WFCR (Radio station : Amherst, Mass.)

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WFCR studio, ca.1968

The first public radio station in western New England, WFCR radio first went on the air on May 6, 1961, transmitting from a 10-watt station located at Springfield Trade High School. Then known as Four College Radio (Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts Amherst), WFCR initially operated on a very limited schedule, broadcasting only from noon to midnight, six days per week, and it offered little in the way of locally-produced content. After joining the Eastern Educational Radio Network in 1962, however, WFCR began gradually to expand its scope, increasing its on-air presence to seventeen hours per day within two years and pursuing a more ambitious agenda of covering cultural events in the region. By the late 1960s, WFCR became a major public venue for the myriad musical productions originating in the Pioneer Valley region, as well as for local writers, artists, and the steady stream of visiting lecturers at the Four Colleges.

With Hampshire College joining the Four Colleges in 1966 -- thus creating Five College Radio -- WFCR hired its first Music Director. UMass assumed the license for the station in 1967, the same year that Congress established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and relocated the studio from Springfield to Hampshire House on the UMass campus. The station's community affairs programming began in earnest shortly thereafter with the appearance of Que Tal Amigos, a Spanish-language program aimed at migrant workers in the Pioneer Valley, and soon included programming tailored to women (the Women's Hour), French Americans, and African Americans, among others.

In 1997, WFCR began to offer a 24/7 schedule and offers a full line-up of news and talk programming offered to the region through WNNZ at 640AM and 91.7FM, and streamed through internet at nepr.net . The station's mix of classical and jazz music, news, and entertainment reached over 175,000 listeners per week in 2012.

From the guide to the WFCR Radio Broadcast Collection MS 741., 1954-1987, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf WFCR Radio Broadcast Collection MS 741., 1954-1987 Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries
creatorOf Drabeck, Bernard A. Correspondence [typescripts] : 1983 May 4-1983 May 10 / Bernard Drabeck. Greenfield Community College, Nahman-Watson Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Alinsky, Saul David, 1909-1972 person
associatedWith Artymiw, Lydia. person
associatedWith Aston Magna Foundation for Music. corporateBody
associatedWith Coxe, Nigel. person
associatedWith Demus, Jörg, 1928- person
associatedWith Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886 person
associatedWith Drabeck, Bernard A. person
associatedWith Duke, John, 1899-1984 person
associatedWith Frost, Robert, 1874-1963 person
associatedWith Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978 person
associatedWith Kennedy, Edward M. (Edward Moore), 1932-2009 person
associatedWith Lebow, Howard. person
associatedWith Mohawk Trail Concerts. corporateBody
associatedWith Music Mountain. corporateBody
associatedWith Olevsky, Estela. person
associatedWith Olevsky, Julian, 1926-1985 person
associatedWith Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994 person
associatedWith Springfield Symphony Orchestra. corporateBody
associatedWith Wallfisch, Ernst. person
associatedWith Wallfisch, Lory. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Pioneer Valley (Mass.).
Amherst (Mass.).
Subject
African Americans
Franco
Music
Performing arts
Radio stations
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Women
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

Information

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