Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids

Container	Title
	Subseries: Subseries 2A. President's Office Scope and Content Note: The records of the President's Office consist of a remnant of the Early Central File (1953-1962) and a portion of John White's file (1953-1966). Together they constitute the primary documentation on the origins of NET at the ETRC; early efforts to promote educational television in the United States; the nature of the presidential office at NET during the first 14 years of NET's 20 year existence; and NET's relationship with the federal government and other organizations concerned with educational broadcasting.
	Early Central File, 1953-1962 Physical Description: 10 boxes Scope and Content Note Nearly three-fourths of this file is correspondence, but it also contains printed material, report forms, shipping memos, grant applications and awards, and near-print material from stations, foundations, organizations. Arranged in a subject file, the two largest categories are “Meetings and Conferences,” where much information on the origins of NET can be found, and the “National Association of Educational Broadcasters,” where documentation on the relationship between NAEB and NET can be found, as well as information on the program production grants they jointly administered. These ETRC-NAEB radio grant-in-aid application files often contain script treatments of the program for which the station was requesting financial support. In addition to the grants and meetings, the file concerns radio in general, grass roots efforts to establish NET and ETV -- including correspondence with individuals, commercial TV stations, educational organizations and institutions, foreign countries, and other organizations of all kinds. Also included is documentation of the early concern of ETV stations over such problems as distribution, production, technical aspects such as kinescopes, promotion of educational broadcasting, and how to stimulate new and creative thinking in producing for ETV. The people most in evidence in the file are H.K. Newburn, Lyle M. Nelson, Barton Griffin, and George L. Hall. There is some John White material in the NAEB meetings folders. Probably only a core of the original central file exists, as it appears that, in addition to the normal amount of weeding done by NET secretaries prior to shipping, certain folders were removed when the subject they covered became the responsibility of a newly-created office.
Box 1 Folder 1	Commercial Television Stations, 1953-1956 Scope and Content Note: Correspondence arranged alphabetically by station call letters; including requests for programming and general information with answers detailing nature and stage of development of NET.
Box 1 Folder 2	Foreign Countries, 1954-1958 Scope and Content Note: Mainly inquiries about NET services with answers. arrangement alphabetically by country.
	Educational Institutions 1956-1958, arranged alphabetically by state
Box 1 Folder 3	A-L
Box 1 Folder 4	M-N
Box 1 Folder 5	O-Z
Box 1 Folder 6	Educational Organizations, 1955-1958
	Miscellaneous Organizations
Box 1 Folder 7	A-M, 1956-1959
Box 2 Folder 1	N-Z, 1954-1958
	Individuals, 1956-1958
Box 2 Folder 2	A-L
Box 2 Folder 3	M-Z
	Meetings and Conferences, 1953-1959
Box 2 Folder 4	Eugene, Oregon, ETRC Meeting, 1953 September 3
Box 2 Folder 5	Ann Arbor, Directors of TV Stations, 1953 September 15 Scope and Content Note: Both of the above folders contain excellent documentation of the origins, purpose and early policies of ETRC.
Box 2 Folder 6	Berkeley, California, Content Specialists, 1953 December 18
Box 2 Folder 7	East Lansing, Michigan, TV Program Management Conference, 1954 March 15-17
Box 2 Folder 8	East Lansing, Michigan, Conference on Exchange of Agricultural Films for TV, 1954 March 15-16
Box 2 Folder 9	Ann Arbor, Social Scientists, 1954 August 9
Box 2 Folder 10	Ann Arbor, Research Consultants, 1954 August 14-15
Box 2 Folder 11	Denver, Colorado, College and University Representatives, 1954 August 23
Box 3 Folder 1	Miscellaneous, 1954-1956
Box 3 Folder 2	New York and Washington, D.C., Heads of National Organizations in Educational TV, 1955 June 25 and July 27
Box 3 Folder 3	Ann Arbor, Superintendents of Schools, 1956 January 1
Box 3 Folder 4	Ann Arbor, Research Planning Conference, 1956 January 27-28
Box 3 Folder 5	Washington, D.C., FCC Dinner Meeting, 1956 March 27
Box 3 Folder 6	Ann Arbor, Public Relations Personnel, 1956 December 2-4
Box 3 Folder 7	Ann Arbor, ETRC Research Project Conference, 1956 December 14-15
Box 3 Folder 8	Madison, Wisconsin, Fund Raising Meeting, 1958 August 27-28
Box 3 Folder 9	St. Louis, Missouri, Instructional TV Work Conference, 1958 January 17-19
Box 3 Folder 10	Staff Meetings, 1954-1957; 1959 Scope and Content Note: In 1954: information on early programming efforts, solicitation of programs, policy decisions, and establishment of the working structure of NET.
