The Heritage Over the Land Radio Program
|
|
Dee-Scription: |
Home >> D D Too Home >> Radio Logs >> Heritage Over the Land |
Heritage Over the Land mp3 cover art
Funded by The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the series was over six months in the making.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation was established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then-President and Chief Executive Officer of the General Motors Corporation, the Foundation makes grants in support of original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and economic performance.
This January 10, 1954 announcement of NBC's coming Heritage Over the Land, while inaccurate as to the headlined network and body program time, otherwise accurately synopsizes the coming production--a 13-week series about The South
|
From the January 10, 1954 edition of the Panama City News-Herald:
NBC Broadcasts Story of South
With a a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, NBC has been investigating during the past six months what has been called one of the most significant developments of this generation: the rebirth of the South. The result is a 13-week radio program series, "Heritage Over the Land," which will have its premiere today on NBC Radio at 2 p.m.
The broadcasts, tape-recorded on the scene by an NBC documentary crew, will explore the social, economic and cultural revolution under way in the South during the past decade. The unit went out on seven separate trips, ranging form Washington, D.C. to deep-South crossroads too small to be found on any map. There were no actors; the voices and sound effects are all authentic.
Henry Cassidy, former foreign correspondent and now NBC commentator, serves as narrator, interviewer and guide. The program was produced by Lee Painton, written and directed by William Alan Bales, researched in the field by Arthur Hepner.
"We began in the belief that we were recording simply an economic change, an evolutionary thing to be measured in decades," Miss Painton, the producer, says.
"But we were wrong. What we witnessed and what we caught on our recording machines was a revolution in industry, in farming, in economics and in the whole pattern of life as it is lived in the South. We are ready now to report on what we saw and heard."
The first broadcast is titled "A Time to Build." It serves as a general introduction to the series, the starting place for the journey being the Chapel Hill, N.C., home of Paul Green, author of "In Abraham's Bosom" and other noted plays, who told Cassidy that "the South has the potentiality of being one of the greatest creative, cultural regions of the earth."
Among the other points of call on the first broadcast are Columbia and Georgetown, S.C.; Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta, Ga. Among the voices, in addition to that of Paul Green, are those of a grocer, a university professor, a group of high school students, a civic leader, a radio news editor and two newspaper editors.
The series, as indicated above, chronicled the economic development and resurgence of what was being referred to as "The New South," throughout the 1950s. Owing to a series of socioeconomic and sociopolitical setbacks dating from as early as Reconstruction and Great Depression, The South, in particular, had suffered on several economic fronts. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation reportedly envisioned Heritage Over the Land to be the first project of an anticipated series of such Radio programming projects tracing regional progress in agriculture, socioeconomics, technology and heritage throughout the various regions of America.
If the thirteen episodes of Heritage Over the Land are any measure, such a series of similar projects would have been highly informative, entertaining and uplifting for each U.S. region it might have addressed had the project gone further. Heritage Over the Land was wonderfully produced on every level. Noted wartime correspondent--and U.N. Correspondent for NBC, Henry Cassidy, provided compelling narration throughout the series. Beautifully written by William Alan Bales, the otherwise dry source material for the series was elevated to script prologues more reflective of poetry in many instances.
Comprised of tape-recorded interviews that Henry Cassidy conducted throughout The South over a period of six-months, the writer and producers skillfully interwove the recorded interviews and accounts of The South's stunning progress in thirteen defined areas--and their promise of far more to come:
- An overview, addressing the various challenges of rebuilding The South, its rich cultural heritage, economy, and its infrastructure after the lingering devastation of The Civil War, Reconstruction, The Great Depression, and the post-War years. The series takes the inspiration for it overarching themes from King Solomon's observations in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, Verses 1 to 8 [paraphrased from my own 1971 edition of the The Life Application Bible]:
"1. There is a right time for everything:
2. A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to harvest;
3. A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to destroy, and a time to rebuild;
4. A time to cry, and a time to laugh;
a time to grieve, and a time to dance;
5. A time for scattering stones, and a time for gathering stones;
a time to hug, and a time not to hug;
6. A time to find, and a time to lose;
a time for keeping, and a time for throwing away;
7. A time to tear, and a time to repair;
a time to be quiet, and a time to speak up;
8. A time for loving, and a time for hating;
a time for war, and a time for peace."
- The South's history and progress in Cotton and Dairy agriculture and agribusiness.
- The South's logging, timber and construction industries.
- The South's textile industries.
- The Citrus Industry in Florida.
- The growth and challenges of Big Industry in The South.
- The rivers and important ports of The South.
- The development of industrial power and the emerging importance of the Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA].
- The Petrochemical Industries of The South
- The 'lessons learned' developing Research and Education in The South
- The resurgence of cultural interests throughout The South
- Spartanburg, South Carolina, as reflective of the forces acting against cultural and sociological progress throughout The South
- A recap of the various forces propelling The New South into the future.
