Update: Just about an hour ago we hit the 2/3 mark. It is unbelievable, and truly humbling, the outpouring of support and donations that have come in today in my effort to save Newstalgia and the Archive it depends so heavily on. To you who have donated, you are an incredible gift and further evidence all angels don't have wings. To those of you on the fence, or afraid that what you can give isn't much - no matter how small or large your donation is, it is all desperately important and it is all chipping away at an enormous weight. No matter what you give, every penny makes a huge difference. I am grateful beyond words to those of you who have donated so far. We're almost there, and that's the opposite of where we were this time yesterday. I still need your help. We're getting close. You are making a difference. With your help, we're going to make it.

Staying in the early 20th Century today. Here is an address by the legendary William Jennings Bryan, who may probably be best known for his role in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925; teaching Evolution in public Schools. Bryan died within hours of the trials end. Although Bryan came to epitomize the Liberal Wing of the Democratic Party, he was a staunch prohibitionist and staunchly anti-Darwin, whose theory of Evolution was the basis for the famous trial. He unsuccessfully ran for President in 1896, 1900 and 1908 and was appointed Secretary of State in the Wilson Administration in 1913.

Here is the last portion of his address to the 1908 Democratic Convention, recorded several days later, on July 21, 1908 for posterity and also to be used for the Bryan campaign.

Later known as the "Ideal Republic" Address, here is the transcript of that speech since, being recorded in 1908, is a little hard to decipher in places:

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A voice from the deep-distant past. Teddy Roosevelt was considered to be the first Progressive President of the United States. During his time in office from 1901, (following the assassination of William McKinley) until 1908, he Created the National Park Service as we know it today. He signed into law the Pure Food and Drug Act, Child Labor laws, campaigned for a Healthcare System (which just goes to show you how long that argument's been going on), and introduced sweeping Anti-Trust legislation.

In 1912, after unsuccessfully attempting a nomination via the Republican Party, he formed his own Bullmoose Party and ran on a third-party ticket, against Woodrow Wilson.

Here is an address he made during that campaign, recorded on September 22, 1912 - the title of the address is "Liberty Of The People." Since the sound is a little rough (recording was in its infancy at the time), here is a transcript of that address:

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En route to the much anticipated Vienna Summit with Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev, President Kennedy paid a State Visit to Charles DeGaulle to engage in talks regarding French views on U.S. Foreign Policy and discuss differences with regards to NATO.

Here is a wrap-up of the days events for June 2nd, 1961 as reported by Leon Pearson and NBC Radio News.

Over to Paris this week for a concert by Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Alain Altinoglu and featuring Pianist Romain Descharmes in a program of music by Chabrier, Saint-Saens and Florent Schmitt.

The venerable war-horse Espana by Emmanuel Chabrier opens the concert, followed by a wildly well-received Saint-Saens Piano concerto Number 2, with Pianist Romain Descharmes, who follows with two encores. The concert concludes with the seldom heard (at least here in the U.S.) La Tragèdie de Salomè by the early 20th century composer Florent Schmitt.

A good concert of mostly familiar music done as only a French orchestra can.

The concert is broken up between two players - the Chabrier and the Saint-Saens (and encores) are on the top player and the Schmitt is on the bottom player.

For you note takers:

16 mai 2012
En direct de la Cité de la Musique : Chabrier, Saint-Saëns, Schmitt

Emmanuel Chabrier
España (1883)

Camille Saint-Saëns
Concerto N°2 en sol mineur Op.22 (1868)

Florent Schmitt
La Tragédie de Salomé Op.50 (1907)

Romain Descharmes, Piano
Orchestre de Paris
Alain Altinoglu, Direction
Coproduction Cité de la musique, Orchestre de Paris.

Enjoy.

We forget how often President's used to hold news conferences. During the JFK years is was almost every week. This Press Conference, from June 7, 1962 covers a wide range of topics. The budget, the recession, inflation, taxes and of course Medicare, which was foremost on JFK's agenda in 1962.

He opens the Press Conference with a statement:

President Kennedy: "Good afternoon. I have a brief preliminary statement. I would like to say a few words about our economic outlook and program.
I think most financial experts have realized for some time that an overpriced market could not hold up once investors recognized that inflation was ending. Price-earning ratios which averaged on Dow-Jones 23 to 1 could not be justified unless there was heavy inflation in prospect. And we have been working to prevent inflation, which gives a very misleading and spurious picture of economic health. We must not permit the effects of this adjustment, however, to hamper the growth rate of our economy, with which we have, as you know, not been fully satisfied. While our recovery from last year's recession has been a good one, production, profits, and employment are at alltime highs, and the prospects for continued economic expansion remain favorable. In view of corporate and consumer cash on hand, we should take every appropriate step to make certain that recovery is stronger and longer than before and is not cut short by a new recession.

