Title: Lee Loevinger Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1963-1976

Creator:

• Loevinger, Lee, 1913-

Call Number: U.S. Mss 159AF; Tape 614A

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 9 tape recordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of a member of the Federal Communications Commission, 1963-1968, consisting of speeches and statements, 1963-1976; FCC opinions and orders; and articles by and about Loevinger. The tape recordings consist of radio and television interviews and a speech delivered to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0159af

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Lee Loevinger, attorney and author, is best known as a member of the Federal Communications Commission, 1963-1968. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1913. After completing his education at the University of Minnesota (B.A., 1933; J.D., 1936), Loevinger practiced law in Missouri and Minnesota. He worked as an attorney for the federal government, serving with the National Labor Relations Board (1937-1941) and with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (attorney, 1941-1946, and assistant attorney general in charge of the division, 1961-1963). He also acted as a special counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Small Business (1951-1952) and to the attorney general (1963-1964). In addition, Loevinger has taught at the University of Minnesota and American University, chaired the Minnesota Atomic Development Problems Committee (1957-1960), and served as a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court (1960-1961). His publications include: The Law of Free Enterprise (1949); An Introduction to Legal Logic (1952); and, as editor and contributor, Basic Data on Atomic Development (1958).

Appointed to the Federal Communications Commission in 1963, Loevinger established himself as a critic of government regulation of broadcasting. Since leaving the Commission in 1968, he has served as a vice president of an investment banking firm in Minneapolis, practiced law with a Washington, D. C., firm, and been a member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1972-1974) and a delegate to a White House Conference on Inflation (1974).

The papers and recordings, 1963-1976, provide significant documentation for the years that Loevinger served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission. (Material covering other aspects of his career has been deposited in the Minnesota Historical Society.) Though incomplete, the collection clearly establishes Loevinger's position as a critic of federal regulations of radio and television broadcasting. The collection contains five subdivisions: Federal Communications Commission, speeches and statements, writings, articles about Loevinger, and tape recordings.

The FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION series consists of F.C.C. opinions and orders in which Loevinger took part, 1963-1967. They concern such issues as license renewals and construction permits for radio and television stations, F.C.C. jurisdiction over Community Antenna Television systems, and a rate increase for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Issues of a more philosophical nature, e.g. privacy, free speech, and the “fairness doctrine,” are also treated here. All of these decisions include concurring and dissenting statements (a practice which Loevinger helped to establish) by Loevinger and other Commission members.

The SPEECHES AND STATEMENTS series contains copies of Loevinger's speeches delivered primarily before broadcasting groups, and statements to several government bodies: to a United States Senate Subcommittee on the privacy of telephone conversations (1966), to the Federal Trade Commission concerning advertising (1971), and to a White House Conference on Inflation (1974). The WRITINGS file contains a bibliography of Loevinger's books and articles, 1937-1965, and copies of his articles, 1964-1975, written for such periodicals as The Antitrust Bulletin, the F.C.C. Bar Journal, the Journal of Broadcasting, TV Guide, and Variety. The ARTICLES ABOUT LOEVINGER folder contains articles from newspapers and magazines about Loevinger's activities as an F.C.C. Commissioner. The TAPE RECORDINGS series is composed of nine tapes. They include: three radio interviews of Loevinger, 1963-1966; Loevinger's participation in radio and television “call-in” shows, 1963; and a speech before the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, 1964.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Lee Loevinger, Washington, D.C., 1965-1976. Accession Number: MCHC65-132, MCHC66-005, MCHC66-020, MCHC66-033, MCHC66-045, MCHC66-066, MCHC66-090, MCHC67-003, MCHC67-041, MCHC67-068, MCHC67-103, MCHC68-007, MCHC68-021, MCHC68-046, MCHC68-119, MCHC69-021, MCHC69-160, MCHC74-094, MCHC74-103, MCHC75-022, MCHC76-030, MCHC76-118

Processing Information

Processed by Roy H. Tryon, March 15, 1977.