Throughout the series, Henry Cassidy's own recorded observations are as fascinating, sensitive, and thoughful as those of his many interviewees. A self-described New Englander, Cassidy often contrasts his own preconceptions of The South to what he's seeing and hearing in the course of his six months of preparing the series.
The framing of the series with the passages from Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 is entirely apt. Both Old South and New South carried a deep tradition of predominantely Protestant faith. But beyond the obvious influences of The Bible throughout The South, the passage from Ecclesiastes contrasts the consequences of Life, simply summed up as 'there's a right time for everything.' For The New South, that time was the 1950s and the Heritage Over the Land project very sensitively and optimistically captured that concept. Often referring to the emerging South as a revolution on several levels, the series holds up quite well even sixty years into the future. Granted, that agribusiness has all but swallowed up the tens of thousands of family farms of The South and the huge textile industries of The South have virtually all been shipped off-shore, the remaining industries, cultural advances, research and education triumphs, and the extraordinary restructuring of social and racial attitudes throughout The South have indeed undergone a radical transformation.
Pockets of the Antebellum South still cling tenaciously to parts of the region, but the lessons learned during the ensuing sixty years have served both The South and its contributions to America as a whole quite well. Indeed Heritage Over the Land's time capsule of the beliefs, aspirations and resolve of The South and Southerners during the mid-1950s provide a remarkable perspective on how The South has evolved during the ensuing years.
Yet another overlooked gem from The Golden Age of Radio, Heritage Over the Land provides a perspective and waypoint in time unachievable through any other historical medium.
|
|
|
Series Derivatives:
|
None |
|
Genre: |
Anthology of Golden Age Radio Social Documentaries |
|
Network(s): |
NBC |
|
Audition Date(s) and Title(s): |
Unknown |
|
Premiere Date(s) and Title(s): |
54-01-10 01 A Time To Build |
|
Run Dates(s)/ Time(s): |
54-01-10 to 54-04-11; NBC; Thirteen, 30-minute programs; Saturday evenings and/or Sundays at around noon or 11:30 p.m. |
|
Syndication: |
NBC Documentary Unit; The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation |
|
Sponsors: |
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation |
|
Director(s): |
Produced in cooperation with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
William Allen Bales [Director/Writer]
Miss Lee F. Painton [Producer]
|
|
Identified Contributors: |
Author, Paul Green; Mr. Ralph Ford; Dr. Mitchell; Editor, George Buchanan; Dr. Rex Winslow; Bill Workman, station WIS, Columbia, SC; Former Cotton Farmer, Mr. Franks; |
|
Recurring Character(s): |
|
|
Protagonist(s): |
None |
|
Author(s): |
None |
|
Writer(s) |
William Allen Bales
Arthur Hepner [Field Consultant] |
|
Music Direction: |
|
|
Musical Theme(s): |
Unknown |
|
Announcer(s): |
Henry Cassidy [Host]
Dick Dudley, Mel Brandt [Announcers]
|
|
Estimated Scripts or
Broadcasts: |
13 |
|
Episodes in Circulation: |
12 |
|
Total Episodes in Collection: |
12 |
|
Provenances: |
|
January 10, 1954 announcement for Heritage Over the Land from the Panama City Herald
|
RadioGOLDINdex, Hickerson Guide, newspaper listings.
Notes on Provenances:
The most helpful provenances were the log of the radioGOLDINdex and contemporaneous newspaper listings.
OTRisms:
While there are at least five varying exemplars in wide circulation of the final episode of Heritage Over the Land titled, "The Last Frontier," it would appear that all of those circulating exemplars are actually the twelfth episode in the series, "The Land Is Bright," simply relabeled and retagged as The Last Frontier. The source of most of those erroneous exemplars appears to have been the OTRR, during the 2006 timeframe. [Note: If anyone reading this does have an accurate exemplar of the final episode of Heritage Over the Land we'd be happy to post it here for both listening and download].
Contrary to the "certifed complete and accurate" Heritage Over the Land collection on archive.org, the series comprised thirteen episodes, not twelve. That collection and its statements are by no means either accurate or complete. To state so is simply more of the wishful thinking so prevalent throughout the OTR segment of the Vintage Radio collecting hobby. One ill-informed OTR organization simply pronouncing the Heritage Over the Land canon as complete at twelve episodes doesn't alter the canon's actual production history--wishful thinking or not. All that does accomplish is to introduce--and perpetuate--yet more misinformation into one of the most misinformed segments of the Vintage Radio collecting and archiving hobby. Announcer Mel Brandt very clearly announces ". . . join us next week for the thirteenth and last in this series on the New South" at the end of Episode No. 12, The Land Is Bright. We'd also note that the OTRR's archive.org collection appears to be in stereo. Heritage Over the Land was never originally broadcast in stereo. The OTRR appears to have gratuitously re-encoded the canon in stereo to make the original monaural recordings larger, since there's no rational reason to adulterate the original recordings in that fashion (e.g., left and right tracks of the identical monaural recording do not amount to "stereo." In some instances, stereoizing monaural recordings introduces transient phasing and artifact issues into a perfectly listenable monaural source recording). In addition:
- The writer and director of the series was William Alan Bales, not "William Allen Bales."
