Tag Archives: radio stations

WUMB-FM Collection: Now open for research

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The WUMB-FM collection is now open and available for research. This collection, one of the largest in University Archives & Special Collections at UMass Boston, documents the administration and operation of the WUMB radio station at the university from 1969 through 2012. WUMB boxes

WUMB was founded in the fall of 1968 by a group of undergraduate students in the basement of the Sawyer building at 142 Berkeley Street in Back Bay, near UMass Boston’s original Park Square campus. The founding group wanted to provide a radio service that was not available elsewhere, and discussed offering not only music but talk shows.

On October 31, 1968, students formed the Radio Station Committee of UMass Boston and drafted a constitution. The committee consisted of a chairman, vice-chairman, treasurer, and secretary, which were elected each April. Pat Riccio (Monteith), interested in getting involved in university activities as a freshman and a member of the radio station’s founding group, would serve as treasurer, secretary, music director, and, finally, as general manager until 2012.

The station began as a closed-circuit station called WUMB-AM and went on the air for the first time on December 14, 1969. By 1970, it was broadcast within the cafeteria on campus on Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, except during vacations, reading periods, and exams.

On June 30, 1980, the station received the last Metro-Boston area FM license from the Federal Communications Commission and became UMass Boston’s official non-commercial radio station. On September 19, 1982, WUMB officially went on the airwaves with an all-student and volunteer staff, broadcasting to an audience of 1.5 million people. The license was received after years of numerous amendments and resubmittals of lost information, as well as some objections from other commercial and non-commercial radio stations in the area. The license was made possible with support from Chancellor Carlo Golino and his chief of staff, who was an attorney, advocating for the radio station in written letters. Read more about the history of WUMB-FM in the historical note section on page two of the finding aid.

Massachusetts House of Representatives Anniversary Award, circa 2002
Hand puppets from Adventures of Zorba (the cat) and Koffie (the mouse), a children’s show on WUMB circa 1970-1979
Program Information Sheets, 1983
Boston Folk Festival posters, circa 2000-2007

The WUMB-FM collection includes original and photocopied documents, official records (constitution, minutes, by-laws), mimeograph copies, Ditto copies, notes and correspondence, playlists, program guides, surveys, listener correspondence, performance agreements, newspaper articles, lyrics, promotional materials, photographs, contact sheets, slides, negatives, CDs, cassettes, VHS tapes, and more.

Some digitized reel-to-reel audio from the WUMB collection is available through the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (WUMB and UMass Boston are listed among the America Archive’s participating organizations) by clicking “view all records” here. Materials from the collection that may also be of interest to researchers include the records on the Boston Folk Festival, which was organized by WUMB-FM from 1995 to 2011. This series includes documents on festival planning, songwriting contest lyrics, photographs, posters, and promotional materials.

Read past Open Archives News posts about the WUMB-FM collection:

View the finding aid for the WUMB-FM collection here.

For questions about this collection or to schedule a research appointment, please contact library.archives@umb.edu or 617-287-5469.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston collects materials related to the university’s history, as well as materials that reflect the institution’s urban mission and strong support of community service, notably in collections of records of urban planning, social welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities.

University Archives & Special Collections welcomes inquiries from individuals, organizations, and businesses interested in donating materials of an archival nature that that fit within our collecting policy. These include manuscripts, documents, organizational archives, collections of photographs, unique publications, and audio and video media. For more information about donating to University Archives & Special Collections, click here or email library.archives@umb.edu.

Notes from a Processing Archivist: Playlists from the WUMB-FM Records, 1969-2012

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WUMB Playlist (ca 1971-1972)

WUMB Playlist (ca 1971-1972). Click to view larger image.

As part of my work as the Processing Archivist in University Archives & Special Collections, I’ve been processing 175 linear feet of records and other materials related to UMass Boston’s WUMB-FM radio station. For those unfamiliar with the term, “processing” a collection means conducting research and arranging and describing collection materials in an effort to facilitate access for researchers, historians, scholars, students, and the public. This also includes stabilizing the documents for the long-term preservation of the records. To put it simply, a collection should be organized to help researchers find what they’re looking for by using what archivists call a finding aid, which is like a table of contents for a collection.

WUMB Playlist (1971-04-07). Click to view larger image.

WUMB Playlist (1971-04-07). Click to view larger image.

This may sound like a daunting task, but once I’d surveyed the collection and created a processing plan, I saw a clear view from start to finish. I started processing the WUMB collection in January and have at this point “conquered” most of the paper records. What remains to be dealt with are audio and visual recordings, as well as photographs and ephemera from the radio station. The audio and visual recordings include in-studio interviews and performances as well as recordings of WUMB’s programs. It’s been an enjoyable experience to learn how the radio station is run and sustained – from its humbler beginnings in 1968 to the present.

With this blog entry, I’d like to share some gems I found while processing the WUMB collection. The playlists from the early 1970s are fun and capture the feeling of the time period through the drawings in the margins, which include comic book characters, a talking microphone called Monty, and radio station announcers. The artist, who signed his name as Dave FitzPatrick, was likely a student working at the radio station. Students have had the opportunity to work in the radio station throughout much of its history and these drawings are an example of the energy these students brought to the station.

WUMB Playlist (1971-12-06). Click to view larger image.

WUMB Playlist (1971-12-06). Click to view larger image.

I also want to mention that many of the playlists and staff memos in the WUMB collection were created with a Ditto machine. The Ditto machine (also called a “spirit duplicator” because of the presence of alcohol in the ink)was used to print copies. The Early Office Museum describes that full process here (scroll down to “Hektograph and Spirit Duplicators”).

The solvent used in the Ditto machine makes the blue ink unstable and is a concern for archivists. The ink is sensitive to ultraviolet light and will fade over time if not properly stored. The paper itself is also acidic and will yellow and crumble over time. To prevent the loss of information on the Ditto copies, I’ve photocopied each page onto archival bond paper, which is acid-free and pH neutral. These photocopies are now in the collection as access copies while the originals have been stored in boxes away from sunlight.

Since I am not only an archivist but also an artist, you can see why I am attracted to these drawings. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do. Please stay tuned for updates on the WUMB collection as work progresses and contact us if you are interested in exploring the WUMB collection, or if you’d just like to learn more about the holdings in University Archives & Special Collections.

University Archives & Special Collections in the Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston collects materials related to the university’s history, as well as materials that reflect the institution’s urban mission and strong support of community service, notably in collections of records of urban planning, social welfare, social action, alternative movements, community organizations, and local history related to neighboring communities.

University Archives & Special Collections welcomes inquiries from individuals, organizations, and businesses interested in donating materials of an archival nature that that fit within our collecting policy. These include manuscripts, documents, organizational archives, collections of photographs, unique publications, and audio and video media. For more information about donating to University Archives & Special Collections, click here or email library.archives@umb.edu.