Columbia Workshop - January 11, 1942

In keeping with our Independence Holiday patriotic theme, we next offer up a seldom heard little broadcast from the "Columbia Workshop" series.  This one is circulating among collectors, but this copy offers a sound upgrade for the show.

"Free Speech" was originally broadcast January 11, 1942.  It's a drama where different voices of the past, such as Churchill and Socrates, speak about the right to free speech.  The featured soloist is Lansing Hatfield, Metropolitan Opera Baritone and John Daly is your announcer.  The show was directed by Earle McGhill and music is from "The People, Yes" by Carl Sandburg, William C. White and Earl Robinson. During the program, they announce that this is a rebroadcast of a program heard a few weeks earlier.  Goldin speculates it might have been heard on December 7, 1941; I would guess it was done as part of the larger Bill of Rights anniversary celebration that month that gave us Norman Corwin's "We Hold These Truths" heard earlier on the blog. The show was digitized from an original Columbia vinyl transcription set, matrix numbers YTNY 996 and YTNY 999, probably pressed for educational institutions.  My apologies for the very slight groove damage in the first few minutes of the program. Hats off to blog listener Michael Utz for donating this wonderful rare disc to my collection!