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As an adjunct to the news of this day from Prague and the Czech crisis, there was also significant news regarding the very first Air Raid drill to take place in the U.S. on the night of May 16, 1938.

The site was a small rural community in New York State, which also housed an aircraft plant. The Air Raid, part of a new concept in War, was designed to better acquaint the public with the distinct possibilities that war could come just as easily from the air as anywhere else.

And since Radio was pretty new at this sort of on-the-spot reporting, it was an exciting evening for all parties concerned, and rather festive to the inhabitants of Farmingdale, New York.

So here is that broadcast, complete as it happened over WOR, New York on that night of May 16, 1938 - seventy-four years ago.

A lot has changed since then, to be sure.

Since 1938 was a Mid-Term election year, President Roosevelt embarked on a 28 day tour of the U.S., bringing his message of the accomplishments of his second term and a few words about The New Deal and the Recovery taking place in the country. The NRA had undergone a challenge in the Supreme Court and many of the programs initiated during FDR's first term were in jeopardy. So in an effort to bolster support and to campaign for incumbents, FDR did a series of whistle-stop appearances.

This one, on July 7, 1938 was from an appearance in Covington, Kentucky and was broadcast nationwide to a capacity audience.

Here is the complete address.

Update: Thanks to everyone who donated, we've hit our goal and we've saved the Archive. The Lien is off, the locks are back on and I can breathe a momentary sigh of relief. It's been a nail-biter and frankly, I think I've aged several years these past two weeks. But it's been your help, your kindness and your belief in what Newstalgia has been trying to do that has made all the difference and has energized my spirit and renewed my faith that there really is an audience out there for this kind of material. At four years, Newstalgia has only scratched the surface, and with your help and encouragement, there will be many more days months and hopefully years of relevant, pertinent and occasionally wacko historic material to offer. I'll be here as long as you're here. Thank you - thank you everyone.

This May 2nd in 1979 saw Britain on overload during the last day of campaigning just before the election. Projected to win, via recent polls, was incumbent Prime Minister James Callahan and the Labour Party. Dropping in the polls and not expected to win was challenger Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative Party. The last day of criss-crossing Britain, Thatcher promised that, if elected she would clamp down on the power of Labor Unions. Harbinger of things to come, for sure. But on this day, Callahan was expected to remain in power and the Thatcher promises were regarded as empty threats.

Not such empty threats was the assassination of Ayatullah Motahari in Tehran. A newly discovered group calling themselves Forghan claimed responsibility. The group, it was thought, was purported to be made up of supporters of The Shah and promised a lot more.

Seven bombs went off in and around Paris overnight. No injuries or loss of life, but the perps remained a mystery.

The United Nations flag was flying over Pyongyang for the first time since anyone could remember. It signified a visit from UN Secretary Kurt Waldheim for talks regarding unification of the two Koreas.

And speaking of talks - discussions on the trade imbalance between the U.S. and Japan got underway between President Jimmy Carter and visiting Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira.

In other Capitol Hill news - President Carter was readying to announce his replacement for Army Chief of Staff General Rogers, who was leaving to replace Gen. Alexander Haig as NATO Commander in Europe.

The endless War on Drugs was heating up again. This time in Southern Floria where it was announced 14 people were so far under indictment for Drug Smuggling in Miami with many more to come.

Boston Pops Icon Arthur Fiedler celebrated his 50th season with the orchestra in a gala celebration.

And John Wayne was back in the hospital with a not-so-good prognosis.

All this and much more via The CBS World News Roundup for May 2, 1979.

Update: As of yesterday, there have been no new donations. This translates as terrible and there is a very real chance both Newstalgia and the Archive from which all these posts come will disappear. Thousands of hours of historic audio, photos and historic papers will cease to exist. That sounds dire, because it is. I need your help. I can't do it alone. I can no longer afford to. Right now, we stand at a little less than half our bare-bones minimum goal of $5,000.00 in order to keep Newstalgia and the Archives afloat. If you can help, make a donation for any amount you are comfortable with. Every dollar and every penny is crucial in chipping away at this emergency. Please donate what you can. It is desperately needed right now. You can make a difference.

A curious mix of optimism and pessimism for this week, ending on April 26th in 1964.

