unusual
position of being the only black officer in a regiment that otherwise
consisted of black enlisted men commanded by white officers. This
documentary looks at how Turner went beyond his duties as spiritual
leader for his men and lobbied for fair treatment on their behalf. He
taught them to read and write, and publicized their hardships and
accomplishments through open letters to the press. Turner was far more
than a chaplain -- he became an advocate for an entire people. Produced by Lizzie Redkey as her final project for the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2000.
Segment 2: "Tulipomania"
About 400 years ago, tulips were worth more than
gold. From Creighton University, Mike Dash, author of Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Passions it
Aroused talks about tulips.
Segment 3: "Past Time: Baseball as History."
From Creighton University, a look at the history of the game of baseball and how
it reflected American culture as seen by historian Jules Tygiel, author
of Past Time: Baseball as History.
Segment 4: "Comment: Yankee Stadium and the Politics of New York."
Neil Sullivan, author of The Diamond in the Bronx: Yankee Stadium and the Politics of New York, comments on the 'stadium game.'
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May 10,2001
Segment 1: "Paul Robeson: A 1958 Interview."
From the Pacifica Archives, a KPFA interview with Paul Robeson conducted on February 8, 1958 with Harold Winkler and Elsa Thompson.
Segment 2: "Booker T. Washington: On the Chautauqua Circuit."
Chautauqua II--Booker T. Washington: In the second program of the Chautauqua series, Creighton University's Bryan LeBeau talks with Booker T. Washington--as performed by Charles Pace, Professor of Anthropology and American Studies, Center College, Danville, Kentucky and a founding member of the National Chautauqua Tour.
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May 3, 2001
Segment 1: "Scott Christianson: Prisons in America."
On May 3, 2001 Scott Christianson did a live interview in the Talking History Studios at WRPI, Troy. Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to record that interview. However we include here a reading by Christianson of selections from his book, With
Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America. Christianson at a presentation by the New York State Writer's Insitute on 12/10/98.
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April 26, 2001
Segment 1: "I'm a Hobo, Not a Bum."
Recorded on 9/21/2000 in the studios of WRPI-Troy. Greg Giorgio talks about the the life and history of tramps and hoboes with Mark Ross. Includes music by Mark Ross. Engineered by Gerry Zahavi.
Segment 2: "The National Hobo Convention"
From David Isay and Sound Portraits Production.
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April 19, 2001
Segment 1: "The Congo."
From Dialogue, George Liston Seay talks with William Zartman, Director of African Studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies about the dangers of the Congo, a rich African central African state, becoming a "collapsed state."
Segment 2:Thomas Jefferson on the Chautauqua Circuit"
Chautauqua I--Thomas Jefferson: In the first of a 3-part series in the Chautauqua traditon of presenting the voices of history's leading figures, a talk with Thomas Jefferson...as performed by Clay Jenkinson.
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April 12, 2001
Segment 1: "Tattoo Culture."
From Creighton University, Eileen Dugan interviews Dr. Margo Demello, author of several works on tattoo culture, including Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community.
Segment 2: "Comment: Tattoos in European History"
Jane Kaplan, Marjory Walter Goodhart Professor of European History at Bryn Mawr College and Editor of Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European History, comments on tattoos in European History.
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April 5, 2001
The first four segments of this week's program are student works produced at SUNY-Albany in the course "Producing Historical Documentaries for Broadcast and Internet Radio."
Segment 1: "Memory, History, and the Psychiatrically Disabled," by Darby Penney.
Darby Penney looks at who writes the history of people with psychiatric disabilities and the ethical issues around denying patients a part in the writing of their history.
Segment 2: "CCC Camps," by Mark Wolfe.
Mark Wolfe offers a brief glimpse of Depression-era CCC camp life.
Segment 3: "Film Noire," by Ron Enclerico.
Ron Enclerico produced this short exploration of film noire; this is part of a longer work in progress.
Segment 4: "Challenger," by Rick Clarkson.
Rick Clarkson examines memory and tragedy in this short documentary on what people remember about the day the shuttle Challenger exploded in January of 1986.
Segment 5: "Censorship in Russia." From Creighton University.
Prof. Marianna Tax Choldin, author of A Fence Around the Empire: Russian Censorship of Western Ideas Under the Czars and editor of The Red Pencil: Artists, Scholars, and Censors in the USSR, talks about post-Soviet Russia and its management of information on topics such as religion and sex.
Segment 6: "Morgan's Run." From Creighton University.
