|
John D. Summerfield
Interviewed by: Burt Harrison
Public Radio Oral History Project
July 27, 1978
John D. Summerfield started his career in public broadcasting at the University of Texas shortly after the end of World War II. After winning several Ohio State Institute awards, he moved to Boston and WGBH-FM where he was active in the development of the Eastern Educational Radio Network. In 1960, he moved to New York to activate the Riverside Church station, WRVR, which became New York City's most highly regarded cultural and fine arts stations. In 1968, he moved out west to become General Manager of KPBS-FM and TV at San Diego State University. He then withdrew from public broadcasting to engage in a variety of enterprises in Mexico. At the time of the interview, he was a member of the staff of the Los Angeles Times.
In this interview, John Summerfield talks mostly about WRVR, and the variety of innovate programs the station developed. He also discusses the early development of live networking by public stations on the Eastern Seaboard, and recalls his own and WRVR's role in providing radio coerage of the civil rights disturbances in the South during the early 1960s.
Topics:
- Eastern Educational Radio Network
- educational radio
- WRVR (New York, NY)
