The papers of the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television
contain correspondence, reports, proceedings of conferences and
meetings, surveys, financial and statistical data, news articles, tape
recordings, and related material. Although there is significant
documentation of Commission activities, it is not complete. The
collection is divided into six series: correspondence; meetings and
conferences; surveys of educational television; Carnegie Commission
report; and publicity and presentations.
The CORRESPONDENCE series covers the period from November 1965 to
October 1967. It includes a letter dated September 26, 1966 from E. B.
White and photocopies of letters from Lyndon Baines Johnson and Frank
Stanton dated November 8, 1965 and January 27, 1967, respectively. The
MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES series documents some Commission gatherings.
This documentation includes a tape recording of a November 1966,
conference (a guide to the recording is located with the register in
Box 1 of the collection) and minutes and related material concerning
other conferences, meetings, and visits of invited guests. Generally,
however, the documentation is poor for both the staff meetings and the
more formal conferences. The REPORTS series, in addition to some
monthly reports of the staff (only February and March 1966, are
represented), holds papers prepared by the Commission staff and outside
experts on the many aspects of educational television then under study.
Only those papers which were not published with the final report are
included here.
The major part of the SURVEYS OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION series is
made up of reports of staff visits to sixty-five non-commercial
television stations in the United States. The reports contain the
personal responses and opinions of the representatives concerning
station operations. (Arrangement is alphabetical by the individual who
made the visit.) The balance of the series has statistical and
financial data on educational television authorities and stations;
documentation of Commission support of a Brandeis University study of
educational television programming, April 1966; and a survey of
educational opportunities for potential television writers. The annual
reports, 1963-1965, of the educational television stations are closed
to research until 1980.
The CARNEGIE COMMISSION REPORT series has early drafts of the
report, as well as comments by Commission members and staff on those
drafts and the final, published, version. The PUBLICITY AND
PRESENTATIONS series contains news articles, a tape recording of a
press conference, speeches, and other presentations, including
testimony before the United States Senate and House of Representatives,
concerning the Commission recommendations. Most of the presentations
are by James R. Killian, chairman of the Commission.
