Summary
Overview
WPRB (Radio station :
Princeton, N.J.)
13.75 linear feet, 11 boxes
Abstract
WPRB is the student-operated FM radio station of Princeton University, providing
music and live sports broadcasts to the Princeton campus community and surrounding
areas. The records consist of various materials which document the origins and
development of WPRB, including constitutions, by-laws, photographs, membership lists,
clipped articles, board minutes, correspondence, and financial reports.
Description
Description
The records consist of various materials which document the origins and development
of WPRB, including constitutions, by-laws, photographs, membership lists, clipped
articles, board minutes, correspondence, and financial reports.
The records are especially illustrative in their documentation of the station's
beginnings. Nearly every piece of correspondence from station member H. Grant Theis
is preserved, often with his own retrospective commentary attached. There are also
several drafts of station histories, and large amounts of correspondence and
technical reports detailing the station's move from AM to FM broadcasting.
The records also contain a number of photographs of WPRB staff and facilities. These
photographs have been left in their original locations, and are interspersed with the
station records.
Collection Creator
History
WPRB is the student-operated FM radio station of Princeton University, providing music
and live sports broadcasts to the Princeton campus community and surrounding areas.
The birth of the station can be attributed to one H. Grant Theis '42, who on May 13,
1939 wrote to the Federal Communications Commission expressing the interest of a small
group of Princeton students in organizing a radio station and requesting information on
the necessary F.C.C. requirements and specifications for its operation. A summer of
negotiations with University administration and technical experimentation soon followed,
and by November 11, 1940 broadcasting had officially commenced under the call letters
WPRU.
Despite the station's meager facilities in Theis' Pyne Hall dormitory and its limited
program schedule of 3 hours daily, the early station was a success. Within several
months of its taking to the airwaves, it was prominently featured in a Saturday Evening
Post article about college radio stations. An early survey also revealed an 82%
listenership rating among students and faculty.
In an age before the advent of television, the radio station became a significant center
of student life. In addition to providing news from around the world and locally the
young station covered varsity athletics, and provided a stage for the student body's
many musical groups.
The initial reach of the station was limited to campus; however in 1955 WPRU applied for
and was granted the license to build an FM transmitter, extending its broadcast range to
a radius of 20 miles on the FM band. The new FM capabilities necessitated a change in
location (from Pyne to the more accommodating basement of Holder Hall) and a change in
name, with WPRU adopting WPRB. Also notable at this time was the acquisition of an FM
broadcasting license from the F.C.C., the first of its kind granted to a college
commercial radio station. The accompanying increase of the transmitting power to 17,000
watts in 1960 made WPRB the most powerful college radio station in the nation.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, WPRB bolstered its reputation on campus and off by
providing a variety of music specialty shows and exclusive news coverage of prominent
campus events such as Alger Hiss' lecture in 1956. In 1973 summer broadcasting appeared
for the first time, and experimentation with diverse musical styles throughout the 1970s
resulted in the station's appearance in the Arbitron radio ratings.
Like many college radio stations in the 1980s and 1990s, WPRB carved out a niche for
itself in the musical community by eschewing the mainstream rock and pop offerings
played by major market stations and instead focusing upon independent artists. In the
21st century, the introduction of a live stream which enabled listeners to tune in to
WPRB over the internet expanded the station's range to any individual or location with a
connection to the World Wide Web.
Collection History
Acquisition
The records were transferred to the library by WPRB in August of 2006..
Archival Appraisal Information
Appraisal has been conducted in accordance with Mudd Library guidelines. During 2008
processing nothing was separated from the records.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Daniel Brennanand
Nicholas Cox '10 in July, 2008.
Finding aid written by Daniel
Brennan in July,
2008.
Accruals
Additional accruals of records are anticipated from WPRB at a later time.
Bibliography
A Princeton Companion by Alexander Leitch and the WPRB web site were consulted during
preparation of the organizational history.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research use.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material
from the collection must be requested from the University Archivist. Copyright is
held by the Trustees of Princeton University.
Preferred Citation
WPRB Records; 1939-1999, Princeton University Archives, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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