Box 3 Folder 11	National Association of Radio and TV Broadcasters
Box 3 Folder 12	National Association of Better Radio and Television
Box 3 Folder 13	National Citizens Committee for Educational Television
	National Association of Educational Broadcasters Commissioned Radio, proposals and correspondence
Box 3 Folder 14	1957
Box 3 Folder 15	1958
Box 3 Folder 16	1959
Box 3 Folder 17	Current Opportunity Fund
Box 4 Folder 1	Fund for Adult Education, 1952-1958 (NAEB)
	NAEB General Correspondence
Box 4 Folder 2	1952-1954 Note: See H.K. Newburn speech, Fall 1953, on origins of NET.
Box 4 Folder 3	1955
Box 4 Folder 4	1956
Box 4 Folder 5	1957
Box 5 Folder 1	1958
Box 5 Folder 2	1959
	NAEB Radio Grants-in-Aid, 1952-1960 Scope and Content Note: The grants-in-aid program originated under ETRC. Originally, funds (In the amount of $40,000 annually, plus $2000 NAEB administrative expense) were handed over to the NAEB for disbursement. As the program became organized, it was decided to modify that plan because the ETRC was not a grant-making organization and needed to take more direct responsibility for the radio grants program. So, the grants-in-aid were made directly by the Center, after screening of applications and recommendations from the NAEB Grants-in-Aid Committee. A program associate was added to the Center staff to assist that committee in matters of management and procedure, to provide liaison between the Center and the NAEB and to follow through with grantees on matters relating to completion of series production. Later, a special three-year plan was initiated out of a desire for a less random, more unified relationship between radio series. The plan provided for a grant of $100,000 per year for three years: 1. to continue the grants-in-aid and 2. to provide for the commissioning of special radio series. ETRC initiated the proposals for the latter and the NAEB Grants-in-Aid Committee acted in an advisory capacity, in addition to evaluating and making recommendations on applications for grants-in-aid.
	General Correspondence and Applications Note: All the radio grant-in-aid files contain letters written in years later than the folder date, but they all pertain to the grants of that year.
Box 5 Folder 3	1952
Box 5 Folder 4	1953
Box 5 Folder 5	1954, general correspondence
Box 5 Folder 6	1954, applications
Box 5 Folder 7	1954, grants awarded
Box 6 Folder 1	1955, general correspondence
Box 6 Folder 2	1955, applications
	1955, grants awarded
Box 6 Folder 3	A-M
Box 6 Folder 4	P-Z
Box 6 Folder 5	1956, general correspondence
Box 6 Folder 6	1956, applications
	1956, grants awarded
Box 7 Folder 1	A-L
Box 7 Folder 2	M-Z
Box 7 Folder 3	1957, general correspondence
Box 7 Folder 4	1957, grant applications
	1957, grants awarded
Box 8 Folder 1	A-M
Box 8 Folder 2	P-Z
Box 8 Folder 3	1958, general correspondence
	1958, grant applications
Box 8 Folder 4	A-N
Box 8 Folder 5	O-W
	1958, grants awarded
Box 9 Folder 1	A-M
Box 9 Folder 2	N-W
Box 9 Folder 3	1959, general correspondence
Box 9 Folder 4	1959, grant applications
Box 9 Folder 5	1959, grants awarded
Box 9 Folder 6	1960, general correspondence
	European Broadcasting Union
Box 10 Folder 1	1960 January-April
Box 10 Folder 2	1960 May
Box 10 Folder 3	1960 June-August
Box 10 Folder 4	1960 September
Box 10 Folder 5	1960 October
Box 10 Folder 6	1960 December-1961 January
Box 10 Folder 7	1961 March
Box 10 Folder 8	1961 April
Box 10 Folder 9	1961 May-September and 1962 January
	John White's File, 1953-1966 Physical Description: 5 boxes Scope and Content Note John White's presidential files are not as voluminous (5 boxes for eleven years) or informative as one would expect. In fact, they are downright disappointing. Their paucity is no doubt due to: weeding performed by NET secretaries; retention of files for James Day's use; possible documentation of some of White's activities in other NET files or in a personal file which he still has in his possession; and the certainty that much of his work was performed over the telephone or in personal conferences. About 50% of this file is correspondence; the other half is comprised of annotated printed and near-print matter, reports, scripts, clippings, lists, statistics, speeches, articles, notes, etc. The bulk of the material pertains to the period 1962-1964, although there is some material passed on to him from Newburn, and thus the early inclusive date of 1953. Part of the file arrived loose and separate from the rest without clear indications as to the original filing arrangement, but there were evidences that it was alphabetical, so such an arrangement was used. There is very little information herein on the internal operation or events of NET; rather, the files relate to White's personal activities, such as speech making, chairing committees, etc., and his professional activities as head of NET. It is not easy to distinguish between the two. As can be seen from the container list, most of the files pertain to organizations, institutions and events outside NET, such as NAEB, NITL, JCET, U.S.