Colleen McCullough, author of The Thorn Birds and several other historical novels, talks about her most recent work, Morgan's Run, and the art of historical fiction. Morgan's Run centers around 18th century England's colonization of Australia.
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March 29, 2001
"Betty Friedan and the Making of The Feminine Mystique."
Produced at the University at Albany. This was a rebroadcast of our Dec. 9, 1999 program. Smith College professor Daniel Horowitz is interviewed by Talking History host Lisa Kannenberg of the College of St. Rose, about his recent book, Betty Friedan and the Making of The Feminine Mystique. Kannenberg and Horowitz explore the personal, political, and intellectual origins of Betty Friedan's feminist ideas. Friedan is the author of The Feminist Mystique, the 1963 book that explored the roots of the discontent of housewives—"the problem that has no name"—and in the process helped launch modern feminism. The Feminine Mystique, along with the organization Friedan co-founded, the National Organization for Women (NOW), radically changed every sphere of modern American public and private life—from politics, to family dynamics, to daycare. Horowitz challenges the notion that feminism emerged in the 1960s without any connection to prior organized attempts to improve women's political, social, and economic status. Contrary to the concept of a "sharp historical break between 1960s feminism and what went on before," Horowitz asserts that Friedan and other feminists, "were quite aware of women's issues and women's movements in the period before the 1960s." His book argues that part of modern feminism's origins are to be found in left-wing labor union culture and activism in the 1940s and 1950s. Daniel Horowitz is Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman Professor of American Studies and director of the American studies program at Smith College.
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March 22, 2001
Segment 1: "Voices from the Dustbowl." Produced by Barrett Golding.
Barrett Golding's documentary has been aired on Lost and Found Sound on National Public Radio (NPR) and also on Soundprint. It is narrated by Charles Todd, who was hired by the Library of Congress to record interviews with farm workers who had travelled to California in the 1930s. "They were Okies and Arkies, originally from Oklahoma and Arkansas who had come west in search of better living. Depression poverty and a massive drought and
dust storm had made life impossible for them back home. These are the very people John Steinback wrote about in his novel The Grapes of Wrath. In fact, Steinback was doing interviews for his novel at the same time and in the same places as Todd was recording his interviews. Todd's interviews took place 60 years ago, in the summer of 1940, at several Migratory Government Camps, established in California by the Farm Securities Administration, a New Deal program. The camps were created to accomodate the enormous swell of migrants that came to California, nearly 300,000 people in a few short years. Todd carried a 50-pound Presto recorder from camp to camp, and made hundreds of recordings on acetate discs. The recordings include songs, poems, camp council meetings, square dances, storytelling, and people talking about why they left, about conditions along the way, and about life in the government camps."
Segment 2: "Galileo's Daughter." From Creighton University.
Dava Sobel reveals little known facts about the personal life of Galileo.
Segment 3: "James Madison." From Creighton University.
Madison biographer Lance Banning, author of The Sacred Fire of Liberty, talks about James Madison.
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March 15, 2001
"After Apartheid:
Labor in South Africa"
Labor historian Alex Lichtenstein, from Florida International University, delivered this talk titled "After Apartheid: Labor in South Africa," at the Deerfield Progressive Forum in Deerfield Beech, Florida on February 24, 2001. Lichtenstein is currently working on a comparative history of interracial trade unionism in the U.S. and South Africa. Our thanks to him and to the Deefield Progressive Forum for their cooperation in bringing this program to Talking History.
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March 8, 2001
Segment 1 and 2: "What the Clios Don't Tell You: A History of Advertising in America."
PART 1:  Real Media. MP3. Time: 35:07.
PART 2: Real Media. MP3. Time: 22:08.
The Clio Awards are given annually to the best work in the advertising industry. Here in an hour-long documentary -- part of an occasional series, The Past Present -- Curtis Fox explores the long history of advertising in American culture.
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March 1, 2001
Segment 1: "Memory and History."
George Liston Seay talks with Christopher Clausen, Professor of English literature at Pennsylvania State University and author of My Life with President Kennedy about intersections of personal and public history and the landscape of memory.
Segment 2: "The Enduring Mystery of Jack the Ripper"
From Creighton University, Eileen Dugan talks with Professor William Rubenstein about why the mystery of Jack the Ripper continues to endure and fascinate.
Segment 3: "Jack the Ripper: Uncensored Facts."
Ripperologist Paul Begg comments on the myths and mystery generated by Jack the Ripper. Produced by Creighton University.
