KLCC 89.7 FM is a public radio station licensed to Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. In addition to the main transmitter in Eugene, the station has translators in four communities throughout Western and Central Oregon (Cottage Grove, Oakridge, Riddle, and Sisters), and five sister stations which broadcast KLCC programming -- KLBR in Bend, KLFO in Florence, KLCO in Newport, KLFR in Reedsport, and KMPQ in Roseburg.
One-third of KLCC’s broadcast week is devoted to news and talk programs, covering local, regional, national and international topics and issues. The remaining hours are filled with music programs including jazz, blues, folk, world, reggae, Celtic, electronic, singer/songwriter, R&B, Latino, and women's music.
KLCC went on the air in February 1967 as a project of the Electronics Department at Lane Community College. During its first few years of existence, KLCC was a training ground for technical and on-air students, and students were actively involved in the programming of the station. In 1977 KLCC became an independent department of LCC and the radio station became a non-instructional service of the college, operated by a professional staff. The decision was made for KLCC to become a public radio station and in 1971 KLCC became a charter member of NPR (National Public Radio).
In 1974 KLCC studios moved into the Forum Building on the LCC main campus. After nearly 41 years on the LCC campus, KLCC moved to a new home at 136 W. 8th Street in downtown Eugene in 2008.
Fundraising events include the Radiothons and Thonbusters, KLCC in Bloom: Tour of Gardens, the annual garden tour beginning in1994, and the Microbrew Festival beginning in 2002. KLCC has broadcast from community events such as the Eugene Celebration, Oregon Country Fair, and Willamette Valley Folk Festival.
In 2009, the KLCC staff included 20 paid employees, and over 70 volunteers from the community. Steve Barton began as assistant engineer 1977, became chief engineer in 1978, and General Manager in 1987. Don Hein was hired as News & Public Affairs Director in 1977 and became Program Director in 1988. Other administrative staff members are Michael Canning, Music Director since 1984; Paula Chan Carpenter, Development Director since 1980; Kris Lindstrom Fox, Continuity Director 1981-1988 and Membership Director since 1988; and Gayle Chisholm, Marketing Director since 1986 and webmaster since 2000.
Tripp Sommer began as a volunteer in 1981 and was hired as Morning Edition host in 1986. In 1988 he became News Director and host of Northwest Passage, a local and regional newsmagazine, offering newscasts, feature reports, arts and book reviews, interviews, commentary, and analysis of local and regional issues.
Former longtime staff/volunteers include: Gavin "Rooster" Fox (1948-1999), the host of Blues Power, Tropical Beat and Fresh Tracks, 1977-1999; David Joyce (1946-2003),co-host with Lotte Streisinger of Visible City during the 1990's; Carolyn Spector (1937-2001), book reviewer on Northwest Passage, 1990-2001; Peter Wotton (1933-1996) host of Elderberry Wine commentaries, focusing on issues of interest to older people, 1982-1996; and Alan Siporin, commentator and host of Live Wire and Critical Mass, 1981-2003. For more information about the history of KLCC see “Milestones” on the KLCC webpage http://www.klcc.org/index.asp
The administrative records of KLCC include correspondence and memos, advisory board and staff meeting records, FCC ownership records, construction grant records, and financial records. Also included are records kept by Cheryle Hawkins who was a KLCC board member 1976-1987, and “The Earlier Days at KLCC,“ a personal memoir about KRVM and KLCC written in 1982 by Roger J. Houghlum, founding director of the station.
The records of the public relations department include press releases, publicity and promotion records, program guides and brochures, and surveys. Marketing and fundraising records include newspaper and television advertisements, radiothon and thonbuster fundraising campaigns, event records including the KLCC Garden Tour, Eugene Celebration, Oregon Country Fair, Microbrew Festival and special broadcasts or concerts by the Grateful Dead and Garrison Keillor and others.
The Program Logs and News Department Records contain a sampling (seven daily logs per quarter, most often from a week in January, April, July, and October, but sometimes other months) of program and station logs, 1996-2006. Program logs are daily inventories of programs broadcast from sign-on to sign-off. Station logs are records kept by station engineers concerning checks on equipment, lights, and power and radio emergency broadcast tests.
News Department Records include audience data, calendars, correspondence by Alan Siporin, and schedules, scripts, and Oregon Country Fair records kept by Trip Sommer.
