The foundations of WGBH: 84 Mass. Ave.

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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A stranger in a strange land

From Fred Barzyk: Bill insisted I try to get into the scholarship program. You studied for your graduate degree at Boston University and worked three days a week at the Educational Television station. Free tuition and you got $600 to live a year in Boston!

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Remembering the original WGBH

From Art Singer: Fifty one years ago this past September, on several late afternoons a week, I would take the twenty minute walk from BU across the Charles to the station’s studios on the MIT campus for a night’s work.

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My interview with Andrew Raeburn at Tanglewood

Tanglewood concerts were always an important part of music programming at WGBH. In the summer of 1970, as Erich Leinsdorf was about to retire as Music Director of the Boston Symphony, he would conduct his final concert at Tanglewood.

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Not the News with Louis Lyons (1950s)

From Vic Washkevich The WGBH viewing audience never saw these two newscasters. Vic Washkevich (who contributed this picture) explains: "Oh, here’s shot of Hartford Gunn (Paul Noble) and Dave Davis (Bill Heitz) reporting the news due to budget constraints and Louis Lyons’ nap.

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Fundraising and payola (1960)

From Paul Noble [We made] a fund-raising spot, done with a Cambridge taxi, in December 1960, in the days before auctions and pledge weeks. It was taped in front of 84 Massachusetts Avenue, facing MIT. I know the…spot [was] part of a campaign we did after the first group with celebs a year earlier. My…

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The 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,…

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40 years with ‘GBH

From Michael Ambrosino — 2000 My first visit to WGBH was in the fall of 1955, just after TV had gone on the air at 84 Mass Ave. in Cambridge. I was at work developing a TV master plan for the University of Connecticut at the time, and wanted a tour of one of the…

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