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February 22, 2001
Segment 1: "The American Revolution."
Historian Gordon Wood talks with George Liston Seay of Dialogue about the political tensions between local governments and the and the centralizing forces of national government in the context of Wood's description of the radicalism of the American Revolution.
Segment 2: Joseph Ellis: "Founding Brothers"
From Creighton University, Fred Neilsen talks with Mt. Holyoke history professor, Joseph Ellis about his latest work, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, a look at "the intertwined lives of the founding fathers" -- Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Hamilton, Franklin, and Aaron Burr. Ellis is also the author of American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, winner of the 1997 National Book Award.
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February 1, 8, and 15, 2001
"I Can Almost See the Lights of Home ~ A Field Trip to Harlan County, Kentucky." An Essay-In-Sound.
Note: Because of the unique, multi-part structure of this program, we are straying a bit from our usual Web archiving format. Instead of presenting these programs with the most recently broadcast first, we are presenting this symphony of sound below, in its entirety, in the order in which it is meant to be listened to.
This essay-in-sound, along with a script of the work and additional essays by Alessandro Portelli and Charles Hardy, III originally appeared in Volume 2 of the Journal for MultiMedia History with the following Editors' introduction:
I Can Almost See the Lights of Home" offers a new mode of thinking about and presenting oral history. Termed an "aural essay" by joint authors
Alessandro Portelli and Charles Hardy III, this extended and pathbreaking
audio work explores place, form, time, and the act of historical interpretation; it
is an attempt by two oral historians, one from Pennsylvania, USA, and the
other from Rome, Italy to create a new aural history genre that counterpoises
the voices of subject and scholar in dialogue�not merely the dialogue that
takes place in the real time of an oral interview, but the one that occurs as
interpretations are created and scholarship is generated. Dialogic elements
pervade the work: in the conversations between Portelli and Harlan County
residents and in the verbal exchanges between Portelli and Hardy. "I Can
Almost See the Lights of Home" is also an instructional manual on authoring in
sound and a manifesto of sorts. It challenges oral historians to truly explore
the full dimension of the sources they create and utilize in scholarship�to
engage the "orality" of oral sources. It challenges all historians to consider
alternative modes of presenting interpretations, modes that render the very act
of interpretation more visible while preserving and respecting the integrity of
primary sources.
HOST INTRODUCTION.
(4:15) Dee Dee Napier, Stig Hornshøf-Møller, Hiram Day, Charles Hardy, III.
INTRODUCTION: AN ITALIAN IN HARLAN
(2:21) Charles Hardy III, Alessandro Portelli.
CHAPTER 1: MY HOME UP IN THE HILLS.
(7:19) Music: Arthur Johnson, "My Home up in the Hills." Dee Dee Napier, Alessandro Portelli, Annie Napier, Gladys Hoskins, William Gent.
FIRST MOVEMENT: SNAKES
(5:34) Alessandro Portelli, Charles Hardy III, Chester Napier, Riverside Church, Liddy Surgener.
SECOND MOVEMENT: SISTER LIDDY
(3:29) Alessandro Portelli, Liddy Surgener, Hiram Day.
THIRD MOVEMENT: COAL MINES
(3:56) Music: Becky Ruth Brae, "Coal Miners." William Gent, Alessandro Portelli, Annie Napier.
CHAPTER 2: THE ACTS OF MAN
(9:46) Music: Day Family, "The Night Old Crank's Creek Went Down."
Gladys Hoskins, Annie Napier, Alessandro Portelli, Day Family.
CHAPTER 3: THE THIRD WORLD SUITE
(11:08) Music: Becky Ruth Brae & Annie Napier, "Smokey Mountain Sunday Morn."
Chester Napier, Alessandro Portelli, Lowell Wagner, Mildred Shackelford.
CHAPTER 4: SURVIVAL
(8:55) Music: Arthur Johnson, "Lost Creek"; Becky Ruth Brea, "Candles on the Table." Alessandro Portelli, Annie Napier, Day Family, Chester Napier.
FOURTH MOVEMENT: THE TALES OF WILLIAM GENT
(11:52) Music: Riverside Church, "Travelling the Highway Home." Alessandro Portelli, William Gent, Hiram Day.
FIFTH MOVEMENT: RECAPITULATION AND PROLOGUE
(2:17) Music: Cranks Creek Church, "I Can Almost See the Lights." Alessandro Portelli, Hiram Day, Dee Dee Napier, Annie Napier.