On the optimistic side - President Johnson announced to the world that the U.S. would make substantial reductions in Nuclear Weapons and Uranium enrichment production. Simultaneously, it was announced by Nikita Khruschev via Radio Moscow, that the Soviet Union would do the same thing. The news was greeted with a sense of relief and UN General Secretary U Thant offered an evaluation on what was deemed a hopeful sign towards an easing of Cold War tensions.

On the Pessimistic side - tensions were brewing between the U.S. and Cuba as Cuban Premier Fidel Castro vowed to down any U.S. Reconnaissance planes flying over Cuban territory as it had been doing since 1962.

On the optimistic side - Sec. of State Dean Rusk returned from a fact-finding mission to Saigon and offered an upbeat assessment of the situation in Vietnam, saying the South Vietnamese Army could handle themselves nicely.

On the Pessimistic side - Defense Secretary Robert McNamara conceded it will "take time" for any progress to be made in Vietnam and that the South Vietnamese Army is running a defensive strategy rather than an offensive one. Oh well.

Meanwhile - the four year long negotiations between the Railroads and the Unions was finally at the settlement stage. And just in the nick of time, as the settlement averted a threatened strike.

President Johnson went on a brief tour of the Appalachia region, hitting the towns and cities worst hit by poverty and unemployment, touting his War on Poverty legislation. He was greeted with waves of enthusiasm.

Not so enthusiastic were reports from Capitol Hill saying the 1964 Civil Rights Bill was at a standstill, making the future unclear for passage of the Legislation.

And the much publicized "Stall-ins", threatened for Opening day of the New York Worlds Fair on April 22nd, didn't materialize. But that didn't stop some 300 Civil Rights demonstrators from being arrested from the Fair opening anyway.

All this in one week, ending on April 26th 1964, as reported on the ABC Radio Voices In The Headlines program.

With a burst of support from so many of you overnight, we've been able to reach 1/3 of our goal. I can't tell you what this means to me and to the continuation of Newstalgia. We still have a ways to go, but our goal is in sight. And thanks to the incredible outpouring of donations and kind words from all of you, we're able to slowly get there. We can make it - and with your help we will. Any amount is gratefully appreciated. No matter what you may think is an insignificant amount, it's huge to us right now. I cannot thank you enough for your support. And if you haven't made a donation yet, and are able to (I know these times are rough - if they weren't, I wouldn't be asking for your support), please consider any amount in order to keep Newstalgia alive and keep the Archives (from which all these posts come from) from disappearing. With your help, we can do it.

Since April 23rd in 1979 also came on a Monday, it was the start to what promised to be a busy week for Jimmy Carter, and for Capitol Hill in general.

First off - with Carter back at the White House from his 11 day Easter vacation, he was gearing up for the onslaught of cameras and microphones as he went into lobbying mode for this Windfall Profits Tax and SALT Treaty legislation. SALT was thought to be a hard sell because of the verification agreement in the Treaty. While the Windfall Profits Tax proposal, aimed at the Oil Producers, had a "wait and see" cloud hanging over it. Obviously a welcome piece of legislation from the voters, there was "Big Oil" to deal with, and that could pose a big problem.

Meanwhile - as Congress came back from Easter recess, the Senate were gearing up for testimony from Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh and others over the recent 3-Mile Island Nuclear Power plant disaster. Looking for answers amid a sea of finger pointing. Also at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings was more testimony regarding the SALT Treaty and questions over CIA Chief Stansfield Turner's appearance at the Hearings, resulting in Carter's blast of Turner for leaks an distortions during his previous testimony.

On the Union front - Negotiations resumed between the Machinists Union and United Airlines, attempting to end a strike that got started late March. Also pending was a tentative agreement between Teamsters and the Steel industry.

In the rest of the world - Heavy fighting was reported in Cambodia with an estimated 40,000 civilians and fleeing troops loyal to Pol Pot fleeing over the border to Thailand. The Thai government were tight-lipped and clamped a black-out on Press inquiries.

Senator Frank Church, while visiting Tokyo, warned the Japanese government that a strong feeling of Protectionism was brewing in the U.S. over the trade imbalances between Japan and the U.S.

Deposed Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin turned up in Iraq, flying in from Libya, presumably seeking asylum in Baghdad.

And flooding continued in Mississippi, with protests launched at the Feds for the reported 7% interest rate being handed flood-ravaged victims.

And on and on it went, that Monday April 23rd in 1979. As reported on the CBS World News Roundup.