 |
 |
The Norman R. Glenn Collection
Processed by: Linda M. MachadoFebruary 1999
2.5 lin. ft.
Norman R. Glenn (born Norman R. Goldman), founding editor and publisher of Sponsor and Marketing and Media Decisions, was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois on September 3, 1909. Mr. Glenn enrolled in the University of Chicago as a Liberal Arts major in 1927 but dropped out during his senior year due to financial hardship.
To help support himself and his family, Mr. Glenn took a job with the Chicago Daily News. While at The Chicago Daily News he was introduced to the General Manager of WLS radio in Chicago who offered Mr. Glenn a job and where he worked from 1932-1936. His first job at the radio station was to hold up placards introducing the acts at WLS’s weekly show, "The National Barn Dance". Mr. Glenn was eventually promoted to information clerk at WLS and finally, in 1933, to Promotion Director. As Promotion Director, he handled all publicity and promotions for the Prairie Farmer-owned WLS.In 1936, Martin Codell, publisher of Broadcasting Magazine, offered Mr. Glenn an opportunity with the New York office of his magazine. Mr. Glenn accepted and one year later, in 1937, transferred to Broadcasting Magazine’s Washington D.C. office where he was promoted to Business Manager. While at Broadcasting Magazine, Mr. Glenn came up with the idea to run a series of ads designed as public service. The result of this was a series of public service advertisements specifically addressing the war effort. These ads ran in Broadcasting Magazine from 1942-1943. Mr. Glenn remained with Broadcasting Magazine until he entered the military in 1942. Mr. Glenn served in the military until the end of World War II in 1945.
In 1945, Mr. Glenn married Elaine Cooper and, for a short time, was Executive Director of Frequency Modulation magazine. Earlier, while at Broadcasting Magazine, Mr. Glenn imagined a trade journal geared towards the broadcast advertiser - to serve the concerns of broadcast media, broadcasters and advertisers. This idea came to fruition with the publication of Sponsor magazine in November of 1946. Sponsor’s credo, as stated in the magazine’s first issue was, "Sponsor is the trade magazine for the man who foots the broadcast advertising bill..its objective is to do a job for the sponsor". Sponsor initially ran as a monthly publication but by the end of 1947 expanded into a bi-weekly publication.Sponsor magazine was a popular and influential magazine within the broadcast community. Sponsor’s editorials were of notable influence. The editorials called for sound TV and radio practices – creation of a television ad bureau, a revitalized radio ad bureau, improved research and media buying professionalism. For several years, Sponsor ran a series entitled, "This We Fight For". This was a series of articles dealing with ethical standards. During the early to mid 1950s, Sponsor also ran a series of editorials entitled, "Red Channels" which attacked McCarthyism and blacklisting. This series earned the magazine the George Polk Memorial Award for distinguished journalism. Norman Glenn sold Sponsor magazine to Obijay Press of Duluth, Minnesota in 1963.
Elaine Glenn passed away in March of 1966 and later that same year Norman Glenn created another trade magazine, Marketing & Media Decisions. Marketing & Media Decisions was an extension of Sponsor magazine. It gave advertisers guidance on evaluating and using all advertising media in the television era. Mr. Glenn sold Marketing & Media Decisions in 1985.
In 1985, Mr. Glenn founded the Community Action Network (CAN), a non-profit group in New York City that is run in partnership with broadcast and print media and is supported by an annual media awards event. CAN is a volunteer community resource whose sole objective is to collect and to share practical solutions to challenging social problems. CAN acts as a databank of information dealing with community social problems and publishes booklets dealing with critical community social problems.
Norman Glenn died in New York City on February 5, 1999 due to complications from a stroke.
Back to Top
Series I: Correspondence and Related MaterialsBound volumes of Sponsor magazine (1946-1964) and three bound volumes of US Radio (1957-1961) are shelved in the Library of American Broadcasting’s periodicals section. The MA thesis, "An Analysis of the Editorials of Sponsor, 1946-1955", has been integrated into the Library of American Broadcasting's book collection. One item, the pamphlet entitled, "11th Annual Media and Corporate Awards Luncheon, December 4, 1998" was received via mail from Mr. Glenn in December of 1998.
Series II: Publications
Series III: Scrapbooks
PROVENANCE
The Norman R. Glenn collection was donated to the Library of American Broadcasting by Norman R. Glenn in 1996.
Back to Top
Series I: Correspondence and Related Materials1938-1996 (five folders)
This series contains correspondence and related materials from Broadcasting magazine, Sponsor magazine and Community Action Network.
Series II: Publications 1940-19[9?] (1.75 lin. ft.)
This series contains publications from Sponsor magazine, Community Action Network and article clippings. Included are bound volumes of Sponsor magazine (1946-1964), two issues of Frequency Modulation (1946), the Sponsor publication, "40-Year Album of Pioneer Radio Stations (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s) – Part Two Radio Stations", 20 issue-specific pamphlets from CAN, three bound volumes of US Radio (v1-3), bound volumes of Sponsor Magazine (1946-1964) and an MA thesis by William Arthur Nelson entitled, "An Analysis of the Editorials of Sponsor, 1946-1955".
Series III: Scrapbooks 1933-1943 (1 oversized box)
This series contains two scrapbooks. One scrapbook contains clippings of advertisements regarding Broadcast Advertising, 1937-1943. The second scrapbook contains clippings regarding radio station WLS in Chicago (the Prairie Farmer Station), 1933-1936.
A complete guide in Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) format can be downloaded here.
For further information, contact the Library of American Broadcasting.
labcast@umd.edu
Library of American Broadcasting
University of Maryland, College Park
