AHJ_ah400100 Inventory of the James Welke Collection of Radio Show Recordings, 1944-1959 Welke (James) Collection of Radio Show Recordings Processed by Kayci Kruhmin University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
American Heritage Center Dept. 3924, 1000 E. University Avenue University of Wyoming Laramie, WY 82071 Phone: 307.766.2574 Fax:307.766.5511 Email:ahcref@uwyo.edu URL:http://ahc.uwyo.edu/
2019; 2021

University of Wyoming

 Finding aid encoded by Leslie Waggener. 2019 Finding aid is in English Collection Summary Welke, James James Welke Collection of Radio Show Recordings 1944-1959 400100 0.64 cubic ft. (1 box) University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center. English Recordings of broadcasts of popular American and University of Wyoming radio shows from the 1940s to the 1950s. Biography of James Welke

James W. Welke (1936-2018) was a university professor of communication beginning at Indiana University in 1964 and continuing on as a professor of journalism and telecommunication at the University of Wyoming in 1966. In 1978, he became head of UW’s Department of Journalism and Telecommunication. In 1986, he was appointed Director, School of Communication, at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He was a member and officer in national professional organizations and had a substantial record of publications in the U.S. and Europe.

 Scope and Content

The collection contains 44 soundtrack discs (16 in.; 33 1/3 RPM) of radio show broadcasts dating from the 1940s to the 1950s. There is also one disc that is 12 in.; 78 RPM. A number of the radio shows aired on KWOR, a station that signed on in 1946 and was licensed to Worland, Wyoming.

The national radio shows on the 16 in. discs are: The Greatest of These, Order in the Court, Court is in Session, In the Name of the Law, Famous Jury Trials, The Chase, Five Minute Mysteries, and The Sealed Book. There are also episodes of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Corsican Brothers, and Son of Porthos, all of which featured the George Edwards Players, an Australian troupe founded in 1933 that became world famous for their dramatic and comedic serials. Two discs are labeled "Choral Speaking" and one disc is unidentified.

Also, on the 16 in. discs are two productions created at the University of Wyoming. One is a transcribed radio program titled Problems of Today that featured University of Wyoming faculty and community members discussing issues affecting the nation. The episode on the album is “The Right to Strike: What is It?” The episode has Ralphie Conwell (Head of the UW Dept. of Economics and Sociology), John Raines (Assistant Professor in the UW College of Law), John McConnell (Pastor of the United Presbyterian Church of Laramie), and moderator William Stevens who hold a roundtable discussion on the topic. The other transcribed production is a program by the University of Wyoming Playhouse which offered weekly radio adaptations of a long-familiar story or a new play written especially for radio. The program is an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, Wakefield. Neither of the University of Wyoming recordings are complete. Each is cut off at about 15 minutes.

The title of the undated 12 in. disc is “Comedy: Neutral, Music, Gobbie, Yawn, Machine, Skipping, Confusion, Question, Walk, Thirsty, Baby Cry, Ragtime Cowboy, Hurdy Gurdy, Pony Boy” and was released by the Standard Mood Music Library.

 Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

 Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

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 Related Materials

There are no known other archival collections created by James Welke at the date of processing.

 Acquisition Information

This material was received from James Welke in 1986.

The collection was processed by Kayci Kruhmin in December 2021.

 Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

 Access Terms University of Wyoming -- History. Radio programs -- United States. Radio broadcasting -- United States -- 1940-1950. Detective and mystery stories, American. Radio plays, American. Drama -- Audio adaptations. College and school drama, American. Wyoming -- History --- 1946-1999. <?xm-replace_text {Title as Subject}?> Education Colleges and Universities Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Journalism Wyoming Container List Phonographic Records(33 1/3 RPM and 78 RPM) 1 “The Chase”(See: “The chase”, box 23-27 and 106, Lawrence Klee papers, 1936-1994, collection #10049 for the script and other stories pertaining to this series.) 1952 December 1 “Choral Speaking” undated 1 “The Corsican Brothers” - Program 1 and 2 undated 1 “Court is in session” – Program 4, 9, and 10 undated 1 “Famous Jury Trials” Part I of II 1945 April-November 1 “Famous Jury Trials” Program 1 and 13 1956 March, undated 1 “Five Minute Mysteries” undated 1 “Five Minute Mysteries” Program 253-258 undated 1 “The Greatest of These” Program 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 18 1951-1955, undated 1 “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” Part I and II undated 1 “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” Program 29 undated 1 “In the Name of the Law” Program 3 and 4 1959 November 1 “The Man in the Iron Mask” Program 5-6, 13-14, 21-22, 27-28, 35-36, and 43-44 undated 1 “Order in the Court” Program 2 undated 1 “Problems if Today” and “U-W Playhouse” 1949 November 1 “The Sealed Book” Program 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 undated 1 “Son of Porthos” Program 12 1953 April 1 “Comedy: Neutral, Music, Gobbie, Yawn, Machine, Skipping, Confusion, Question, Walk, Thirsty, Baby Cry, Ragtime Cowboy, Hurdy Gurdy, Pony Boy” (12 in., 78 RPM) undated 1 Unidentified Disc undated