	Series: Federal Communications Commission
Box   1 Folder   1-5	Opinions and orders, 1963-1967
	Series: Speeches and Statements	⇧
	Speeches, 1963-1976
Box   1 Folder   6	“Broadcasting and the Journalistic Function,” August 26, 1963
Box   1 Folder   6	“Problems, Procedures, and the Policies of the F.C.C.,” November 1, 1963
Box   1 Folder   6	“Science and Legal Thinking,” November 8, 1963
Box   1 Folder   7	“The Culture of a Scientific Age,” November 21, 1963
Box   1 Folder   7	“The Role of Law in Broadcasting,” May 4, 1964
Box   1 Folder   7	“The Role of Government in the Field of Advertising,” August 10, 1964
Box   1 Folder   8	“Religious Liberty and Broadcasting,” January 27, 1965
Box   1 Folder   8	“Science and Destiny,” February 25, 1965
Box   1 Folder   8	“The Administrative Agency as a Paradigm of Government-A Survey of the Administrative Process,” March 27, 1965
Box   1 Folder   9	“The Temper of the Times: Ferment on the Campus,” March 31, 1965
Box   1 Folder   9	“The Future of Television,” June 11, 1965
Box   1 Folder   9	“The Limits of Technology in Broadcasting,” October 10, 1966
Box   1 Folder   9	“Data Retrieval and Relevance,” January 24, 1967
Box   1 Folder   10	“Reality in the Dream World, or Fun and Games in Business and Government,” April 2, 1967
Box   1 Folder   10	“The Lexonomics of Telecommunications: Legal-Economic Patterns of National Telecommunications Systems throughout the World,” July 11, 1967
Box   1 Folder   10	“The Ambiguous Mirror: The Reflective-Projective Theory of Broadcasting and Mass Communications,” October 17, 1967
Box   1 Folder   11	“The Power of Advertising,” November 28, 1967
Box   1 Folder   11	“The Journalistic Responsibility of Broacasting,” October 11, 1968
Box   1 Folder   12	“Mass versus Media-Who Controls?” February 11, 1969
Box   1 Folder   12	“Lexonomic Analysis and Antitrust,” March 17, 1969
Box   1 Folder   13	“Lexonomic Analysis of Rate Regulation,” April 24, 1969
Box   1 Folder   13	“The Voiceless Muse-A Story About Television,” September 12, 1969
Box   1 Folder   13	“Mass Communications in Contemprary Society,” April 24, 1970
Box   2 Folder   1	“Will Broadcasting Survive,” October 13, 1971
Box   2 Folder   1	“Advertising Abuses and the Worse Cure-A Critical Observer's View,” October 13, 1972
Box   2 Folder   2	“The Politics of Advertising,” January 4, 1973
Box   2 Folder   2	“Mass Media and Politics,” October 20, 1973
Box   2 Folder   2	Speech, Broadcast Pioneers Fifteenth Annual Mike Award Banquet Honoring WCCO (Minneapolis, Minnesota), February 26, 1975
Box   2 Folder   2	Speech, CBS Radio Network Affiliates Convention, September 16, 1976
	Statements, 1966-1974
Box   2 Folder   3	Statement on the privacy of telephone conversations before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, September 15, 1966
Box   2 Folder   3	Statement before the Federal Trade Commission in behalf of the Joint ANA-AAAA Committees, October 28, 1971
Box   2 Folder   3	Statement to the White House Conference on Inflation, September 16, 1974
	Series: Writings	⇧
Box   2 Folder   4	Bibliography of Lee Loevinger's books and articles, 1937-1965
Box   2 Folder   5-7	Articles, 1964-1975
Box   2 Folder   8	Series: Articles About Loevinger	⇧
Tape 614A	Series: Tape Recordings	⇧
No.   1-2	Lee Loevinger on the “Open Mike” program of WCCO, Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 19, 1963 Scope and Content Note: Loevinger answers questions concerning multiple ownership of radio and television stations, the new listings of available FM frequencies, and related issues.
No.   3-4	Lee Loevinger, et al. on a public “call-in” program, KOLN-TV, Lincoln, Nebraska, August 27, 1963 Scope and Content Note: Loevinger discusses his philosophy of news reporting and his goal of diversified ownership of television stations. Singer Phil Ochs also takes part.
No.   5	Interview of Lee Loevinger on the Steve Allison program, WWDC, Washington, D. C., September 20, 1963 Scope and Content Note: Loevinger discusses multiple ownership of broadcasting stations and the availability of UHF and FM bands for broadcasting.
No.   6-7	Speech by Lee Loevinger at the Georgia Broadcasters Convention, June 16, 1964 Scope and Content Note: Loevinger outlines the many problems faced by the FCC.
No.   8	Interview of Lee Loevinger on the “District Roundtable” program, WWDC, Washington, D.C., September 15, 1965 Scope and Content Note: Loevinger discusses his role as a “judge” in rulings by the FCC and answers criticism that he does not watch television.
No.   9	Interview of Lee Loevinger on the Steve Allison program, WWDC, Washington, D. C., June 30, 1966 Scope and Content Note: Loevinger discusses the responsibilities of a “live” talk show host with regard to the issue of the Vietnam War.