Summary Information
William Saxby Hedges Papers
1918-1962
- Hedges, William Saxby, 1895-1978
U.S. Mss 54AF
1.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of a broadcasting executive who served NBC successively as vice-president in charge of its stations, planning and development, and integrated services departments. Correspondence, 1926-1962, chiefly concerns Broadcast Pioneers, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Chicago Daily News, and WMAQ. The limited NBC material is best for the inception of television during the late 1940's. Also present are speeches and articles, clippings, memorabilia, a transcript of an oral history interview, and a number of NBC reports, including some by Hedges. Outside interests are reflected in several folders. Material pertaining to Broadcast Pioneers includes minutes, printed matter, issues of the group's in-house organ, and material on its history project. Of special interest is Hedges' interview with John F. Royal and the inventories of the project's collection. Information on the NAB, of which Hedges was a founding member, includes a constitution and by-laws, a proposed code of fair competition, convention programs, and a handbook.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0054af ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
William S. Hedges, former vice-president of the National Broadcasting Company, was born in Elmwood, Illinois, on June 21, 1895. From 1900 to 1913 he lived in Colorado and attended schools in Grand Junction, Denver, and Colorado Springs. Following graduation from high school, he went to Chicago where he worked in the car shops of the Armour Car Lines, eventually becoming department foreman. He left Armour in the fall of 1914 to enter the University of Chicago. While a student Hedges served as campus correspondent for the Chicago Daily News, but he left school at the end of his junior year to join the Army Air Corps. Pending call to training, he served as the Daily News' military correspondent at Camp Grant near Rockford, Illinois.
Hedges returned to the Daily News as a reporter in December 1918. In 1922 he established the radio department of the Chicago Daily News and assisted in establishing WMAQ, the paper's radio station, which first broadcast in April 1922. When the station was later incorporated as a Daily News subsidiary, Hedges was made its president. The following year he was one of the founders of the National Association of Broadcasters, serving as president from 1928 to 1930 and subsequently as director and chairman of its executive committee. From 1928 to 1930 he was a director and secretary of Press Wireless, Inc. He also established W9XAP as an experimental television station and operated it in connection with WMAQ from 1929 to 1931.
When NBC purchased WMAQ in 1931, Hedges continued as manager, though he was soon transferred to similar duties with WENR, NBC's second Chicago station. In June 1933 he was made general manager of KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in April 1934 he moved to New York as manager of NBC's newly-established owned and operated stations division. In December 1936 he left NBC to become manager of WLW and WSAI, Cincinnati, Ohio, and vice-president of Crosley Radio Corporation. He returned to NBC, however, in November 1937 as vice-president in charge of station relations and traffic.
In May 1939 NBC created a stations department which embraced the station relations, traffic, national spot sales, and owned and operated stations divisions, and Hedges was appointed vice-president in charge. In subsequent years he moved rapidly through a succession of duties: vice-president in charge of planning and development, 1947-1949; vice-president in charge of integrated services, 1949-1959; and vice-president in charge of the network's political broadcasting unit, 1959-1961. Hedges retired in 1961, at which time he took charge of the Broadcast Pioneers' history project. He died on January 19, 1978.
In addition to membership in numerous service organizations, Hedges was active in many professional broadcasting associations. He was president of the Radio Executives Club, 1946 and 1947; president of Radio Pioneers,
1949 and 1950; a member of the boards of directors of Broadcast Music, Inc. and Associated Music Publishers; and a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences.
Scope and Content Note
The papers consist of correspondence, speeches and writings, biographical material, and three small subject files on the National Broadcasting Company, the National Association of Broadcasters, and Broadcast Pioneers. For further research there are an additional four boxes of Hedges papers filed with the NBC Papers (U.S. Mss 17AF). Consisting of correspondence, speeches, memoranda, and related material, the NBC records pertain to his responsibilities as vice-president in charge of integrated services, 1951-1955.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1926-1962, chiefly concerns Broadcast Pioneers, NAB, the Chicago Daily News, and WMAQ. Included is one letter (November 13, 1928) from Herbert Hoover, thanking Hedges and the NAB for their congratulations on his election. The SPEECHES AND WRITINGS, 1929-1961, include articles, speeches, a statement to the Independent Broadcasters convention (in a complete transcript of the convention proceedings), a transcript of Hedges' Columbia Oral History interview, and reports he submitted to NBC as vice-president in charge of planning and development.
The NBC file, 1941-1949, consists entirely of reports submitted to Hedges by other NBC executives. Included are materials on the institution of television broadcasting and 1941 planning reports for both the Red and Blue Networks.
The BROADCAST PIONEERS file, 1943-1963, consists of membership directories; printed matter which includes 18 issues of the organization's internal organ, Radio Pioneer; and documentation on the history project which Hedges headed. Of special interest are four inventories of the project's collection and a transcript of Hedges' interview with John F. Royal, a former NBC vice-president.
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS file, 1932-1935, includes a constitution and by-laws, a proposed code of fair competition, programs from the 8th, 10th, 12th, and 13th conventions, and an undated handbook.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, 1918-1961, consists of clippings and printed matter in which Hedges is mentioned.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by William S. Hedges, 1963 and 1968. Accession Number: MCHC 63-76, -92; 68-31, -77
Reprocessed by Carolyn J. Mattern, October, 1978.
Contents List
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Box
1
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Correspondence, 1926-1962
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Speeches and Writings
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Articles, 1929-1958
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Box
2
Folder
2
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“Thirty Years in Broadcasting,” Columbia Oral History interview, 1951
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Speeches, 1929-1961
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Statement to Independent Broadcasters convention, 1937
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Box
2
Folder
5-6
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Reports to NBC, 1945-1950
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Box
3
Folder
1-3
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NBC, 1941-1949
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Broadcast Pioneers
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Box
3
Folder
4
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Printed matter, 1949-1963
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Box
3
Folder
5
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Membership directories, 1943, 1947, 1951-1952
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Box
3
Folder
6
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History project, 1964-1969
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National Association of Broadcasters
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Box
4
Folder
1
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Constitution, by-laws, convention proceedings, and draft code, 1932-1935
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Box
4
Folder
2
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Handbooks, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
3-4
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Biographical Material, 1918-1961
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