The Audio and Video Recordings contain a rich and varied collection of cassette and reel-to-reel recordings of news, music, and advertising and promotional audio and video recordings. The news recordings include compilations of news stories from 1985-1994 as well as individual recordings.
Northwest Passage began broadcasting in 1985 with Don Hein as the host. Since 1988 Tripp Sommer has been host. Northwest Passage is a local and regional newsmagazine with newscasts, feature reports, arts and book reviews, interviews, commentary, and analysis of local and regional issues. The cassette tape recordings include interviews and news stories about local events such as the Kip Kinkel-Thurston High School shooting, local political events and candidates, community events and topics, the Rajneeshpuram, a controversial cult/community in north-central Organ in the 1980s, forestry, and music and musicians.
The collection is divided into five series:
A. Administrative Records, 1968-2006
B. Marketing, Public Relations and Fundraising Records, 1974-2006
C. Audio, Video and CD Recordings, 1980-2006
D. Program Logs and News Department Records, 1989-2006
E. Posters and Banners, n.d.
There are no access restrictions. The collection is open for research.
There are no use restrictions.
KLCC-FM Records, 1968-2006, A-055, Lane Community College Archives, Eugene, Oregon
Records were transferred from KLCC-FM to the college archives in thirty accessions between 1985 and 2007.
The records in the thirty accessions from KLCC-FM were consolidated into one collection when they were processed by Elizabeth Uhlig in 2009.
For additional records relating to KLCC, see:
For additional records relating to KLCC, see:
The National Public Broadcasting Archives at the University of
Maryland include the records of the major non-commercial broadcasting
organizations in the United States, such as the Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), and the personal papers of individuals
who have made significant contributions to public broadcasting. See:
Archives of KBPS, 1923-1995 – The KBPS Archives, housed at the
University of Maryland’s National Public Broadcasting Archives, contain the
records of KBPS-AM, a radio station run by Benson Polytechnic High School
students enrolled in the radio broadcasting program in Portland, Oregon. See:
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
The administrative records of KLCC include correspondence and memos, advisory board and staff meeting records, FCC ownership records, construction grant records, and financial records. Cheryle Hawkins was a KLCC board member 1976-1987 and records she collected such as correspondence, meeting records, newspaper clippings, and program guides are included. “The Earlier Days at KLCC“ is a personal memoir about KRVM and KLCC written in 1982 by Roger J. Houghlum, founding director of the station.
Contents List for Series A, Administrative Records.
Collection is open to the public.
The records of the public relations department include press releases, publicity and promotion records, program guides and brochures, and surveys. Marketing and fundraising records include newspaper and television advertisements, radiothon and thonbuster fundraising campaigns, event records including the KLCC Garden Tour, Eugene Celebration, Oregon Country Fair, Microbrew Festival and special broadcasts or concerts by the Grateful Dead and Garrison Keillor and others.
Collection is open to the public.
The Audio and Video Recordings contain a rich and varied collection of cassette and reel-to-reel recordings of news, music, and advertising and promotional audio and video recordings. The news recordings include compilations of news stories from 1985-1994 as well as individual recordings.
Northwest Passage began broadcasting in 1985 with Don Hein as the host. Since 1988 Tripp Sommer has been host. Northwest Passage is a local and regional newsmagazine with newscasts, feature reports, arts and book reviews, interviews, commentary, and analysis of local and regional issues. The cassette tape recordings include interviews and news stories about local events such as the Kip Kinkel-Thurston High School shooting, local political events and candidates, community events and topics, the Rajneeshpuram, a controversial cult/community in north-central Oregon in the 1980s, forestry, and music and musicians.
Collection is open to the public.
This series contains a sampling of program and station logs, 1996-2006. The sampling includes seven daily logs per quarter, most often from weeks in January, April, July, and October, but sometimes other months. There is a complete run of Station Logs from 2001-2004 and incomplete records from other years. Program logs are daily inventories of programs broadcast from sign-on to sign-off. Station logs are records kept by station engineers concerning checks on equipment, lights, and power and radio emergency broadcast tests.
News Department Records include audience data, calendars, correspondence from Alan Siporin, and schedules, scripts, and Oregon Country Fair records kept by Tripp Sommer.
Collection is open to the public.
Collection is open to the public.