Posts Tagged ‘Charles River’
Gordon Mehlman Shares Memories of WGBH Engineering Innovations
When I applied to WGBH in 1968, I had already interacted with the engineering department and so was lucky enough to be hired immediately.
Read MorePaul Noble on John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Roosevelt, Music, Art, and More
Paul Noble was hired through the Boston University Scholars program. Starting in 1959, he and his crew created a strong relationship between WGBH executives and staff, a culture based on humor and fun.
Read MoreDavid Mugar, 82, Philanthropist
David Mugar, a Boston philanthropist and the man behind the annual Fourth of July Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, died Tuesday night at the age of 82.
Read MoreFrom 1976: What Makes WGBH Crackle With Creativity?
“What accounts for this particular station’s superiority in not only quantity but quality of public‐TV programming? Who provides the inspiration behind such innovative productions?”
Read More1962 WGBH Station Break
David Sloss wrote the song for, and performed it at, the first WGBH Auction
Read MoreDave Norton, 65, Director of Physical Plant
Dave was the heart of our physical plant operations, and that brought him into contact with hundreds and hundreds of ’GBHers. I share your deep shock at losing this valued colleague so suddenly.
Read MoreAmbrosino and Nova: making stories that go ‘bang’
I wanted to examine how the world worked, to use the scientific process of discovery as a narrative device to tell good stories. Producers are a naturally curious lot and good documentaries are made out of that curiosity.
Read MoreCreating NOVA (1971-76)
From Michael Ambrosino: Science is a part of our heritage, our present culture, and a major force in determining our future. Its absence from television [in the 1970s], spoke to the ignorance of many of its gatekeepers…. Science, medicine, technology, engineering, architecture all impact our culture by determining how we live our lives!
Read MoreJean Shepherd tells his first WGBH story
From Fred Barzyk: I first heard Jean on the radio in Boston. It was 1961. I was babysitting my young son and, while idly scanning radio stations, I heard this person, this intense personal voice, talking to me.
Read MoreRecollections of a WGBH-FM Volunteer (1951-52)
From Russ Butler A small announcement in The Boston Globe caught my attention. It was 1951, and I was a 17-year old junior in a Boston high school and fascinated with radio broadcasting. The one column-inch notice read that a new FM radio station would begin broadcasting from studios in Symphony Hall. Next day, I…
Read MoreThe MIT Professors (late 1950s)
From Don Hallock — 2000 Though this story isn’t strictly about television, it was making the rounds of MIT during the late ’50s, and found its way into the studio at 84 Mass. Ave. where I heard it. Our little tale concerns the devastatingly brilliant, and notoriously vague, Professor Norbert Wiener. Author of the landmark…
Read MoreThe 1961 WGBH Fire
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,…
Read MoreIn the Ille Novi – excerpts (1958)
From Paul Noble The following are excerpts from the Ille Novi collection. These “underground” newsletters were circulated from mid-1958 to mid-1961, and edited by the Queen (Jean Brady) and Paul Noble. September 1, 1958 (from Vol. 1, No. 2) Videotape Works! On Tuesday, July 29th, Jean Brady’s image was recorded on videotape at WGBH-TV, making…
Read MoreQuo vadis WGBH (1946-2000)
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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