Episodes

Thursday May 27, 2010
Police Reporter - Pgm 3
Thursday May 27, 2010
Thursday May 27, 2010
Note: This program contains language and racial stereotyping themes that may be offensive to some listeners. Now, the third program in the previously lost and uncirculated early 1930s syndicated series, "The Police Reporter" that we'll be running through over the next few months. The true crime case in program 3 is the so-called "Georgia Slave Murders" that occurred in 1921 in Atlanta. A man keeps and abuses Black men as slaves in a compound and kills all them when word gets out to the police. This disturbing case was the subject of a 1999 book, "Lay This Body Down: The 1921 Murders of Eleven Plantation Slaves" by Gregory A. Freeman. You can also read a summary of the real case on this forum post.
The show was transferred from an original Radio Release, Ltd. shellac transcription pressed by Allied Recording in Hollywood, matrix number A-1081.
Next week: a case of murder from Paris.

Monday Apr 19, 2010
Lest We Forget - Series B Pgm 7
Monday Apr 19, 2010
Monday Apr 19, 2010
“Lest We Forget: The American Dream”, was a quarter-hour dramatic show produced by the Institute for Democratic Education, New York and syndicated in the late 1940s as part of an effort to combat prejudice.
Series B, Program 7 features "Paul Lukas" in "One Small Voice". A young woman applies for a job and is told that "certain nationalities" aren't welcome at the company.
The show was digitized from an original vinyl Orthacoustic transcription pressed by NBC/RCA, matrix number ND7-MM-6093.

Monday Apr 05, 2010
Plantation Echoes - Pgm 9
Monday Apr 05, 2010
Monday Apr 05, 2010
This program contains racial stereotyping themes that may be disturbing to some listeners. Technical note: If this file sounds "off speed" in the on-screen player, try the Download option and listen to it directly on your computer. This is a bug with Flash in playing some mp3 files encoded at particular rates and only affects some browsers and versions of Flash. I've debated about putting up this program. However, it is historically significant and should be available to old time radio researchers and historians. If you decide to give it a listen, keep in mind that it's a difficult half-hour due to the sound quality and the content. "Plantation Echoes" was an early syndicated program from Transco. Goldin lists one other episode in the series (program 13) and dates the series to 1932, but I'm not sure of the source of his information. The show features a Black cast performing spirituals and popular songs that are framed by an ongoing story set on an "Old South" plantation. Program 9 in the series picks up the story from the previous week where Liza has gone missing. The slaves, through a series of misunderstandings, think she's been murdered.

Friday Jan 22, 2010
Lest We Forget - Series B Pgm 5
Friday Jan 22, 2010
Friday Jan 22, 2010
Here's another entry in the series "Lest We Forget", a quarter hour dramatic series syndicated by the Institute for Democratic Education in the late 1940s and early 50s to inform the public about issues around prejudice.
The show was packaged in different series, this one, Series B, was dubbed "The American Dream". Program 5 is "Sheriff Matt Blake" and stars Ralph Bellamy as the title character, confronting a lynch mob on the verge of killing an innocent Mexican-American.
The mp3 was transferred from original vinyl Orthacoustic transcription pressed by NBC/RCA, matrix number ND7-MM-5298