-H.E.W., BBC, etc. Rather than being a criticism of the paucity of presidential files, this observation is probably an accurate indicator of the functions of the president's office during the years White occupied it, consisting mostly of outside promotion and fundraising work, educating others about ETV, and working out policies and long-range plans for a growing TV network, while the day-to-day business of producing and distributing television programming was left to others. Newburn was deeply involved in the day-to-day administration of the Center and in satisfying the immediate needs of the stations, while White increasingly wore the cloak and filled the sophisticated role of good-will ambassador at large on behalf of ETV. However, White did involve himself in the actual production work from time to time. Such a program was “Championship Debate”, produced by Larry Pickard, where most of the pre-production correspondence was conducted by White. In fact, the 1962-63 folder of correspondence in Pickard's file was really White's file, but was apparently given to Pickard by White for the former's use, as it arrived at the SHSW among Pickard's files. (See 8E/1/5)
Box 11 Folder 1	“A” General
Box 11 Folder 2	Affiliates, 1963-1966
Box 11 Folder 3	American Council on Education, 1962-1964
Box 11 Folder 4	American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Agreement, 1964-1967
Box 11 Folder 5	Ampex Corporation, 1959-1963
Box 11 Folder 6	“B” General
Box 11 Folder 7	Board Meeting and Annual Reports, 1961
Box 11 Folder 8	British Broadcasting Corporation, 1959-1963
Box 11 Folder 9	“C” General
Box 11 Folder 10	Clippings, 1964-1965
Box 11 Folder 11	Conference on Quality and Equality in Education, 1965
	Department Annual Reports
Box 11 Folder 12	1960
Box 11 Folder 13	1961
Box 12 Folder 1	“D” and “E” General
Box 12 Folder 2	Eastern Education Network, 1961-1964
Box 12 Folder 3	“F” General
Box 12 Folder 4	Federal Communications Commission, 1954-1965
	F.C.C. - State of New Jersey et al. v. F.C.C.
Box 12 Folder 5	1959, 1961 May-August
Box 12 Folder 6	1961 September-October
Box 12 Folder 7	1961 November-December
Box 12 Folder 8	“G” and “H” General
Box 12 Folder 9	Greater Washington Educational Television Association, 1961-1964
Box 12 Folder 10	“I” General
Box 12 Folder 11	Instructional television materials
	International Cooperation Year
Box 12 Folder 12	1965 March-August
Box 13 Folder 1	1965 September-1966 September
Box 13 Folder 2	Intertel, 1962-1964
Box 13 Folder 3	J.C.E.T. correspondence and printed materials, 1958-1961
	J.C.E.B., 1961-1963
Box 13 Folder 4	Correspondence
Box 13 Folder 5	Printed materials
Box 13 Folder 6	“K-L-M” General
Box 13 Folder 7	Legal, 1957-1965
Box 13 Folder 8	“N” General, 1961-1966
	National Association of Educational Broadcasters (NAEB)
Box 13 Folder 9	General, 1965-1967
Box 13 Folder 10	Meetings, 1958-1959
Box 14 Folder 1	NETRC merger, 1959-1960
Box 14 Folder 2	Radio seminar, 1960
	National Instructional Television Library (NITL)
Box 14 Folder 3	1962-1964
Box 14 Folder 4	Proposal (with appendices), 1964
Box 14 Folder 5	Learning Resources Institute, 1959-1965
Box 14 Folder 6	New York: city and state
Box 14 Folder 7	Population Series, 1962-1966
Box 14 Folder 8	Programming
Box 14 Folder 9	“P-R-S” General
Box 15 Folder 1	“T” General
Box 15 Folder 2	Tocqueville Project, 1960-1964
Box 15 Folder 3	“U-V” General
	U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Box 15 Folder 4	1953-1959
Box 15 Folder 5	1960-1965
Box 15 Folder 6	U.S. - Japan Television Exchange, 1963-1966
Box 15 Folder 7	University of the State of New York, 1954-1965
Box 15 Folder 8	WGBH-TV, Channel 2, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1961-1966
Box 15 Folder 9	“W-Y” General
Box 15 Folder 10	Yale University, 1965-1966