The 1961 WGBH Fire

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From Don Hallock In the early morning hours of October 14, 1961, a raging fire at the 84 Massachusetts Avenue studios of WGBH completely destroyed the facility. WGBH FM and TV were located in the second and third floors of a three story roller former skating rink. The fire, which began in the studio-A area,…

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The foundations of WGBH: 84 Mass. Ave.

84 Mass Ave Front

From Don Hallock: Many extraordinarily-gifted figures and luminaries of the day — in the arts, science, politics and education — found their ways into the halls and studios of the original WGBH-TV/FM studios at 84 Massachusetts Avenue.

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Press and People

Press and People - Louis Lyons 1

From Don Hallock: WGBH produced Press and People in 1959 or ’60. Host Louis M. Lyons talked with important print and photo-journalists of the time, including Edward R. Murrow, about their work and philosophies.

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Crew Training Tape – Transcript (1962)

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From Don Hallock This tape was shot in the temporary studio at the Boston Museum of Science. It was intended as an in-house training tool, primarily for new BU student interns. It puroprted to be a catalog of many of the most frequently perpetrated production errors portrayed in comic relief. Response at the April reunion…

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Then and Now (1955-2000)

84 Massachusetts Avenue

From Don Hallock The Buildings Then: The station in 1958, occupying a rather dusty second and third floor roller-skating rink in an old brick building located opposite MIT at 84 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. (Photo by Brooks Leffler.) In 2000, WGBH sprawled over extensive real estate near Harvard. This is the main studio building at 125…

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Quo vadis WGBH (1946-2000)

84 Massachusetts Avenue

From Don Hallock: It may surprise you to know how many places the station has called home. WGBH’s origins were in a converted skating rink on the second floor of 84 Mass. Ave. and the office spaces on the third, were the first home of WGBH from 1955 to 1961.

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The original dream factory — Mass Ave. Studio A (1950s)

Studio A, 84 Massachusetts Avenue

For years, the original Studio A at 84 Massachusetts Avenue was a truly magical place. So many careers were launched, or at least nurtured, its environment. It’s magic blossomed from the drive to produce programming that one could feel pride in, with the ongoing and exhilarating drive to overcome obstacles, with the almost mythic experience of being forced by necessity to achieve the impossible through sheer persistence and ingenuity.

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Gifts and Reminiscences

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From Don Hallock “There you stood, on the edge of your feather, …. expecting to fly.” —Neil Young Well, we’ve shared in one hell of an affair! And if the events of the year 2000 are any indication, the romance is very far from over. For many of us, the feather’s edge came early in…

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Relics from the Fire

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Text by Don Hallock A small collection of memorabilia which survived the 1961 fire. This brass plaque adorned the entrance to the 84 Massachusetts Avenue studios. We who worked there walked past it almost every day of the year, where it was affixed to the column just left of the front door (circled in the…

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