CHAPTER 5: DEATH AND GHOSTS
(12:17) Music: Becky Ruth Brae, "I Can Fly." Charles Hardy III, Alessandro Portelli, Annie Napier, Becky Ruth Brae.
SIXTH MOVEMENT: VIOLENCE AND CARE
(13:37) Chester and Annie Napier, Charles Hardy III, Alessandro Portelli, William and Omie Gent.
CHAPTER 6: THE ACTS OF GOD
(16:48)
Music: Becky Ruth Brae, "Don't Cry for Me." Becky Ruth Brae, Liddy Surgener, Annie Napier, Charles Hardy III, Alessandro Portelli.
CHAPTER 7: MOVEMENT AND DECLINE
(9:40) Music: Day Family, "I've Never Been This Lonesome Before";
Arthur Johnson, "My Home up in the Hills," "Courting Song."
Gladys Hoskins, William Gent, Chester Napier, Annie Napier.
CHAPTER 8: THE ACTS OF MAN CONTINUED
(19:26) Music: Arthur Johnson: "The Dream of the Miner's Child." Annie and Chester Napier, Charles Hardy III, Alessandro Portelli, Gladys Hoskins, Joan Robinett.
FINAL MOVEMENT: A KENTUCKIAN IN ROME
(8:07) Music: Riverside Church, "Feed Me Jesus." Annie Napier, Dee Dee Napier, William Gent, Charles Hardy III, Alessandro Portelli.
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January 25, 2000
Segment 1: "James Comerford: The Life Story of A New South Wales Coal Miner."
From Verbatim, a program of the Austrailian Broadcasting Company, this life story of James Comerford looks at the labor struggles of Austrailian coal miners in New South Wales in the 1920s and 1930s. Narrated by Michele Rainer and produced by Jane Connors.
Segment 2: "Who Are the Palestinians?"
The Balfour Declaration established the British mandate over Palestine, but did not mention the Palestinians as people. Although Palestinan identity is a fact, that non-recognition is emblematic of the difficulty Palestinians have faced in achieveing a self-identity that supports self-government. Rashid Khalidi, University of Chicago Professor of Middle East History and Director of the Center for International Studies, talks with Dialogue host George Liston Seay about the historic roots and current expression of Palestinian identity.
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January 18, 2001
Segment 1: "The Dutch Pill."
(audio files to be added)
Produced in the Netherlands, this piece examines the social and cultural effects of the birth control pill after 40 years. Distributed by Freida Werden and WINGS, the Women's International Newsgathering Service.
Segment 2: "James Bond: License to Thrill"
From Creighton University, Fred Neilsen talks with professor James Chapman about how movies reflect social change through images of politics and culture -- especially in a character that has been on the landscape for nearly 40 years. Chapman is the author of License To Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. (Yale University press, 2000)
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January 11, 2001
Segment 1: "The Black Family in Slavery."
(audio files to be added)
A segment from the multi-part Legacies series that looks at the black family in slavery.
Segment 2: "The Black Family in Freedom"
(audio files to be added)
A segment from the multi-part Legacies series that looks at the black family in in freedom.
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January 4, 2001
"Sacco and Vanzetti"
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PART I
Anarchist political circles. |
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| PART II
Immigrants, working-class Americans, and repression. |
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Arrest, trial, and execution. |
This encore presentation features the second program produced by Curtis Fox as part of his new history documentary series titled The Past Present. Here is his summary of the program: "Almost everyone has heard of [Nicola] Sacco and [Bartolomeo] Vanzetti, two Italian-born anarchists who were executed in 1927 for a crime they probably didn't commit--a payroll robbery and double murder in South Braintree, Massachusetts. What most people don't know, however, is that Nicola Sacco and Bartholomeo Vanzetti were part of a group of revolutionaries that conducted a bombing campaign against government officials, including Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Historian Nunzio Pernicone discusses the anarchist background of Sacco and Vanzetti. Then Pernicone, joined by historian Richard Polenberg, examine the world-famous case that tore this country apart in the 1920s. The program includes historical audio of men involved in the case, Italian anarchist songs, Woody Guthrie ballads, and actors Joe Grifasi and Spiro Malas reading from Sacco and Vanzetti's Moving prison letters." For more information on this segment and on The Past Present series, contact Curtis Fox, Producer, THE PAST PRESENT, 524 East 13th St., D4, New York, NY 10009. We will air more THE PAST PRESENT productions in the future, as well as archive them on Talking History.
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