- The producer of the series was Miss Lee F. Painton, not "Ms. Lee F. Painten."
- The field researcher for the series was Arthur Hepner, not "Arthur Hefner."
We make this observation time and time again throughout our Definitive series of Golden Age Radio articles, but it bears repeating time and time again--OTR loggers and authors need to begin actually listening to what they quasi-authoritatively log.
There seems to be a great variance between logs of Heritage Over the Land regarding Episode No. 12, "The Land Is Bright," and its correct sequencing and dating. We can only offer the following at this point:
- Dick Dudley's announcement at the conclusion of Episode No. 11, "A Time for Beauty," states that, "Heritage Over the Land will not be heard next Sunday when NBC will cover the annual Antoinette Perry Awards over most of these stations. However, please join us the following Sunday for the twelfth in this series of thirteen programs dealing with the changes that have come to the American South."
- The 8th Annual Antoinette Perry Awards presentations by the American Theatre Wing took place, on schedule, at The Plaza Hotel in New York City on March 28, 1954, with Audrey Hepburn among those receiving the honors. The award ceremony was broadcast by NBC that same evening.
- The OTRR's OTTRPedia unaccountably cites Episode No. 2 of Heritage Over the Land as being preempted on January 17, 1954 for the Tony Awards [The Antoinette Perry Awards].
- Wikipedia inaccurately cites the date of the 8th Annual Tony Awards as March 29, 1954.
- The OTRR's 'certified complete and accurate' collection of Heritage Over the Land on archive.org, unaccountably cites no dates whatsoever for the canon on the page [they're only visible when downloaded], while at the same time referring to the same inaccurate dates and sequences as found on OTRR's OTTRPedia page for Heritage Over the Land. Either/both OTRR accounts--based, as stated, upon their own authors, researchers and OTTER log--appear to be at odds with each other, though still 'certified complete and accurate.'
- The 8th Annual Tony Awards unquestionably took place on March 28, 1954, as verified by hundreds of contemporaneous newspaper articles.
The radioGOLDINdex cites the date for Episode No. 11 as March 14, 1954. And indeed the notes at that entry state that the following Sunday's broadcast was to be preempted for the Tony Awards. We can only surmise that the date the radioGOLDINdex refers to is a transcription date on the transcription itself, since, as has been amply supported above, the 8th Annual Tony Awards didn't take place until March 28, 1954, fully two weeks after the radioGOLDINdex's cited date for Episode No. 11.
[Note:] In the log below, we've cited several Oakland Tribune newspaper listings for the purpose of demonstrating that:
- Some NBC-affiliate outlets aired Heritage Over the Land on either/both Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.
- This, however, is not consistent in the Oakland Tribune listings for weeks at a time.
- It would appear that KNBC didn't broadcast Heritage Over the Land in as consistent a manner as its east coast counterpart, WNBC.
What you see here, is what you get. Complete transparency. We have no 'credentials' whatsoever--in any way, shape, or form--in the 'otr community'--none. But here's how we did it--for better or worse. Here's how you can build on it yourselves--hopefully for the better. Here are the breadcrumbs--just follow the trail a bit further if you wish. No hobbled downloads. No misdirection. No posturing about our 'credentials.' No misrepresentations. No strings attached. We point you in the right direction and you're free to expand on it, extend it, use it however it best advances your efforts.
We ask one thing and one thing only--if you employ what we publish, attribute it, before we cite you on it.
We continue to provide honest research into these wonderful Golden Age Radio programs simply because we love to do it. If you feel that we've provided you with useful information or saved you some valuable time regarding this log--and you'd like to help us even further--you can help us keep going. Please consider a small donation here:
We don't pronounce our Golden Age Radio research as 'certified' anything. By the very definition, research is imperfect. We simply tell the truth. As is our continuing practice, we provide our fully provenanced research results--to the extent possible--right here on the page, for any of our peers to review--or refute--as the case may be. If you take issue with any of our findings, you're welcome to cite any better verifiable source(s) and we'll immediately review them and update our findings accordingly. As more verifiable provenances surface, we'll continue to update the following series log, as appropriate.
All rights reserved by their respective sources. Article and log copyright 2009-2011 The Digital Deli Online--all rights reserved. Any failure to attribute the results of this copywritten work will be rigorously pursued.
[Date, title, and episode column annotations in red refer to either details we have yet to fully provenance or other unverifiable information as of this writing. Red highlights in the text of the 'Notes' columns refer to information upon which we relied in citing dates, date or time changes, or titles.]
|
|
|
![Click here to learn about our approach to Golden Age Radio Preservation [Under Development]](Images/images/preservation_base.png "Click here to learn about our approach to Golden Age Radio Preservation [Under Development]")
