Charles Harvey Crutchfield was born in Hope, Ark., on 27 July 1912, grew up in Spartanburg, S.C., and matriculated at Wofford College for one year, 1929-1930. He began his career in broadcasting in 1929 as a radio announcer and worked at a number of radio stations before joining the staff of WBT in Charlotte, N.C., in 1933. Crutchfield held several positions at the station and at its parent company, retiring as president of the Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting Company in 1977. Crutchfield had a decades-long friendship with the Reverend Billy Graham and was chiefly responsible for launching Graham's television presence. Following his retirement, Crutchfield founded his own consulting company, Media Communications, Inc., which was devoted to broadcasting issues, and was active with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications, as well as in the larger broadcasting community and in professional and civic organizations. The collection traces the broadcasting career of Charles Harvey Crutchfield, beginning in the 1940s when he was program director and then general manager of radio station WBT and continuing until his retirement as president of the Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting Company in 1977. The files consist primarily of correspondence, memoranda, clippings, and other materials relating to the Jefferson Standard Broadcasting Company in its various incarnations. Of particular interest are files addressing current events in the broadcasting community and Crutchfield's response, in the various capacities he held, to them. Topics covered include union organization efforts, Senate hearings regarding representation of affiliate stations in the national spot sales field, the expansion and growth of the Jefferson Standard Broadcasting Company, and the development of Community Antenna Television. Crutchfield's ardent anti-communist stance is reflected throughout these materials. Crutchfield corresponded regularly with Reverend Billy Graham and, later, with CBS News president Richard Salant and Frank Stanton, president of CBS Inc.; routine correspondence with national and local political figures is also included. There are also files, comprised chiefly of correspondence, reports, and clippings, that document Crutchfield's work with his consulting firm, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications, and professional and civic organizations. Audiocassettes primarily contain interviews with Charles Crutchfield and WBT programs prepared in honor of various anniversaries celebrated by the station. A number of video tapes are recordings of obituaries of and tributes to Crutchfield. Films include and footage of fired employees picketing WBT in the late 1940s. Weep for the Innocent
