The American Trail Radio Program

Background

From the February 1, 1953 edition of the Nevada State Journal:

VFW Auxiliary To Sponsor Program

The first of a series called "The American Trail" will be broadcast on February 4, over Station KOH (NBC), starting at 9:45 to 10 a.m. The American Trail series, sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, will bring 13 thrilling chapters in American history to 30 million school children and will be sponsored locally by the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 407 and Battleborn Auxiliary No. 9211.

For the next three months 13 little known dramatic stories of American history will live again for fourth to eighth grade children across the country. These stories will be enacted by nationally known radio and television actors whose professional skill makes American history live again. The 13 thrilling chapters in the American Trail radio series are:

Chapter I: "Dispatch to New York"
Chapter II: "The Northwest Ordinance."
Chapter III: "The Louisiana Purchase."
Chapter IV: "Lewis and Clarke Expedition."
Chapter V: "Samuel Slater's Machine."
Chapter VI: "The Golden Ocean."
Chapter VII: "The Magic Wire."
Chapter VIII: "On to Monterey."
Chapter IX: "The California Gold Rush."
Chapter X: "The Rich Desert"
Chapter XI: 'The New South."
Chapter XII: 'The Blue Yonder."
Chapter XIII: 'The Brave Flag."

The Ladies of the VFW Auxilliary coordinate their launch

One of several patriotic anthologies of the era, this series was intended to chronicle high points of the history of The United States in thirteen chapters. Even more pointedly, the entire series is primarily directed to America's youth. The scripts were well written, informative, and reasonably historically accurate, though naturally slanted to emphasize the merits and virtues of American freedom through The Cold War years. The productions were predictably jingoistic and as much propaganda as historic narrative, capturing much of the sentiment and Communist hysteria of the period. But given the tenor of the era, the intended 4th to 8th grade audience and its timeslots, the tone is appropriate.

As the series progresses, it becomes clear that more and more patriotic fervor entered each subsequent episode, extending even to the organist.

The series of programs was announced at the mid-year Conference for VFW Auxiliary Members held from January 23-27, 1953 in Washington, D.C.. State VFW Auxiliary Chapter Presidents were given previews of the thirteen programs and instructional materials and press releases to take back to their State Chapters in order to better promote the national broadcasts. Numerous local civic groups and national youth groups such as The Campfire Girls and The Girl Scouts were enlisted to help promote the series, as well as local Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). To their great credit, one is reminded that the Ladies of the Auxiliary throughout the country provided the bulk of the financial support for The American Trail through ongoing activities as humble as rummage sales, bake sales and other similar fund-raising appeals throughout their various chapters across the nation. The Ladies Auxiliary typically supported the men's VFW groups as well throughout this period, since many of the local VFW Chapters throughout the country had been decimated by the effects of The War Years.

It's worth remembering that this was an era during which the Ladies of the Nation--and their considerable ability to effectively organize for various formal and informal charities--were still at the peak of their resourcefulness and persuasive powers. They'd gained considerable experience with such drives throughout World War II when a great majority of their loved ones were off fighting the War. These amazing ladies were not only a domestic force to be reckoned with, but had also become a significant political force to be reckoned with, as well. Our research for this series uncovered story after local story in regional and local newspapers of the era recounting these ladies' often breathtaking influence throughout their communities.

As the respective Ladies' Auxiliary Chapter Presidents meeting in the Nation's Capitol fanned back out to their communities, it's clear they hit the ground running once they'd returned to their home states and towns. They ensured that the children of their communities would be provided the opportunity to hear these broadcasts in every city and town throughout the nation. If the local broadcasting affiliate could only slot the broadcasts on Saturday afternoons, the Ladies would respond by organizing listening parties with their childrens' teachers. If the affiliate could only slot the broadcasts for a weekday, they'd ensure that it was an appropriate before-dinner timeslot, so as to ensure an alert audience for each broadcast.

It's clear that these considerable organizing activities and civic undertakings were just the tip of the iceberg in demonstrating these Ladies' extraordinary abilities. As with much of the vast normalization activities the nation endured after World War II and The Korean War, the Ladies of America, unsung for the most part, were most definitely doing a great deal of the heavy lifting that got both the Nation and its Economy back on track throughout the post-War years.

Though Bing Crosby and his son Lindsay are heard in Chapter 9, General James H. Doolittle is heard in Chapter 12, and President Dwight David Eisenhower is heard in Chapter 13, little else is recorded about the principal cast or production details. We have every reason to believe that the Ladies' Auxiliary had no trouble enlisting the support of many of the popular voice talents and performers of the era in support of this most worthy undertaking.

The chapters themselves trace a chronological progression of key events throughout the history of the American Trail West from Patrick Henry's inspiring "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death", to the closing chapter which poignantly provides the history and deeper meaning behind the American Flag of the era.

There were several other, similar youth-directed productions of the era, both network sustained and sponsored by the various patriotic and post-War associations that sprang up during the Cold War years. The Ladies' Auxiliary clearly had the best of intentions behind this production and indeed, the series acquired the endorsement of several governors, legislators and even President Eisenhower in the process.

Though the remaining production credits of this series remain yet to be discovered, many of the voices heard throughout the series are quite familiar. We continue to attempt to determine more of the credits to this fine, annual precursor to our July 4th celebrations. We're reminded that virtually all of the messages of each of the 13 Chapters of this well-produced program retain their meaning to this day.

Series Derivatives:

Notes on Provenances:

All above cited provenances are in error in one form or another. The most helpful provenances were the log of the RadioGOLDINdex and The Wisconsin State Journal

American Trail had remained undated for the past fifty years. We thought it was about time we corrected that oversight. It took us almost 23 minutes to set that right.

You're welcome to compare our fully provenanced research withthe '1,500 expert researchers' at the OTRR and their own American Trail log. We've therefore provided a screen shot of their current log for comparison, HERE to protect our own further due diligence.

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