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Papers of
Oscar Reed, Jr.
Processed by: Charles E. Howell
October 1994
43.0 lin. ft.
Biography | Scope and Content | Provenance | Series Descriptions
Oscar W. B. Reed, Jr. is a lifelong resident of the Washington, DC area. He was born in the District in 1917 and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the Catholic University of America in 1939. From August 1939 until his retirement in 1984, Mr. Reed was associated with Jansky & Bailey, Consulting Broadcast Engineers, a company later acquired by the Atlantic Resarch Corporation. It became a semi-autonomous division of "ARC" in 1960.
Mr. Reed began his career at Jansky & Bailey by assisting in the construction, operation and maintenance of experimental FM station W3XO. Built by the company with the approval and assistance of Major Edwin Armstrong, it was only the third FM station in the U.S. and the first in the Baltimore/Washington area.
From 1945 to 1960 Mr. Reed served as head of the Jansky & Bailey Broadcast and Television Dept. During this period he supervised and participated in the design of AM, FM and television broadcast facilities, prepared engineering material subimitted on behalf of numerous clients to the FCC, appeared before that Commission as an expert engineering witness on frequency allocation, station assignment and field strength measurement, determined broadcast station coverage and fair market value of broadcast transmission properties for tax purposes.
After the purchase of Jansky & Bailey by Atlantic Research in 1960, Mr. Reed served as manager of the Broadcast-Television Consulting Department. He also acted for a time as head of the Telecommunications Division of ARC. Work continued in the broadcast field, but starting in the 1960's a new emphasis was placed on the growing area of community antenna television (CATV), better known today as cable television. J&B /ARC began consulting on system design evaluation surveys, as well as providing services to franchise applicants, cities, states and counties on cable television issues. Because of this experience, Mr. Reed was recruited as a member of the FCC Steering Committee on CATV Standards Planning.
From that time until his retirement, Mr. Reed both supervised and participated in many projects closely related to educational and public broadcasting. Representative contacts would include engineering studies for the development, design, specification preparation and implementation of many statewide educational television systems, most notably in Ohio, and planning for Instructional Television Fixed Service systems. He also served as an engineering advisor to the Educational Television Stations Division of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters and as a consultant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on Clear Channel Broadcasting matters, Low Frequency Broadcasting in the U.S. and for the Geneva World Administrative Radio Conference in 1979.
The Papers of Oscar Reed, Jr. cover the years 1928 to 1994. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1960's and 1970's, with a significant amount of materials from the late 1940's through the 1950's. It documents Mr. Reed's career with Jansky & Bailey, Inc. and his later work with the Jansky & Bailey Divisions of Atlantic Research Corporation. Also included are materials belonging to Mr. Jansky and Mr. Mailey that came into Mr. Reed's possession after their deaths. Types of documents in the collection include reports for various clients produced by J&B, J&B / ARC, and other firms as well. Prominently represented also are correspondence, memoranda, notes and rough drafts, charts and graphs, maps, FCC and other government documents, articles, newsletters, minutes, news clippings, photographs and negatives.
The collection consists of nine series
- Series 1: Educational Television
- Series 2: Jansky & Bailey Materials
- Series 3: Business Files of Oscar Reed
- Series 4: Jansky & Bailey Divisions of Atlantic Research Corporation - Reports
- Series 5: Non J&B / ARC Reports
- Series 6: Promotional Materials and Brochures
- Series 7: FCC Materials
- Series 8: Personal Materials of Mr. Reed
- Series 9: Nonprint Materials
The Papers of Oscar Reed, Jr. were donated to the National Public Broadcasting Archives, University of Maryland Libraries by Oscar Reed, Jr. in April of 1994.
Series 1: Educational Television, 1961-1993 (9.0 lin. ft.)
This series consists of four subseries, covering various areas of Mr. Reed's involvement in educational and public broadcasting. Included are documents produced by and for CPB, PBS and NPR, educational TV reports by J&B (and others) for more than twenty-five states, materials related to the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, and miscellaneous materials related to educational radio. Materials are arranged chronologically by organization or state, with the state reports grouped alphabetically.
Series 2: Jansky & Bailey, 1930-1984 (3.5 lin. ft.)
This series is also made up of four subseries. The first contains materials and reports outlining pioneering work in broadcasting done by Jansky & Bailey, along with documents relating to the history of the firm. Also included are biographical and personal materials by and about C. M. Jansky and S. L. Bailey, miscellaneous commercial broadcsting reports and reports completed by Jansky and Bailey, Inc. for the federal government. Materials are arranged chronologically within each subseries.
Series 3: Business Files of Oscar Reed, Jr., 1953-1990 (3.5 lin. ft.)
Series 3 is made up of assorted business files of Mr. Reed's from both Jansky & Bailey and the Jansky & Bailey Division of Atlantic Research Corporation. Included in this series are letters and correspondence, charts, memos and files related to various projects Mr. Reed participated in. Files are arranged chronologically.
This very large series contains eleven subseries representing every area of activity (other than educational broadcasting) of J&B / ARC. Headings in this series include CATV, Police Communication, Public Safety, Telecom, Medcom, Cellular/Telephone, Bids and Proposals, International Projects, Government Projects, Miscellaneous Broadcast Engineering Reports and Atlantic Research Corporation materials not specifically related to J&B / ARC. Reports are arranged chronologically by subseries.
Series 5: Non J&B / ARC Reports, 1949-1990 (2.0 lin. ft.)
This series consists of reports used by Mr. Reed in the course of his work produced by other companies and organizations. Other broadcast engineering firms are represented, as well as universities and major corporations. Materials are arranged alphabetically by source, then chronolgoically.
Series 6: Promotional Materials and Brochures, 1950's-1980's (1.5 lin. ft.)
This series is composed of various advertising materials from outside commercial concerns promoting broadcast/CATV related products. They are arranged alphabetically by company.
Series 7: FCC Materials, 1940-1991 (3.75 lin. ft.)
This series contains a variety of FCC produced materials. Petitions before the FCC and FCC decisions are arranged by docket number. Also included are various engineering reports, speeches and remarks by FCC Commissioners and reports to the FCC by the Technical Advisory Study Organization (TASO).
Series 8: Personal Papers of Oscar Reed, Jr., 1955-1994 (2.5 lin. ft.)
This series contains three subseries. The first, Mr. Reed's personal files, includes correspondence, documents relating to Montgomery County, MD CATV, materials from urban studies courses taken at George Washington University in 1972 and church materials. They are grouped according to subject and arranged chronologically. The second series is made up of articles and presentations by Mr. Reed, also arranged chronologically, and the third consists of articles by others, arranged alphabetically.
Series 9: Nonprint Materials, 1920(?) - 1994 (2.5 lin. ft.)
The last series of this collection consists of photographs documenting projects undertaken by J&B and J&B / ARC, along with photos of company personnel and equipment developed and utilized in carrying out various contracts. Some of these photographs cover Mr. Jansky's early radio research at the University of Minnesota, predating the founding of the firm of Jansky & Bailey. Also included are many negatives of these same photos, two videotaped interviews, one with Mr. Reed and one with form J&B Secretary/Treasurer Harold Kube and some J&B "Artifacts." Photos are arranged chronologically.
